Remember When: Celine Dion Closes Her Final Full Concert in 2020 With John Lennon’s “Imagine”

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, Celine Dion played her final full concert before the pandemic hit. At the time, Dion had already segued from her long-running residency in Las Vegas to a world tour in support of her 27th album Courage. The tour kicked off in Dion’s hometown of Quebec City, Canada, on September 18, 2019, and concluded that night in March 2020 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

By 2021, Dion was forced canceled her rescheduled tour dates in 2021 and did the same a year later before revealing to fans in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person’s Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can cause debilitating muscle spasms. “I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time,” Dion shared in a video message on her social media pages. “And it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through.”

Her struggle with the rare disorder weas documented in the 2024 documentary, I Am: Celine Dion.

“While we’re still learning about this rare condition, we now know that this is what has been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having,” said Dion. “Unfortunately, these spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to.”

Before the cancellation of ther 2022 and 2023 North American and European dates and revealing her health diagnosis, Dion played one last show in New Jersey, opening her 18-song set with her 1996 hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” to “That’s The Way It Is” from her 1999 greatest hits album All the Way… A Decade of Song, and “I’m Alive.” Moving further back into the early ’90s, Dion shared her cover of the Diane Warren-penned “If You Asked Me To,” originally recorded by Patti LaBelle, and “The Power of Love” from 1993.

Deeper cuts and singles slipped into the set, including another Warren track “Love Can Move Mountains,” from Dion’s 1992 self-titled album, along with “Tous Les Blues Sont Écrits Pour Toi” (“All The Blues Are Written For You”) from her 1998 French album S’il Suffisait S’Aimer and ‘To Love You More.”

Less than midway in, Dion shared a cinematic “Beauty and the Beast” before slipping in two Courage tracks, the title track and “Imperfections” sandwiching her 1996 hit cover of Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself.” Before closing on a medley of David Bowie‘s “Let’s Dance,” Queen‘s “Another One Bites the Dust,” Prince‘s “Kiss,” Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Lady Marmalade,” Dion ended on her No. 1 “Because You Loved Me.”

Moments later, Dion reappeared in an elaborate white gown to perform her iconic Titanic hit “My Heart Will Go On” before closing on John Lennon‘s classic “Imagine.”

[RELATED: How To Watch 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony With Celine Dion]

Celine Dion Setlist, Prudential Center, March 8, 2020

1. It’s All Coming Back to Me Now
2. That’s the Way It Is
3. I’m Alive
4. If You Asked Me To
5. The Power of Love
6. Love Can Move Mountains
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. You’re the Voice
9. Tous les blues sont écrits pour toi
10. To Love You More
11. Courage
12. All by Myself
13. Imperfections
14. The Prayer
15. Because You Loved Me
16. Let’s Dance / Another One Bites the Dust / Kiss / River Deep, Mountain High / Lady Marmalade
    
    Encore
    
17. My Heart Will Go On
18. Imagine

Photo: Celine Dion’s Final Show in London Before Illness at British Summer Time, Hyde Park, Day 1, London, UK, July 5, 2019 (Ben Perry/Shutterstock)