After rumors that Celine Dion would be returning to the stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the iconic chanteuse delivered a jaw-dropping performance at the games’ opening ceremony on Friday (July 26).
The superstar performed an emotional rendition of Édith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour” from the Eiffel Tower, which was sparkling and lit with the Olympic rings. Accompanied by a piano and rocking a stunning white gown, the singer delivered her effortlessly flawless vocals as she belted the lyrics to the 1950 track, which translates to “The Hymn of Love.”
The performance marks Dion’s first since she cancelled the dates on her North American Courage world tour before revealing she is fighting Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes severe muscle spasms.
Dion previously seeded hope for her return to the stage in her recent Prime Video doc I Am: Celine Dion, in which she said of her determination to perform again: “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl… I won’t stop.” She was also spotted earlier this week greeting fans in Paris outside Royal Monceau hotel near the Champs-Élysées.
It’s hardly her first time on the Olympic stage. She previously performed “The Power of the Dream” at the opening ceremony for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Elsewhere in the ceremony, the Olympic cauldron was lit following a months-long torch relay, in which Snoop Dogg, BTS’ Jin and Pharrell Williams participated. Earlier in the day, Lady Gaga took the stage to perform a cabaret-style rendition of the French-language “Mon Truc en Plume” (“My Thing With Feathers”) in a minutes-long, highly choreographed routine.
