Celine Dion returns to the stage after battling rare illness

Singer Celine Dion performs during the opening concert of her 'Celine Dion Paris 2026' residency at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, outside Paris, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. Aurelien Morissard/AP hide caption

Celine Dion returned to the stage Saturday nearly four years after announcing she had been battling a rare, painful condition.

Dion, who is Canadian, opened up her 16-show residency in Paris at the Plenitude Arena with the French song "On Ne Change Pas," which means "we don't change" in English. After finishing the song, she was emotional with tears in her eyes.

"I had promised myself not to cry," Dion told the crowd, according to Variety . "Thank you so very much for coming. If it's your first time in Paris, I hope you fall in love with it just like I did. Finally, it's amazing we are all together. I made a promise to come back, to be back on stage. So here I am, singing for you and singing for me, singing live!"

Videos posted online show Dion wearing a black dress and her hair in a bun singing hits "Because You Loved Me" and "Power of Love." Dion also sang "My Heart Will Go On," an iconic classic from "The Titanic" movie soundtrack.

A few hours before the show was slated to begin, Dion posted on her Instagram Story a photo of herself smiling and standing in front of fans with her hands in the air with the comment "En route!"

A native of Quebec, a French-speaking province of Canada, she is deeply loved in France. Her concerts are sold out and it's estimated they will bring in millions of dollars for the region.

The Grammy award-winning artist revealed in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that causes stiff limbs and severe muscle spasms. She said then in a message on social media that the condition affected every part of her life, "sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to."