Celine Dion still sidelined by illness

Celine Dion has been forced to postpone several more shows on the North American leg of her "Taking Chances World Tour" due to a respiratory virus.

Earlier this month, the superstar bowed out of performances in Minneapolis, Chicago and Indianapolis and, in the last week, she added St. Louis, MO; Tulsa, OK; Kansas City, MO; Salt Lake City, UT; San Jose, CA; Omaha; and Denver to the list. Tour promoter AEG Live has already rescheduled the shows in December, January and February. Tickets will be honored for the new dates or refunded at their original point of purchase. An updated tour schedule is listed below.

In a press release announcing the postponements, AEG said Dion is recuperating from a recurrent naso-pharyngeal infection that has been further complicated by inflamed vocal cords.

"Her physician has instructed her to refrain from singing in order to completely recover," the company added.

The next date on Dion's calendar is Nov. 25 in San Diego. The North American outing still includes US gigs from coast to coast and multiple nights in Quebec. The Canadian songstress also recently added three December shows in Mexico.

Dion is supporting her latest English-language album, "Taking Chances," which surfaced last November and shot to No. 3 on The Billboard 200. The set is the Grammy-winner's first full-length studio effort since 2003's multi-platinum "One Heart."

Dion also recently released two career retrospectives--"My Love ... Essential Collection" and an expanded, two-disc version of the set titled "My Love ... Ultimate Essential Collection"--as well as a DVD of her performance to celebrate Quebec's 400th anniversary.

The "Taking Chances World Tour" marks Dion's return to the road following her five-year residency at Las Vegas' Colosseum at Caesars Palace. More than 3 million fans flocked to the singer's "A New Day" production, which wrapped last December after 723 sold-out performances, according to a press release.