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Celine Dion cancels world tour dates

Celine Dion has cancelled the North American leg of her 'Courage' world tour, impacting four Canadian dates including Vancouver.

Dion was slated to perform at Vancouver's Roger's Arena on March 29, with additional shows in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton among the 16 stops cancelled.

The 53-year-old Canadian singer - who is reportedly suffering from "severe and persistent muscle spasms" - was due to tour North America in support of her 12th English-language studio album from April 2021 but pulled the plug as she continues to recover from her health issues.

In a statement posted to her official website, she said: "I was really hoping that I’d be good to go by now, but I suppose I just have to be more patient and follow the regimen that my doctors are prescribing. There’s a lot of organizing and preparation that goes into our shows, and so we have to make decisions today which will affect the plans two months down the road."

The 'My Heart Will Go On' hitmaker - who had performed 52 dates of the tour across America before it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic - went on to explain that she will be "glad" to get back to full health and thanked her fans for their "words of encouragement."

She added: "I'll be so glad to get back to full health, as well as all of us getting past this pandemic, and I can't wait to be back on stage again. Meanwhile, I've been very touched by all the words of encouragement that everyone's been sending to me on social media. I feel your love and support and it means the world to me."

The European leg of Celine's world tour is still scheduled to begin May 25, 2022 in Birmingham.