Celine Dion cancels the remainder of world tour
Powerhouse pop superstar Celine Dion announced recently on social media that she was cancelling the remainder of her Courage World Tour up to April in order to focus on her recovery from a rare autoimmune and neurological disease.
Dion, 55, first shared publicly that she was grappling with the medical condition — called stiff person syndrome, which causes progressive stiffness and severe muscle spasms — in an emotional Instagram video that she posted in December, as she cancelled or postponed a number of tour dates.
“I am so sorry to disappoint all of you once again,” Dion said in her statement.
“I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100%. It’s not fair to you to keep postponing the shows, and even though it breaks my heart, it’s best that we cancel everything now until I’m really ready to be back onstage again.
“I want you all to know, I’m not giving up… And I can’t wait to see you again!”
The remaining 2023 tour dates had been scheduled to run from Aug 26 in Amsterdam to Oct 4 in Helsinki, Finland; then from March 6 in Prague to April 22 in London. Tickets purchased for the cancelled dates can be refunded via the original point of sale, according to the statement.
Before the pandemic paused Dion’s tour in March 2020, she had completed the first 52 dates in North America. “Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I am used to,” she said in the video posted last year.
Dion can be seen in her first feature movie role, alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan, in the romantic comedy-drama Love Again released this month.
After the announcement of her illness last year, Dion, known for her renditions of ballads such as Because You Loved Me and My Heart Will Go On, was met with a remarkable outpouring from fans, particularly in Quebec, the French-speaking Canadian province where she was born.