Paris Isn’t the First Time Céline Dion Performed at an Olympics Opening Ceremony

Céline Dion made a dazzling comeback performance at the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Summer Games, but it’s not the first time the singer has been in the Olympic spotlight.

Back in 1996, Dion, 56, sang at the Opening Ceremony for the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. She was just 28 at the time, half her lifetime ago.

For those who may be too young to remember her 1996 performance of “The Power of the Dream,” you can watch it above.

The song, written by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Babyface specifically for the Atlanta Games, was reminiscent of the era’s power ballads.

Dion wore a sparkly v-neck top and long skirt and had her hair styled in a layered cut popular at the time.

1996 was a huge year for Dion, who had already cemented herself as a global superstar. That year, she released her fourth studio album Falling Into You, which included chart-toppers “Because You Loved Me,” “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and a cover of “All By Myself.”

Twenty-eight years later — and a year-and-a-half after she revealed she was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome — Dion returned to the Olympic stage once more.

On Friday, the French-Canadian singer performed an emotional rendition of “Hymne à l’amour,” popularized by French singer Edith Piaf.

This time clad in a white couture Dior gown and fending off the rain, Dion delivered a powerful performance — her first since announcing her illness.

Singer Kelly Clarkson, a member of the NBC broadcast team, was moved to tears during Dion’s performance and became emotional for a second time recapping it.

“I was not ready for that ending,” she told cohosts Mike Tirico and Peyton Manning during the aftershow. “If you know anything just about Celine right now, she feels like this is her purpose. And if you know anything about what she’s going through right now — I’m so sorry, I’m trying to hold it together — that she got through that, that was incredible. And in my field she is the gold winner for vocal athletes. She’s incredible.”

“I’m honored to have performed tonight, for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favorite cities,” Dion wrote on social media following her performance. “Most of all, I’m so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance.”