Six years after her last full concert, Celine Dion returned to the stage Saturday night, opening a new run of shows in Paris with an emotional performance that left her in tears within the first moments.
The Canadian singer was greeted by cheers from some 30,000 fans at Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre, outside the French capital. While performing “On ne change pas,” Dion became visibly emotional. “These are tears of joy, of course. I’m so happy to see you,” she told the audience.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry,” she added. “I don’t keep my promises, but I’m so happy to see all of you. I missed you. I’m going to sing for you without crying.”
Later in the show, Dion again addressed the crowd and thanked fans for supporting her throughout the years she was unable to perform. “Thank you so much for coming,” she said. “If this is your first time in Paris, I hope you fall in love with it the way I did. Finally, it’s amazing that we are all here together.”
“I promised I would come back, that I would return to the stage. So here I am, singing for you and singing for me, singing live,” she continued. “Thank you so much for your support, for your patience, and if I may say so, I am everything I am because you loved me,” she added, referencing one of her best-known songs, “Because You Loved Me.”
The concert opened a run of 16 performances Dion is scheduled to give in Paris during September and October. She is then expected to return for another 10 shows in May 2027. They are her first full concerts since March 2020, aside from her appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she performed Édith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” from the Eiffel Tower.
(Photo: Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Dion’s previous tour was cut short in March 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her attempts to return to live performance were later derailed after she revealed in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes muscle rigidity and spasms and affected both her ability to walk and to sing.
Because of her condition, Dion canceled the remainder of her Courage World Tour and largely withdrew from performing. In the 2024 documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” she offered an unusually intimate look at her struggle with the illness, including the severe spasms and pain it can cause.
Her return to the stage generated extraordinary excitement in Paris. Fans waited for hours outside Dion’s hotel, while a metro station near the arena was decorated with lyrics from her songs. The night before the opening concert, a mass karaoke event was held in the city in her honor.
Around nine million people reportedly registered for the presale lottery, and tickets for the shows sold out quickly.