Celine Dion cancels Las Vegas shows on doctor's orders

Dion has sold more than 200m albums worldwide

Celine Dion has begged forgiveness from her fans after cancelling all her Las Vegas shows until June.

Following an examination last week, Dion's doctor diagnosed a weakness in her right vocal cord and prescribed up to eight weeks of rest.

"Obviously this is the worst thing for a singer... not being able to do your shows," Dionwrote on her website.

"I feel worse knowing that I'm disappointing my fans. I'm so sorry... I hope they forgive me."

Dion, 43, is midway through a three-year residency at Caesars Palace, where tickets to her show sell for as much as $250 (£155).

She began experiencing discomfort with her vocal cords last week but had initially anticipated returning to work at the weekend.

However, a doctor in Los Angeles said Dion was suffering from inflammation of the vocal cords caused by a virus and advised her to cancel all shows until 9 June.

Tickets for the cancelled performances will be refunded.

Return to form

"I tried to sing at my soundcheck last week and I had no control of my voice whatsoever," said Dion, in a statement.

"We thought that after a few days' rest I would improve but it wasn't getting any better. I guess it was worse than I thought."

Dion continued: "I'm fortunate that I was able to see Professor Berke. He assured me that with the amount of rest he prescribed, I would be back to 100%."

Her previous run at Caesars Palace, which began in 2003 and was eventually extended to five years, earned more than $400m (£250m).

The Grammy-winning singer, who remains best known for the Titanic theme song My Heart Will Go On, gave birth to twin boys in 2010.