The rehearsal room was buzzing with anticipation. A glittering chandelier flickered above, casting warm light onto Celine Dion as she paced slowly, microphone in hand. Beside her stood Josh Groban — older now, but still holding the earnest intensity he carried as a teen when they first met. Tonight, they would reunite to sing The Prayer at a global charity gala broadcast live to millions.
But it wasn’t just any duet.
This performance came after years of silence from Dion, who had stepped away from the spotlight due to her health. And it was Josh who had coaxed her back, not for fame — but for something deeply personal.
The Lost Note from 1998
In 1998, during that now-legendary Grammy rehearsal where Josh first replaced Andrea Bocelli, David Foster handed young Groban a crumpled handwritten lyric sheet — one that had a single phrase scribbled in French at the bottom: “N’oublie jamais pourquoi tu chantes.” (“Never forget why you sing.”)
Josh kept it for years, thinking it was Foster’s scribble.
But he later discovered — during a dinner conversation in 2007 — that it had been written by Celine Dion herself. “That’s my mantra,” she had whispered when she saw it. “I gave that note to someone once.”
Josh didn’t say a word.
He had never told anyone he still had it.
A Hidden Verse and a Haunting Message
Flash forward to 2025. Preparations for the charity gala were underway when Foster, now semi-retired, shared something that shocked both singers: The Prayer had an unreleased second verse. It was dropped before the song’s first studio recording due to time constraints — but it carried a meaning both would now find chilling.
The lyrics, translated loosely, spoke of reunion, of a voice returning from silence, and of a shared purpose in music:
“And should my voice fall silent,
Yours will carry mine.
Through prayers unspoken,
Together we shine.”
Celine gasped. Josh turned pale. It felt like fate was folding in on itself.
They decided to include the lost verse in the live performance.
A Vanishing Act, and a Viral Frenzy
The night arrived. The stage was set with minimal decor — just two microphones and a grand piano. The crowd hushed. Dion stepped forward, fragile but radiant. Josh stood across from her. The first notes echoed, and the familiar melody swept over the audience like a wave of memory.
When they reached the unreleased verse, a hush fell even deeper. Dion closed her eyes, holding the note — long and trembling — and then…
Silence.
Her mic dropped. Lights flickered. The cameras froze.
And Celine Dion disappeared from the stage.
Not metaphorically. Not symbolically.
She was gone.
Live. On air.
The world erupted into chaos.
Theories, Panic, and a Clue
News channels scrambled for explanations. Conspiracy theories exploded: alien abduction, magic trick gone wrong, hologram failure. But the truth was even stranger.
Josh Groban, stunned and pale, left the stage clutching something in his hand: the original lyric note with the French inscription.
He later revealed in a tearful interview: “She told me… she might not be meant for this world anymore. That her voice was her tether. And if it ever returned completely, maybe she’d be called home.”
The song — and especially the lost verse — had, somehow, completed her.
The Voice Returns
Two weeks passed. Tributes flooded in. Fans lit candles in every major city. And then, quietly, a YouTube video surfaced from an anonymous account.
It was just audio.
Crackly. Soft.
But unmistakably: Celine Dion, singing The Prayer, the final verse, alone.
And at the end, a whisper: “Je suis encore ici.” (“I am still here.”)
No one could trace the IP. No one has seen her since.
But every year on that same day, another piece of that lost verse is posted — this time sung by different voices, in different languages, from different countries.
Josh Groban leads a global choir now.
They don’t call it a performance.
They call it a vigil.
Because one day, they believe, she will finish the song.
And when she does — the world will know what prayer truly sounds like.