Celine Dion cancels rest of world tour due to medical condition

Move comes shortly after she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, stiff-person syndrome

Celine Dion performs during the preliminary competition of Eurovision Song Contest in Morges, Switzerland, in February 1988. EPA

Dion performs at the 1988 Eurovision Song Content

Dion at the 1995 World Music Awards in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Getty Images

Arriving at the 71st Academy Awards in March 1999. Photo: Liaison Agency

In Las Vegas, Nevada on March 25, 2003. Reuters

At the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007. EPA

At the 2007 World Music Awards in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Getty Images

Awarded with France's Legion d'honneur during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace, Paris, France in May 2008. EPA

At the 2015 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. Photo: FilmMagic

Dion with her twin sons Eddy, left, and Nelson, then aged four, for the boys' birthday with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland park in California in 2016. Getty Images

Performing at AccorHotels Arena in Paris in 2017. AFP

At the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. EPA

The singer revealed on Instagram that she is suffering from a very rare neurological disorder, which has forced her to postpone concerts. AFP

Performing on the opening night of her Courage World Tour in September 2019. AFP

Performing in Montreal, Canada in September 2019. AP

In Paris, France, in 2019. GC Images

At the Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium

Dion performs at the taping of Aretha! A Grammy Celebration For The Queen Of Soul in Los Angeles on January 13, 2019. Reuters

At the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in July 2019. Shutterstock

The singer was due to perform in Beirut in 2019 but cancelled the show. Getty Images

At a miu miu event in Paris, France, in 2019. Getty Images

Wearing Zuhair Murad's Rise from the Ashes T-shirt in 2020. Instagram / celinedion

Dion on the streets of Lower Manhattan on March 7, 2020. GC Images

Wearing Ralph Masri in the album art for her 2019 album Courage. Instagram / Ralph Masri

Canadian pop singer Celine Dion announced on Friday that she was cancelling the European stretch of her world tour, scheduled to resume this summer, due to a medical condition that makes it difficult for her to perform.

The announcement comes four months after the 55-year-old Quebecoise singer said she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome that causes muscle spasms.

At the time, the disorder forced her to postpone some European shows on her Courage World Tour.

“I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again,” the singer – best known for the Titanic movie theme song My Heart Will Go On – wrote on Instagram on Friday.

“I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100 per cent.”

The tour's European stretch consisted of 42 shows in seven cities from late August to early October and another 17 cities during the spring of 2024.

Dion said ticket holders would receive refunds.

Stiff-person syndrome causes muscle rigidity and increased sensitivity to sound, touch and emotional stimuli that can trigger spasms.

The condition led the Grammy Award winner to postpone her Las Vegas residency in October 2021.

The tour – her first in the US in 10 years – kicked off in Quebec City in September 2019. It was accompanied by the release of her latest album Courage.

The singer said the album’s title was inspired by the 2016 death from throat cancer of her husband and manager Rene Angelil. The couple had three children.