By Mark Gray
2:42pm PST, Nov 9, 2023
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For the first time in more than three years, Celine Dion turned up at a public event.
The Grammy-winning singer made an appearance at the Vegas Golden Knights hockey game on Oct. 30 as the team took on her hometown Montreal Canadiens.
It marked the first time fans have seen her since she announced in December 2022 that she'd been diagnosed with a rare and incurable neurological disease — stiff-person syndrome.
Photos and videos posted on social media show the music icon — flanked by son René-Charles Angelil and twins Nelson and Eddy Angelil — in the Canadiens' locker room meeting with players and the organization's top brass.
Click through to see how the five-time Grammy winner looks and find out what she said after three-and-a-half years of essentially living as a recluse…
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On Oct. 30 — in her first public appearance since 2020 — Celine Dion posed for pictures with Chantal Machabée, the vice president of Hockey Communications for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.
"Nice visit at our game in Vegas yesterday," Chantal wrote in French on Instagram alongside a few photos with the music star (pictured). "Thank you @celinedion for your great generosity. The whole team was very happy to meet you and your family."
Following the inception of the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team in 2017, Celine often attended games involving her beloved Canadiens, until she stepped back from the spotlight in recent years.
The "All By Myself" singer lives in nearby Lake Las Vegas.
MORE: Celine Dion's most over-the-top looks
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On Oct. 30, the Montreal Canadiens shared a video of Celine Dion and her sons in their locker room after the evening's game.
"Congratulations on all of your accomplishments," Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said in French, with a translation provided in the video's subtitles. He added, "I remember when you were 14 years old, you sang for the Pope. 'Une Colombe.'" Celine responded, "It's been a while since then, eh? Yeah."
Speaking about that moment with the Pope, the "My Heart Will Go On" icon said, "We've changed a little since then, but not too much… Everything we do comes from the heart."
While exchanging pleasantries with the coach, Celine said, "It's such an honor to meet you." She also said the evening, albeit one that saw her team lose to Vegas, was "incredible."
MORE: Celine Dion's life in pictures
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During her visit to the Montreal Canadiens' locker room, Celine Dion wore a white puffer vest and a beige workout set.
At one point, she met several Canadiens players and implored them to stay healthy throughout the season.
While posing for photos with the players, she said, "Let's not be shy. You smell great."
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Celine Dion's mind was firmly on hockey on Oct. 30.
"You have supporters here," she told the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. "We'll be watching. Stay well."
The video the team posted ended with her applauding the players.
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After postponing her Las Vegas residency show and canceling her world tour, Celine Dion shared heartbreaking news with fans on Instagram in December 2022, explaining in English and her native French that she'd been diagnosed with a rare and incurable neurological disease — stiff-person syndrome — that has affected her ability to sing.
She now knows it's the reason she's been facing debilitating spasms in recent years. "I've been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it's been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I've been going through," she wrote, explaining that she again had to postpone her tour, adding in an emotional video that she's been under the care of doctors who are helping her face her health crisis in hopes she can perform again.
There are unfounded rumors that she will begin her Vegas residency show at Resorts World sometime in 2024.
