New Delhi: Celine Dion fell on stage during a concert in Paris Wednesday—only to get up almost immediately and continue singing. She was performing ‘Dans un autre monde’ when she lost her balance.
In a video recorded by an audience member, the 58-year-old singer can be seen hopping on one foot. Her flared trousers appear to get caught under her heel, and she falls, putting out a hand to stop herself. She gets up, gives the crowd a thumbs-up and says, “Don’t worry!”
Dion also forgot the lyrics to the song ‘Pour que tu m’aimes encore’ during the concert. She asked the audience to help her, and they began singing along. She thanked them afterward.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” she said in French. “It made my heart swell. It touched me so deeply.”
Dion returned to performing concerts in September after more than six years away. She has stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms. The singer had cancelled several shows due to her disorder.
Return to the stage
Dion announced her diagnosis in December 2022, explaining that the spasms were affecting several aspects of her daily life. They sometimes made it difficult for her to walk and prevented her from using her vocal cords to sing as she normally would. She subsequently cancelled the remaining dates of her Courage World Tour.
The 2024 documentary I Am: Celine Dion followed her life with the condition. It showed her undergoing treatment, working with her voice and trying to find a way to return to performing. One scene showed Dion experiencing a prolonged and painful spasm while receiving treatment, with members of her medical team helping her through it.
She did return to the stage briefly for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in July 2024. Dion performed the song ‘Hymne à l’amour’ from the Eiffel Tower, her first major public performance since announcing her diagnosis.
She began her Paris residency in September, marking her return to regular performances since she stopped touring because of her illness.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
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