It's Céline Dion's 58th birthday, but it's her adoring fans who may be receiving the biggest gift of all — her return to the concert stage.
In a video posted on her Instagram account Monday, Dion confirmed she will perform two concerts a week from Sept.
14 in the City of Light.
She'll return to the stage at the Paris La Défense Arena, which has a capacity of 40,000 people.
"It’s been kind of hard keeping it a secret," Dion said in the video, which she said was the first time she had ever recorded her own birthday message.
"This year, I'm getting the best gift of my life.
I'm getting the chance to see you, to perform for you once again, in Paris." "I'm so ready to do this," she said.
"Happy birthday to me." The pre-sale will begin on April 7, with general ticket sales starting on April 10.
Quebec-born Dion was forced to cancel her Courage World Tour dates in 2022 when she revealed her long battle with stiff person syndrome — a condition that affected her ability to sing — and ultimately scuttled the tour in 2023.
The tour had already been postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic after playing the first 52 shows.
She wouldn't sing publicly again until July 2024, when she performed Edith Piaf's Hymn to Love from the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the summer Olympic Games in Paris and again that November at a fashion show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, honouring the 45-year career of designer Elie Saab.
Dion says her fans have kept her going throughout her health struggles and recovery.
"Even in my most difficult times, you were there for me," she said.
"You’ve helped me in ways I can't even describe." Catherine Pearson, a Dion tribute artist who lives near Montreal, says the announcement is a "benediction" for fans like her around the world.
"We have waited for this news for so many months, so many years now," she....
