Celine Dion cancels 2023-2024 shows over health

Pop icon Celine Dion on Friday cancelled all her remaining shows scheduled for 2023-2024, saying she was not strong enough to tour as she battles a rare neurological disorder.

Last year the 55-year-old Canadian singer revealed that she was suffering from the rare medical condition that was affecting her singing.

"I'm so sorry to disappoint all of you once again... and even though it breaks my heart, it's best that we cancel everything until I'm really ready to be back on stage," the My Heart Will Go On songstress tweeted.

"I'm not giving up... and I can't wait to see you again!" she added.

A statement released by her tour said: "With a sense of tremendous disappointment, Celine Dion's Courage World Tour today announced the cancellation of all remaining dates currently on sale for 2023 and 2024."

"I'm working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you're 100%," the statement quoted Dion as saying.

In December 2022, she posted a tearful video on Instagram to say she had recently been diagnosed with Stiff-Person Syndrome and would not be ready to start a European tour in February as planned.

She said the disorder was causing muscle spasms and was "not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to."

The "Courage World Tour" began in 2019, and Dion completed 52 shows before the Covid-19 pandemic put the remainder on hold.

She later cancelled the North American section of the tour due to health problems.

The tour was to have been the Grammy-winning winner's first global concert tour in a decade and the first without her husband-manager Rene Angelil, who died from cancer in 2016.ou

© Agence France-Presse