By her own admission, Céline Dion has had a rough go of it lately. The Queen of the Power Ballad stepped out of the limelight for much of last year, after a December 2022 illness announcement (she has an incurable autoimmune disorder). But when she popped up in the locker rooms of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team—they were in Las Vegas to play at the T-Mobile Arena—her charming banter and wisecracks had players chuckling. And fans hoping that Dion will indeed return to the public eye.
First the Grammys, Now This: Céline Dion's Latest Public Appearance Surprises Fans
The video shows her comic chops
Published Mar 12, 2024
•8:16pm
Amy Sussman / Getty Images
The team shared a video of Dion's appearance on Instagram, in which the chic 55-year-old wears a cream-colored, cashmere sweater dress and hoop earrings as she describes her admiration for the teammates, playfully assuming their on-ice hunched ready position. "Exciting to me — those big guys, like, just on flat shoes. I cannot imagine on skates with all the equipment going like," the singer said, while miming holding a hockey stick. Left winger Zach Hyman laughed along with Dion, who smiled widely at her countrymen as out of place as, well, Canadians in the desert.
Later in the clip, the songstress explained her attachment to hockey. "I've got three boys. What do you think: I'm going to see Beauty and the Beast every night?" she quipped. (We've got the receipts—she took her boys to see the Montreal Canadiens team back in November.)
After Dion got a standing ovation from the Grammy audience in February when she presented the album of the year award to Taylor Swift, and earned all the love from her fans in January when she announced an upcoming documentary, we're hoping this Edmonton Oilers appearance means she's gaining momentum to make more appearances, as her health permits.
