Inside Céline Dion’s Rare Health Battle
Céline Dion’s Journey Back To The Stage At The Paris Olympics (Exclusive)
Céline Dion provided a moment of gold for millions of people as she belted out Édith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour” to kick off the Paris Games last summer.
But such is the power of love for Dion.
“I’m honored to have performed tonight, for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony,” the Québécois legend wrote on Instagram alongside photos from the evening, “and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favorite cities!”
It was also, incidentally, her first performance in four years. Dion, who’s turning 57 on March 30, shared in December 2022 that she was battling stiff person syndrome, a rare progressive neurological disorder that can cause muscle spasms and at times rendered her unable to sing.
“For a long time—for so many years—I have felt the love and the support of my fans around the world,” Dion exclusively told E! News at the June 2024 premiere of her Amazon documentary I Am: Céline Dion. “They helped me to get where I am today.”
The film provided a raw look at the physical challenges and emotional strain Dion experienced, including footage of her suffering spasms in her hands and feet and being unable to speak.
But the mother of three sons has also shown remarkable resilience, determined to do what she could with what she had at any given time.
Screengrab by IOC via Getty Images
“Life doesn’t give you any answers. You just have to live it!” she said in an interview with Vogue France published last April. “I have this illness for some unknown reason.”
“The way I see it, I have two choices,” she continued. “Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over, I stay at home, listen to my songs, stand in front of my mirror and sing to myself.”
Amid news there was a documentary in the works about her health journey, her momentous appearance at the 2024 Grammys was the first step on her cautious road back to public life, 14 months after sharing her diagnosis.
And while standing ovations at the Grammys aren’t that rare, the thunderous applause for Dion seemed to go on and on.
Because her fellow artists love her, yes, but also because it was just such a relief to see the French-Canadian singer, escorted by her eldest son René-Charles Dion Angélil, in person.
“I love you right back,” Dion, elegant in a mustard overcoat by Valentino, told the audience as she took the stage to present Album of the Year, the final award of the night, 27 years after she won the honor for Falling Into You. “When I say that I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart.”
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for City of Hope
As for choosing to let cameras into her private world, she was nervous about revealing what she was really going through and not being at her best—as she’s known for being each and every time she performs. But Dion ultimately decided that everyone who’s supported her through the years deserved to know, “because I respect my fans, my family, my kids, myself.”
She also opted to get onboard with the project for awareness’ sake, “for the people who may feel that they’re alone, they’re suffering.”
For those battling any challenge, health or otherwise, “I hope that this will give them wings and strength to reach out and talk to people and say it’s worth it. We’re all worth it, and I’m just thankful.”
Before the Grammys last year, the artist enjoyed her first attention-grabbing outing since her diagnosis on Nov. 1, 2023, when she took the sons she shared with late husband René Angélil—René-Charles, now 24, and now 14-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy—to watch the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens take on the Las Vegas Knights.
Vegas has been the singer’s home base in the U.S. since she began her first residency at Caesars Palace in 2003, and she returned to the arena to catch the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 6, 2024. (And even though she had to press pause on very long performance engagements, Dion has been happy to support her fellow artists, catching Adele’s act at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace—where Dion spent a total of 16 years in residence—in October.
The fans who have rallied around Dion through the best and worst of times, including the loss of her husband to throat cancer in 2016, haven’t budged and are eager to see what’s next for the artist, who’s been on the world stage since releasing her debut album La voix du bon Dieu at 13. To date, she’s released 16 French-language albums and 12 in English, the most recent being 2019’s Courage.
Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Yet even getting to where she was standing on that Grammys stage, the consummate professional poised as ever despite the palpable emotion coursing through the whole venue, has been a journey.
We’re tracing back from where Dion started with her diagnosis to where she is now:
April 29, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic had forced Céline Dion to press pause on her Courage World Tour in 2020 and she was looking forward to getting back on the road in 2022. But that spring the singer said she’d be postponing her return until February 2023 while she continued to deal with a lingering health issue.
A note on her website further explained that she’d been treated for “severe and persistent muscle spasms which are preventing her from performing, and her recovery is taking longer than she hoped.”
Dion said in a statement, “I need to be in top shape when I’m on stage. I honestly can’t wait, but I’m just not there yet… I’m doing my very best to get back to the level that I need to be so that I can give 100 percent at my shows because that’s what you deserve.”
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Dec. 8, 2022
Dion shared that she had been diagnosed with a “very rare” progressive neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome, surely the first time that most people had ever heard of it.
“As you know, I’ve always been an open book,” she said in an Instagram video. “I wasn’t ready to say anything before, but I’m ready now. I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”
She suffered muscle spasms that affected “every aspect” of her daily life, Dion explained, making it difficult to walk sometimes and, saddest of all, it was going to be impossible for her to go back on tour as she’d been planning.
“I’m working hard with my sports medicine therapist every day to build back my strength and my ability to perform again,” Dion said. “But I have to admit, it’s been a struggle.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, symptoms include stiff muscles in the torso, arms, and legs, and greater sensitivity to noise, touch, and emotional distress, all of which can trigger muscle spasms.
Getty Images/Getty Images for Global Citizen
April 13, 2023
Who says you can’t have some new Céline Dion music when you least expect it?
She had previously recorded five songs for the rom-com Love Again, and the title track dropped ahead of the film’s May 5 release. “I think it’s a wonderful feel-good story, and I hope that people will like it, and like the new songs too,” stated Dion, who also appeared as herself in the movie starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan.
Dion already had several signature movie tracks to her name—”Beauty and the Beast,” “Because You Loved Me” and the Oscar-winning Titanic anthem “My Heart Will Go On”—but somehow she had never been in a movie before. (You can check out her debut in this one on Netflix.)
Sony Music Entertainment
May 2023
After a three-month delay, Dion canceled her Courage World Tour entirely through April 2024.
“I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100 percent. It’s not fair to you to keep postponing the shows, and even though it breaks my heart, it’s best that we cancel everything now until I’m really ready to be back on stage again.”
Instagram/Celine Dion
Oct. 30, 2023
Dion was seen out in a very public place for the first time since she shared her diagnosis when she caught a Las Vegas Knights hockey game at T-Mobile Arena with her and late husband René Angélil’s three sons, René-Charles, 23, and twins Eddy and Nelson, 13.
The Montreal Canadiens shared footage of the family’s meet-and-greet in the visiting team’s locker room, Dion telling coach Martin St. Louis (per an English translation) that it had been “an incredible night.” She even gave the players a pep talk, advising, “Just stay healthy, strong…do what you do best.”
But better yet, according to Canadiens executive Chantal Machabée, their VIP guest sang “a few notes” for them and it was “an incredible moment.”
“She’s been through a lot, and to see her like this and smiling and being so happy…it’s amazing,” the team’s VP of hockey communications told People. “I know she has good days and not so good days, but this was a very good day, and it was reassuring.”
December 2023
Claudette Dion gave a rather dire-sounding update on her sister’s health battle, telling 7 Jours (translated from the original French) that the singer—who’s the youngest of 14 siblings—didn’t have control over her muscles.
“What breaks my heart is that she’s always been disciplined,” Dion’s big sister said. “She’s always worked hard. Our mother always told her, ‘You’re going to do it well, you’re going to do it properly.'”
The former judge on Quebec’s L’Étoile des aînés (a competition for singers 65 and older) said it was her and Dion’s dream that the singer would be able to return to the stage. “In what capacity?” she added. “I don’t know.”
Gotham/GC Images
Jan. 30, 2024
The most promising sign yet that a new day had begun: Dion, who had understandably chosen to take a step back from public life while she battled her condition, was getting ready to give a raw look at what she was going through.
Amazon announced the upcoming documentary I Am: Céline Dion, directed by Irene Taylor, would reveal the lengths Dion had been going to in hopes she could go back to doing what she loved.
“As the road to resuming my performing career continues, I have realized how much I have missed it, of being able to see my fans,” Dion said in a statement, explaining why once more she was opening the door. “During this absence, I decided I wanted to document this part of my life, to try to raise awareness of this little-known condition, to help others who share this diagnosis.”
Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images
Feb. 4, 2024
The 2024 Grammys may have ended with a few more people believing in the power of love.
As soon as Dion was announced as the night’s final presenter (after social media got wind of her presence elsewhere in the building, but still), the audience was on its feet.
The five-time Grammy winner may not have been ready for a spotlight performance on music’s biggest night just yet, but she did sing a few bars with Sonyaé Elise backstage, the “Collide” artist sharing the moment on Instagram afterward amid other highlights from her “ICONIC night.”
Dion and Taylor Swift also shared an off-stage hug, silencing the immediate uproar over Swift seemingly not paying proper homage to the elder legend onstage when Dion presented her with Album of the Year for Midnights. Not wanting to be an anti-hero on her history-making night, Swift posed for pics with Dion and René-Charles, who had sweetly escorted his mom to the microphone.
Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images
Dion also shared some highlights from the icons-only portion of the evening, including photos with Stevie Wonder and Oprah Winfrey.
Celebrating the momentous night with Dion was her longtime stylist Law Roach, who dressed the star in a flowy Valentino dress and striking overcoat, with Tiffany & Co. diamonds upping the sparkle factor.
“This makes me so much Joy!” he captioned a next-day Instagram snap with Dion. “Not just to dress my Queen again but the fact that she’s HEALTHY AND HAPPY! The UNIVERSE always PROTECTS and PROVIDES.”
Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images
April 2024
After a March trip to Boston, where she watched the Bruins take on the New York Rangers at TD Garden, Dion gave an update on her health to Vogue France.
She was still learning to live with stiff-person syndrom, she shared in the article published April 22, but was working her butt off with athletic, physical and vocal therapy five days a week to not let it defeat her.
“The way I see it, I have two choices,” Dion said. “Either I train like an athlete and work super hard, or I switch off and it’s over, I stay at home, listen to my songs, stand in front of my mirror and sing to myself.”
Screengrab by IOC via Getty Images
July 26, 2024
With the Eiffel Tower providing the appropriately romantic background, Dion sang Edith Piaf’s’ “Hymne A L’Amour” at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, her first performance in four years.
Dion wrote on Instagram afterward that she was “so full of joy to be back in one of my very favorite cities!”
Getty Images for City of Hope
Oct. 22, 2024
Dion made a surprise appearance in Los Angeles at City of Hope’s Spirit of Life Gala to present chairman and CEO of AEG Presents Jay Marciano with the Spirit of Life Award.
Photo by Carmen Mandato/TGL/TGL via Getty Images
March 4, 2025
Dion’s twin sons Nelson and Eddy hung out with their mom—and league co-creator Tiger Woods, NBD—at a TGL event in Florida.
(Originally published Feb. 10, 2024, at 4:30 a.m. PT)
