Celine Dion is back on stage.
The five-time Grammy award winner appeared on stage in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to perform at the 1001 Seasons of Elie Saab fashion show on Wednesday. Dion closed out the show with performances of “I’m Alive” and “The Power of Love” in a dazzling blush pink gown, reports The Standard.
Her appearance was made in celebration of 45 years of Saab’s fashion career. It’s one of a handful of performances from Dion since she revealed her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis in 2022.
“Being here for the first time is kind of a dream come true,” Dion said on the red carpet ahead of the fashion show, per The Standard. “And Monsieur Elie Saab and his entourage and his beautiful family has welcomed us here — my manager, my son and all the people that I needed to support me to be here.”
“His generosity, his talent, he has been singing with me because I’ve been wearing his dresses, his talent for many, many years,” she added. “So being here is just wonderful. So we’re very, very privileged and very honored to be here.”
Dion has made a gradual return to stage since being diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, an extremely rare neurological disorder which causes painful spasms and progressive muscle stiffness, per Yale Medicine.
When announcing her diagnosis in 2022, Dion said, “The 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.”
After her diagnosis, Dion cancelled several shows and began a brief hiatus from performing — with the intention of finding her way back on stage.
“I’m going to go back onstage, even if I have to crawl,” Dion told Hoda Kotb of Today in 2023. “Even if I have to talk with my hands, I will ... not just because I have to, or because I need to. It’s because I want to and I miss it.”
At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Dion delivered her first performance since her diagnosis at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. She sang “La Vie en Rose.”