Céline Dion lit up the 2024 Olympics with an emotional stage return at the games’ opening ceremony in Paris, and now sources exclusively tell In Touch the singer is planning to keep performing for many years to come.
On July 26, the “All by Myself” songstress, 56, delivered her first performance after revealing her stiff person syndrome (SPS) diagnosis and stepping out of the spotlight in 2022. With an iconic rendition of Édith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour,” Céline was moved to tears under the sparkling Eiffel Tower.
“Céline is over the moon with how well things went in Paris, it was the ultimate comeback and something that she worked so hard for,” says a source. “It was incredibly emotional and a huge triumph for her because although she never stopped believing that she’d return to the stage, pretty much everyone in her life, doctors included, told her it was going to be next to impossible.”
Céline first revealed she was diagnosed with SPS when explaining she was forced to cancel several North American and European tour dates in a December 2022 Instagram video.
The condition is a rare and progressive neurological disorder that causes rigid muscles and painful spasms, and Céline explained to her fans that her health struggle makes it difficult for her to sing.
According to In Touch‘s source, Céline “feels triumphant” at proving the naysayers wrong, and she “believes it was a true miracle” that she was able to take the stage once again for a momentous performance in Paris.
“She’s determined to keep proving everyone wrong by performing again,” the insider insists. “That doesn’t mean she’s out of the woods or over this horrible disease, there’s still a long road ahead. She will need to keep fighting every day towards her healing, but she’s not giving up and intends to keep fighting and setting a positive example for her fans and for anyone battling this disease.”
Though the Grammy Award winner has had a rough few years — which she bravely documented for fans in the revealing 2024 documentary I Am: Celine Dion — the source says her love for family is part of what gets her through the day and keeps her going. Céline and her late husband, René Angélil, share three sons: René-Charles, 23, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 13. Her husband died in 2016 from throat cancer.
“She feels her late husband René’s spirit shining through her in all of this and says singing is the gift God gave to her, and she intends to keep doing it, no matter what,” says the source. “She’s working on plans for her next performance.”
Adds the insider, “The success of this has only made her even more hungry to perform again.”
When Céline revealed her diagnosis in late 2022, she confessed to her fans, “All I know is singing. It’s what I’ve done all my life and it’s what I love to do the most. I miss you so much. I miss seeing all of you, being on the stage performing for you. I always give a hundred percent.”
