Her heart will go on.
Celine Dion, 55, made a rare appearance attending a hockey game in Las Vegas on Monday, between the Vegas Golden Knights and her hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens.
While it’s not unusual for a celeb to be seen at a sports event — like new football fan Taylor Swift — for Dion, this is remarkable. She’s been out of the spotlight for nearly four years ever since she canceled all her live appearances due to her battle with stiff-person syndrome.
In December 2022, Dion announced her diagnosis in an Instagram video.
“As you know, I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before, but I’m ready now,” Dion said.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time and it’s been really difficult for me to face my challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”
She revealed that doctors diagnosed her with “a very rare neurological disorder called the stiff-person syndrome which affects 1 in a million people.”
The disorder causes painful muscle spasms, among other symptoms.
“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all the spasms I’ve been having,” the singer explained. “As you know, I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before, but I’m ready now.”
“Unfortunately, these [muscle] spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”
She still went on her “Courage World Tour,” but in May 2023, the singer took to Instagram to cancel it, amid her health issues.
“It is with tremendous disappointment that we have to announce today the cancellation of the Courage World Tour,” a post to her Instagram read.
“I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again. I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100%.”
“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. I want you all to know, I’m not giving up … and I can’t wait to see you again!” Dion wrote.
The “Courage World Tour” began in 2019 and went through 52 shows before the COVID-19 pandemic forced Dion to postpone the rest of it.
She then postponed more shows after she announced her heath issues, and she’s been out of the spotlight ever since – aside from her Instagram videos, she hasn’t been photographed in over three years, according to TMZ – until Monday’s hockey game.
The team’s VP of hockey communications, Chantal Machabee, posted a photo of herself posing with Dion on Instagram.
“From the lovely visit to our game in Vegas yesterday. Thank you Céline Dion for your generosity. The whole team was very happy to meet you and your family,” she wrote.
Comments were filled with relieved fans writing sentiments like, “Wow! So great to see Céline looking so healthy and happy!”
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