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An emotional Celine Dion greeted fans as she left her hotel in Paris on Saturday night ahead of her big comeback gig.
The singer, 58, will kickstart her five-week residency – her first run of concerts since she was forced to cancel the remainder of her Courage world tour in 2023.
She revealed in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, or SPS, which causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms.
At its worst, the debilitating condition left her unable to walk properly or use her singing voice as she once had.
In homage to Celine, fans, known as 'the red heads', set up a special candy apple stand in reference to an apple tree statement they made when she revealed her health battle.
Fans said at the time: 'We're not here for the apple, we're here for the tree,' meaning they care more about her health and wellbeing than her performing and producing hits.
An emotional Celine Dion greeted fans as she left her hotel in Paris on Saturday night ahead of her big comeback gig
In homage to Celine, fans, known as 'the red heads', set up a special candy apple stand in reference to an apple tree statement they made when she revealed her health battle
Celine cut a stylish figure in cream trousers with a feathered trim along the side and a chic black blazer
The songstress appeared touched by the thoughtful gesture and took the time out to talk to fans before making her way to the Plenitude Arena.
Celine cut a stylish figure in cream trousers with a feathered trim along the side and a chic black blazer.
The singer is in the French capital ahead of a five-week residency – her first run of concerts since she was forced to cancel the remainder of her Courage world tour in 2023.
But four years after receiving the diagnosis, the My Heart Will Go On star has said she is fighting fit for her return.
The singer previously said she had been doing 90-minute Pilates sessions three times a week and bi-weekly ballet classes, as well as physical and vocal therapy and immunotherapy.
'It's been so long, I would like to offer them something to show how I've missed them,' she told Harper's Bazaar of finally heading back out on tour.
The last time she performed on stage was at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games ceremony, having been forced to cancel her Courage world tour the previous year.
Candid documentary I Am: Celine Dion, also released in 2024, showed an unfiltered glimpse into her life living with the condition.
She revealed in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, or SPS, which causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms
In homage to Celine, fans, known as 'the red heads', set up a special candy apple stand in reference to an apple tree statement they made when she revealed her health battle
Fans said at the time: 'We're not here for the apple, we're here for the tree,' meaning they care more about her health and well-being than her performing and producing hits
The songstress appeared touched by the thoughtful gesture and took the time out to talk to fans before making her way to the Plenitude Arena
What is stiff-person syndrome?
Stiff person syndrome is an extremely rare disorder that makes the muscles in the torso and limbs alternate between spasming and being rigid.
Estimates suggest it affects around 70 people in the UK and 330 in the US and remains little understood. Around twice as many women as men are hit with it.
The progressive disease sees patients' stiffness increase over time and can lead to them needing to use a wheelchair.
There tend to be three types of the syndrome:
- Classical person man syndrome: When rigidity and spasms are around the back and stomach, and occasionally thighs and neck. It can cause back curvature over time.
- Stiff limb syndrome: Spasms especially affect the legs and feet, occasionally causing them to become fixed in place. Hands can also be affected.
- Jerking stiff person syndrome: The rarest, most aggressive form, which includes symptoms from both the others, and also affects the head and eyes.
Experts do not know exactly what is behind the disease.
But they believe it may be caused by an autoimmune reaction, when the body attacks its own nerve cells that control muscle movement.
Around 40 per cent of sufferers also have type 1 diabetes, another autoimmune disease. Type 1 diabetes is particularly associated with classical person syndrome.
Other autoimmune conditions like vitiligo, which causes white patches of skin, and pernicious anemia are likewise associated with it.
It is also more common in people with breast, lung, kidney, thyroid or colon cancer, as well as lymphomas, but researchers do not yet know why.
In stiff person syndrome, the immune system attacks a protein that helps make gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which regulate motor neurons — the nerves that control movement.
Low levels of GABA cause the neurons to continuously fire when they are not supposed to, resulting in the spasms and rigidity.
What are its symptoms?
The main symptoms caused by stiff person syndrome are spasms and rigidity of the torso and limbs.
Spasms can be triggered by loud noises, with the condition also causing heightened sensitivity to sound.
Touch and emotional distress can also be felt more intensely as a result of the condition.
The spasms can be so severe they cause people to fall over or lead to difficulty walking and other disability.
Stress and anxiety are also usually higher in those with the condition, particularly because of the unpredictability of spasms.
The lack of GABA — which regulates anxiety — in their system also affects mental health.
In one harrowing, 10-minute scene, she could be seen writhing around in agony after suffering a muscle spasm, which left her crying out in pain.
'They paid for tickets. They bought my records. They gave me that luxury. So the least I can do is tell them that I'm alive,' she said of giving her viewers such access to her private life.
On why she still has such a legion of dedicated fans she added: 'It's got to be because I'm an open book. I'm honest, and it's not always pretty.
'Sometimes it's happy things, sometimes it's sad, but it's called life.'
She said she likes to describe her diagnosis as a 'progressive condition' rather than a 'disease', as that brings to mind a scene in Home Alone in which Jeff McCallister says to his brother: 'Kevin, you're such a disease.'
English (US) ·