Celine Dion’s stunning ‘Hymn to Love’ at the Olympics

Unquestionably, the highlight of the long (really long) and often bewildering — and, at times, blasphemous — opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics came at the very end.

Celine Dion, battling a crippling neurological disease, stood in the Eiffel Tower and belted out a sensational performance of Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour,” a hymn to love.

If you missed it, watch it here on YouTube. If you saw it Friday night, watch it it again. And again. This is, frankly, a triumph — a testament to resilience, courage, and the indomitable power of love to conquer despair and grief.

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Give this woman a gold medal.

About the song: 

“Hymne à l’amour” (French for “Hymn to Love”) is a French song originally performed by Édith Piaf. The song has been performed at two Olympic Games ceremonies, by Milet at the 2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Tokyo in 2021 and by Celine Dion at 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris.

The lyrics were written by Piaf and the music by Marguerite Monnot. It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer, Marcel Cerdan. On October 28, 1949, Cerdan was killed in the crash of Air France Flight 009 on his way from Paris to New York to come to see her. She recorded the song on May 2, 1950.

A translation of the lyrics: