Canadian music icon Céline Dion made a surprise appearance at the Grammy Awards amid her ongoing battle with rare neurological disorder known as Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
After host Trevor Noah announced Dion, the room gave her a standing ovation that moved the star.
“Thank you all. I love you right back,” Dion said. “When I say that I’m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart.”
She continued, “Those who have been blessed enough to be here, at the Grammy Awards, must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to the people all around the world,”.
Dion was not one of the confirmed presenters of the night, and when Noah announced the lineup of the last awards of the gala, the presenter of Album of the Year was blurred on an on-screen graphic.
The Grammy Award winner presented the last award of the night, saying it gave her “great joy” to do so and recalling that “two legends — Diana Ross and Sting — presented to me 27 years ago.”
Dion presented the award to Taylor Swift, who made history by becoming the artist with the most wins in that category.
Just this week, it was announced that Amazon’s Prime Video had acquired the rights to "I Am: Celine Dion", a documentary directed by Irene Taylor that gives insight into the singer’s life amid the medical diagnosis.
“This last couple of years has been such a challenge for me, the journey from discovering my condition to learning how to live with and manage it, but not to let it define me,” Dion said of the pic.
She added, “As the road to resuming my performing career continues, I have realised how much I have missed it, of being able to see my fans. During this absence, I decided I wanted to document this part of my life, to try to raise awareness of this little-known condition, to help others who share this diagnosis.”