The Christmas choir at Queen’s Park normally sings holiday carols, but on Thursday took time to pay tribute to legendary Canadian singer Céline Dion.
On steps inside the provincial legislature building in Toronto, the group sung “My Heart Will Go On,” one of Dion’s signature songs.
Christmas choirs returned to Queen’s Park this month for the first time since 2019, and the program features a different group each day.
Thursday’s tribute came after Dion announced earlier in the day that she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disease called stiff-person syndrome.
According to The Stiff Person Syndrome Research Foundation, the disease has autoimmune features and symptoms include debilitating pain, muscle spasms, and chronic anxiety.
Dion announced that she was rescheduling several European tour dates, adding that the disease isn’t allowing her “to sing the way I’m used to.”
“I miss you so much. I miss seeing all of you,” Dion told her fans. “I always give 100 per cent when I do my shows, but my condition is not allowing me to give you that right now.”
— With files from Sarah Do Couto