Photo Credit: Getty Images
Avril Lavigne has made a comeback, taking to the stage for the first time in a year this weekend, for the opening ceremony at the Special Olympics World Games.
The 30-year-old singer has written a song especially to ‘encourage people who are facing challenges, to encourage strength and to empower’. This song, Fly, is her latest single which she performed, and inspired many people, at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. Proceeds from Fly are going to support the Special Olympics.
So proud of you @AvrilLavigne#AvrilOnLA2015 #AvrilLavigne #SpecialOlympicsWorldGames #Fly pic.twitter.com/b4prW6WaRX
— JaliPerez (@JhalieBabes) July 27, 2015
The Special Olympics Ontario also commended Avril’s performance and thanked her:
Wonderful performance @AvrilLavigne @LA2015 Thank you @AvrilFoundation for all your support for Special Olympics #Fly #ReachUpLA
— Special Olympics ON (@SOOntario) July 26, 2015
Avril, who is married to lead singer of rock band Nickleback, Chad Kroeger, had not performed for a year due to her personal battle with Lyme Disease.
The debilitating bacterial infection had left her bedridden for 5 months with severe weakness and fatigue and she had no idea where she got the tick bite from that gave her the infection. Support from her fans through social media helped her on the road to recovery and she became inspired to raise awareness about the disease. She said it had been a difficult year fighting through Lyme disease and she was happy to have made it on the Olympics stage for her first performance in a year.
Other celebrities at the ceremony included Stevie Wonder and former Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger who sang the national anthem at the event.
Backstage yesterday at @SpecialOlympics with @CodySimpson & this lit starlet @MadisonTevlin pic.twitter.com/ZLytlrdGrS
— Nicole Scherzinger (@NicoleScherzy) July 26, 2015
Nearly 7,000 athletes from 165 countries formed in the stadium, with Greece being the first country to parade through it, sticking to the Olympic tradition.
The flame was lit, nearly three hours later by First Lady Michelle Obama who said to the crowd, “My husband and I, we are so proud of you, so incredibly proud of you, and we love you all from the bottom of our hearts.”
