Since learning that Céline Dion lives with the rare neurological disorder Stiff Person Syndrome, which causes uncontrollable muscle spasms and has impacted her ability to sing, the world has waited for the iconic singer to perform live again. That day will reportedly come Friday, during the opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics. According to French journalist Thierry Moreau, Dion will perform a duet of Édith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” with Lady Gaga.
Dion has shared photos of herself in Paris in recent days, gushing on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday that “Every time I return to Paris, I remember there’s so much beauty and joy still to experience in the world. I love Paris, and I’m so happy to be back!”
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Gaga, too, has reportedly been spotted rehearsing on a piano floating on the River Seine, where the opening ceremony is set to take place.
Dion has not performed publicly for four years, and has often spoken of her frustration with her rare condition and determination to return to the stage. The vocal cords, too, are a muscle, and are severely impacted by her condition. At the premiere of a new documentary about her life, I Am: Céline Dion, Dion told Vanity Fair how much work she’s putting into her health, revealing that she undergoes therapy and treatment some five days a week and is making the effort not just for her career and fans, but for her family and herself as well.
“When life imposes something on you, you have two options: You deal with it, or you don’t,” she said. “I want to deal with it because I am a mother. I have three magnificent kids, and the biggest responsibility for me is to fight for them and to tell them that mom has a condition, but mom is fine. And that is what keeps me positive. I have to manage it and tell myself that. There are moments that are hard. I have days that are better than others. It’s not going away. I have to deal with this, and I am.”
“I will sing again,” she said at the event in June. “That’s for sure.”
In the documentary, it’s made clear how difficult this journey has been, in scenes where Dion is captured trying to sing a new song, then suffers a prolonged seizure. Soon after, she is filmed singing along to Wyn Starks' power ballad, “Who I Am.”
That she’ll reportedly make her comeback with the bittersweet classic “La Vie en Rose” is especially touching, as Dion got her start singing in her native French, a return to her roots for the possible long-awaited return to the stage.
Representatives for Céline Dion did not immediately return Vanity Fair’s request for comment.
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