Pop icon Celine Dion on Friday canceled all remaining shows scheduled for 2023-2024, saying she was not strong enough to tour as she battles a rare neurological disorder.
The 55-year-old Canadian revealed last year that his condition – Stiff Person Syndrome – affected his singing.
“I’m sorry to let you all down again… and as much as it breaks my heart, it’s best to put everything on hold until I’m ready to get back on stage,” the “My Heart Will Go On” singer. he tweeted.
“I won’t give up…and I can’t wait to see you again!” he added.
A statement released by her band said: “It is with tremendous disappointment that Celine Dion’s Courage World Tour has announced the cancellation of all remaining dates currently on sale for 2023 and 2024.”
“I’m working very hard to get my strength back, but touring can be very difficult even when I’m 100 percent,” Dion said in her statement, which was also posted on Instagram.
Dion, one of the leading female singers with an octave voice, is the author of hits such as “Because You Loved Me”, “My Heart Will Go On” and “Think Twice”.
In December 2022, he posted a tearful video on Instagram to say that he had recently been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome and would not be ready to start his planned European tour in February.
She said the disorder caused muscle spasms and “wasn’t allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I am.”
Sufferers experience stiff muscles in the trunk, arms, and legs that cause spasms with noise or emotional distress.
The cancellation will affect a 16-country European tour that was due to start in Amsterdam in August and conclude with two dates at London’s O2 Arena in April next year.
Tickets purchased on the canceled dates will be refunded through the original point of sale, its website said.
– Disappointed fan –
His “Courage World Tour” began in 2019, and Dion completed 52 shows before the Covid-19 pandemic put the rest on hold.
He later canceled the North American leg of the tour due to health issues.
The tour in Europe will be the Grammy-winning singer’s first world tour in a decade and her first without her manager husband Rene Angelil, who died of cancer in 2016.
Fans online reacted with disappointment, but wished Dion well.
“It is not surprising, but no less sad. Courage to you Celine, we stand with you,” wrote fan info account @LesRedHeads.
“You don’t have to apologize to the queen! Take care of yourself. Your health should be your first priority,” wrote @notaerz.
Dion raised hopes of a revival last month when she released her new album, “Love Again,” the soundtrack to a movie of the same name, featuring five new songs and past hits.
The youngest of 14 children, Dion was born in Quebec, Canada and got his start at the age of 12, when his mother sent a recording of him to Angelil, who mortgaged her house to finance his first album.
He started out singing in French, but after taking English lessons in the 1980s, he started releasing hits in English.
In 1997 he achieved worldwide fame with the work “My Heart Will Go On”, the theme of James Cameron’s epic film “Titanic”.
He parlayed that success into a regular gig at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, playing to audiences night after night for 16 years with few breaks.
AFP
