Celine Dion makes emotional return to stage since rare diagnosis

Celine Dion has made an emotional return to the stage for her first concert in six years.

The singer, 58, became choked up moments into her first song during the opening night of her 26-date Paris residency on Saturday.

Dion had to pause her performance of ’90s single On Ne Change Pas as she teared up, holding out her microphone for the audience to help her through it.

After composing herself, Dion shared her feelings with the audience in French and English.

“I’m standing on stage in this city that I love so much, thanks to your support and your love,” she said.

“The path was rocky. The journey was longer than planned, but I hung in there.”

In 2022, Dion announced she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that causes spasms and muscle rigidity.

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It impacted her vocal cord control and kept her from the stage, with the My Heart Will Go On musician telling the audience she was always determined to make a comeback.

“I made a promise. I made a promise to come back, to be back on stage,” she said.

“So here I am, singing for you and singing for me, singing live. Thank you so very much for your support, your patience, and if I may say so, I am everything I am because you loved me.”

Dion made her triumphant return to singing at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in 2024, but the residency marks her first full concert since her Courage World Tour was paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

She also released her documentary,I Am: Celine Dion, in 2024, offering a brutally honest look at her health concerns.

“It’s not hard to do a show, you know? It’s hard to cancel a show,” she said in the film.

“It’s been a struggle. I miss it so much, the people. I miss them. If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl … I won’t stop.”

Dion has 16 concerts planned at Paris’ Plenitude Arena in 2026, with an additional 10 return shows in May 2027.

Each sold-out show is expected to draw more than 30,000 people, after more than nine million fans entered a ticket lottery.