French president Emmanuel Macron says he would be “immensely happy” if Canadian singer Celine Dion attended the Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony.
Dion, 56, has not performed live since disclosing her rare stiff person syndrome (SPS), which causes progressive muscular inflexibility.
She has reportedly arrived in the French capital ahead of the Games along with US singer Lady Gaga.
When asked about the news, Mr Macron told France 2 in French: “Apparently, she (Dion) has arrived in Paris. It’s great.”
When asked about her participating in the ceremony, Mr Macron said it would be “fantastic news” if she did, because Dion is “a great artist”.
He added: “I would be immensely happy if she could be at this opening ceremony, like all our compatriots.”
When pressed by the journalist, he said: “I will not reveal anything, what (Paris Olympics artistic director) Thomas Jolly and all his teams have prepared. There is also a surprise.”
He also said: “I am not responsible for his schedule.”
Dion revealed her diagnosis in 2022, as she cancelled her Courage World Tour and recently explored the impact of the spasms on health in the 2024 documentary I Am: Celine Dion.
The singer, whose best-known hits include My Heart Will Go On, Think Twice and It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, has sold more than 250 million albums during her 40-year career.
She has won five Grammys, two Oscars and the Billboard Music Award lifetime achievement icon award along with being named a knight of the Legion of Honour by then-President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Quebec-born star won Eurovision in 1988 for Switzerland with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (Don’t Leave Without Me), and has released albums in French and English including her 1981 debut record La Voix Du Bon Dieu (The Voice Of The Good God).
