Céline Dion’s rousing comeback performance at the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony in Paris moved many, including Kelly Clarkson, to tears.
Clarkson, 42, was a member of the broadcast team covering the event on Friday, July 26, for NBC, alongside Mike Tirico and Peyton Manning. Read More
As the hot-air balloon-inspired Olympic cauldron was lit and floated into the sky, Dion sang Edith Piaf’s classic “Hymne A L’Amour.”
The French-Canadian singer, 56, performed in a dazzling white Dior haute couture gown by Maria Graza at the base of the Eiffel Tower with the Olympic Rings illuminated above her head.
“Wow!” Tirico, 57, declared following Dion’s performance. “Céline Dion, who has been dealing with a rare progressive neurological disorder, and has not appeared very often, performing in public, with… a performance fitting of this amazing night.”
“I actually can’t talk,” Clarkson squeaked out, overcome with emotion.
“That was incredible,” Tirico replied.
“That was really beautiful,” Clarkson agreed. “People don’t know her story. What she’s been going through physically… it’s just incredible what she’s overcome and have that moment.”
The American Idol champion could be heard sniffling before adding, “She’s a vocal athlete. She’s incredible.”
Clarkson wasn’t the only NBC talent moved by Dion. Today show hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb were filmed captivated by her performance.
Celine Dion performs during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
IOC via Getty
The Opening Ceremony marked Dion’s first performance revealing her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis back in December 2022.
The condition, according to the Stiff Person Syndrome Foundation, affects the central nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord. “Patients can be disabled, wheelchair-bound or bed-ridden, unable to work and care for themselves,” the foundation said, adding that the neurological disease with autoimmune features can include symptoms like “hyper-rigidity, debilitating pain, chronic anxiety,” and muscle spasms “so violent they can dislocate joints and even break bones.”
Dion’s ongoing fight with the disease was chronicled in the documentary I Am: Céline Dion, which premiered in June.
The disease affected her ability to sing. “My vocal cords used to lead my way, and now I can’t even just talk with them. I barely could walk, and I was missing very much living,” she revealed in a PEOPLE cover story in June.
Celine Dion performs during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
NBC Sports
But the “I’m Alive” singer was determined to return to the stage. “I’m working very hard and tomorrow will be even harder. Tomorrow is another day. But there’s one thing that will never stop, and that’s the will. It’s the passion. It’s the dream. It’s the determination,” she said.
The dream and determination of hundreds of athletes will be put on display over the next two weeks as the Games are officially declared open.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympics newsletter, to get the biggest stories from the Games delivered straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.
