Taiwanese fans who just last Friday were celebrating the news that Celine Dion would be appearing in Taipei in October discovered late on Wednesday that she had canceled her planned Asian tour and other performances.
A statement posted on Dion’s Facebook page on Wednesday said that she had decided to “postpone all of her show business activities indefinitely, in order to focus 100% of her attention on her husband Rene, their family, and associated health issue.”
“Since Rene’s surgery last December to remove a cancerous tumor, it’s been a very difficult and stressful time for the couple as they deal with the day-to-day challenges of fighting this disease while trying to juggle a very active show business schedule, and raise their three young children,” the statement said.
“Celine has also been fighting an illness that has caused inflammation in her throat muscles, and has not been able to perform any of her scheduled shows in Las Vegas since her last show on July 29th. She has still not recovered from this condition,” the statement said.
Dion was also quoted as saying that she wanted to “devote every ounce of my strength and energy to my husband’s healing” and “it’s important for me to dedicate this time to him and to our children.”
She apologized to her fans for the inconvenience and thanked them for their love and support.
The organizer of the Taipei concert, Kuang Hong Arts, confirmed that Dion had canceled all nine concerts on her Asia tour.
The company said that it had no further information other than what had been posted in the Facebook announcement.
However, Dion’s announcement gave renewed hope to Mariah Carey fans.
Carey had been planning an October performance in Taipei, but her organizers, Yu Kuang Music, canceled it after losing out on the Taipei Arena to Dion’s representatives.
“We were previously told that she was able to come between Oct. 27 and Oct. 30. After being told that the Taipei Arena was not available for use during that time, Carey’s team gave the spot to other Asian countries on the waiting list. They then scheduled a concert in Manila on Oct. 28, launching ticket sales yesterday,” Yu Kuang media contact Amy Ke (柯曉雲) said.
Ke said that her company contacted Carey’s agent as soon as it heard the news of Dion’s tour cancelation and are hoping that they can arrange for her to perform in Taipei on Oct. 30.
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