Quebec (AFP)

After 16 years in Las Vegas, Quebec star Céline Dion returns to her home province to present her new "Courage" concert in Quebec City on Wednesday, kicking off her first world tour in ten years.

At 51, the Canadian singer gives a new twist to her career with an international tour and a new album in English available on November 15th. A first excerpt, "I'm flying on my own" has already been revealed to fans.

If only sixty dates in North America have so far been unveiled, "+ Courage + is a gigantic tour," assured AFP his record company.

After nine dates in Quebec City and Montreal, the singer with nearly 250 million albums sold will then perform throughout North America until April 2020, then on other continents.

"+ Courage +, that's the word that best sums up how I feel.In the past three years, it has been difficult for me to talk to children, to raise them, the loss of my husband, + is it that I'm going to sing again? + (?), so much has happened, but at the same time I feel that I'm in control of my life, "said Céline Dion, with a smile on her face CBC Public Television in April.

On June 8, the singer decided to turn a page of her career leaving her American residency in Las Vegas after 16 years, during which she presented two shows in the auditorium of the famous Caesars Palace casino, "A New Day "from 2003 to 2007, and" Céline "from 2011 to 2019.

Nearly 4,500,000 fans came to see the superstar on stage during its 1,141 performances in the city of vice, generating a total of 875 million Canadian dollars (600 million euros), according to the figures of its promoter of concerts AEG Live .

During her residency in Las Vegas, the diva did some short tours, mostly in Europe and Asia, but her last international, "Taking Chances World Tour", dates back to 2008-2009.

- Major change -

The world tour "Courage" marks a major change in the career of Celine Dion with "the first show created completely without René (Angélil)," said Yves Aucoin, designer of the show and close collaborator of the star for 30 years , in the Journal de Québec.

Celine's husband and impresario, René Angélil, passed away at age 73 in January 2016 from a throat cancer in his Las Vegas residence.

Their meeting, when Céline Dion was 13 years old, shaped the career of the singer.

"When I heard that voice, I had never heard anything like that, for me it's the most beautiful voice in the world," said René Angélil, who became her husband in 1994 and the father of her three children .

The story of the youngest of a family of 14 children raised in the suburbs of Montreal is a fairy tale, with four world tours, 23 studio albums in English and French and collaborations with Jean-Jacques Goldman, Barbra Streisand or Stevie Wonder.

René Angélil built an empire around "his golden voice" for more than 30 years, leading his career with an iron fist and multiplying investments (restaurants, discotheque in Las Vegas, golf) without forgetting the products ( perfume, clothing and accessories).

"Celine may have been the greatest singer in Quebec, but with René, she became the greatest singer in the world," said Quebec lyricist Luc Plamondon.

© 2019 AFP