Céline Dion has canceled all her scheduled tour dates through April 2024.
via: ET Online
The 55-year-old singer made an official announcement on her social media and her website, announcing that all 42 upcoming dates on her Courage World Tour are being canceled.
“It is with tremendous disappointment that we have to announce today the cancellation of the Courage World Tour,” a post on her Instagram was captioned.
In a statement, Dion is quoted as saying, “I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again. I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100 percent. 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 on stage again. I want you all to know, I’m not giving up… and I can’t wait to see you again.”
The news comes one month after Dion released a new song, “Love Again,” as the lead single from the soundtrack to her new film of the same name. Dion’s voice is stronger than ever as she sings about finding hope and giving love another chance — which happens to be the theme of the film.
Dion announced her heartbreaking diagnosis back in December in an emotional video posted to Instagram.
“Hello everyone, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out to you, I miss you so much and I can’t wait to be on stage talking to you in person,” Dion, wearing an all-black outfit, began her message. “As you know, I’ve always been an open book and I wasn’t ready to say anything before but I’m ready now.”
The “My Heart Will Go On” singer shared that while she’s finally figured out what is causing her health issues, the disorder has impacted her daily life, and how she performs on stage.
“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know this is what’s been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having,” she explained. “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’m used to.”
Stiff Person Syndrome is an incurable neurological disease so extremely rare that, according to the famed Cleveland Clinic, only about one out of every one million people get it.
The Cleveland Clinic, founded in 1921 and credited with pioneering many medical breakthroughs, also says twice as many women suffer from the disease as men, and symptoms — which can take months or even years to develop and may include violent spasms and an inability to even walk — can occur at any age but usually within the ages of 30 and 60.
The Mayo Clinic describes Stiff Person Syndrome as “a rare disorder of motor function characterized by involuntary stiffness of axial muscles and superimposed painful muscle spasms, which are often induced by startle or emotional stimuli.”
