The Canadian singer closed out the opening ceremony with an Édith Piaf cover
The rumours were fulfilled at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris when Céline Dion made a much-anticipated appearance.
As the final act of the evening, she performed a cover of Édith Piaf's 1950 song "Hymne à l'amour" atop the Eiffel Tower. This marked her first public performance in more than four years.
"A proud Quebecer from Charlemagne is onstage at the opening ceremony," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on X, after the performance. "@celinedion is a Canadian icon, an incredible talent, and she overcame a lot to be there tonight. Céline, it's great to see you singing again."
The Grammy-winning Quebec singer's last concert was in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down her Courage world tour. In December 2022, she revealed her eventual diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, after postponing both her new Las Vegas residency and rescheduled tour dates due to health reasons.
Dion's candid June 2024 documentary, I Am Céline, showed the world how hard singing and performing is for the powerhouse vocalist with her illness -- but also how determined she is to perform again. It made her surprise appearance in Paris on July 23 all the more exciting.
Watch Dion's full performance on CBC Gem now (her performance starts at 4:24:43), and her feature June 2024 interview with CBC's Adrienne Arsenault below.
