Céline Dion played the first night of her Paris residency over the weekend, and delivered a moving speech about her return to the stage – check out footage below.
Last night (September 12), the legendary vocalist played the first of a 26-night stint at the 40,000-capacity Paris La Défense Arena, and was visibly emotional as she marked the beginning of her first major series of live shows since revealing she was battling a rare neurological disorder.
“I had promised myself not to cry,” Dion told thousands of fans last night as she kicked off the concert, which saw her storm through hits including ‘The Power of Love’, ‘Because You Loved Me’, ‘Pour que tu m’aimes encore’, ‘All By Myself’, ‘I’m Alive’ and ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
Addressing her return to the stage, she went on to say that “the road was rocky”. She last performed in the capital in 2024 for the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, which was her first live performance since she revealed she suffers from stiff person syndrome (SPS).
“The journey was longer than expected, with unplanned stops along the way,” she said on Saturday. “But I hung in there. A faint ray of light in the distance, deep in the mountains, I believed in it. And here it is. The sun — the sun is here. The sun, right in front of me.
Céline Dion cries as she takes the stage in Paris for her first headlining performance in six years pic.twitter.com/bLDtqinDK7
— Variety (@Variety) September 12, 2026
Les larmes de Céline Dion en prononçant ses premiers mots : "Je suis debout sur scène, dans cette ville que j'aime tant, grâce à votre soutien. Le chemin était rocailleux, avec des escales non planifiées, mais je me suis accroché : J'y croyais !"
La chanteuse de 58 ans retrouve… pic.twitter.com/qfmF25q7Xw
— Jean Marc Morandini (@morandiniblog) September 12, 2026
Celine Dion belts out “My Heart Will Go On” as she returns to the stage for her first concert in 6 years pic.twitter.com/VVBMBPhZ40
— Variety (@Variety) September 12, 2026
“I made a promise to be back on stage. So here I am, singing for you and singing for me, singing live! Thank you so very much for your support, your patience and if I may say so, I am everything I am because you loved me.”
Speaking about her health battle, Dion said that “by living with it day in and day out, I’ve come to terms with it”, adding: “I’ve decided to make it my reason for living.”
She continued: “But look around here — all around you, right here in this room — we don’t know what the person next to us is going through. There are people going through hardships, grief and sorrow. There are people radiating energy and joy. So let’s take that energy and share it.
“That’s what music is for. Tonight, we’ll sing, we’ll dance and we’ll celebrate.”
Céline Dion played:
‘On Ne Change Pas’
‘Destin’
‘Because You Loved Me’
‘Encore Un Soir’
‘Les Derniers Seront Les Premiers’
‘Tout L’or Des Hommes’
‘The Power Of Love’
‘My Heart Will Go On’
‘Beauty And The Beast’
‘The Chase’
‘J’irai Ou Tu Iras’
‘Ne Bouge Pas’
‘Dans Un Autre Monde’
‘I Feel Love / I’m Alive / That’s The Way It Is / Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ medley
‘Dansons’
‘Un Garcon Pas Comme Les Autres’
‘Courage’
‘Love Can Move Mountains’
‘The Prayer’
‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’
‘Je Chanterai’
‘Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana’
Encore:
‘All By Myself’
‘Pour Que Tu M’aimes Encore’
‘S’il Suffisait D’aimer’
Dion has been unflinching open about its impact on her voice in her documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, telling documentarians: “I can’t use my voice yet,” crying as she admitted: “Music… I miss it a lot. But also, the people. I miss them.”
Prior to her comeback, Dion last took to the stage in 2020 in New York, and was set to embark on a world tour last year but was forced to axe all scheduled dates due to her condition, which affects the brain and spinal cord, causing muscle stiffness, posture problems, sensory issues, as well as painful spasms.
The post Watch Céline Dion deliver moving speech on opening night of Paris residency: “I made a promise to be back on stage, so here I am” appeared first on NME.
