Justin Bieber Gets Emotional During First Show Since Ramsay Hunt Diagnosis: 'I Missed You'
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Justin Bieber is grateful to be back.
Through several social media posts on Monday, the "Love Yourself" singer, 28, shared what it felt like for him to join the stage again after postponing several shows in the wake of his Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis, which caused him to have partial facial paralysis.
On Sunday, the singer performed shirtless at the Lucca Summer Festival in central Italy, marking his first live performance since he was forced to reschedule the U.S. leg of his Justice World Tour on June 10.
One of the videos showed Bieber and his team doing their pre-show ritual. "We're back," Bieber said, while the team joined in the circle with wife Hailey Baldwin Bieber, 25, beside him. "What a great, great evening... wow. I love you guys, this is the sexiest group of people I know, I'm just so grateful to be back," he said.
The "Peaches" singer continued, "I love each and every one of you guys so much. I mean when I say y'all are some sexy motherf—ers. Let's go kill it!"
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Bieber then passed to team member Ldubz for a prayer. "God, we're so grateful for this moment. We're thankful for protecting us in our traveling mercies. We thank you for the people here in Italy and this opportunity just to bring a message of love to these folks," Ldubz said.
He continued, "I pray God you will give us strength, give us the clarity of thought. We thank you God for Justin in this moment that he has to share his message of hope and love. We pray God you will give him strength, will give the band strength, the dancers strength and at the end of the day God lives will be changed and impacted by this message. We thank you for this moment. In Jesus name, amen."
In another post on Monday, Bieber showed a snippet of what he told his audience during the show. "Guys I want to say thank you so much for having me back," he said, "This my first day back, so good to be here."
"As some of you guys know, the Justice Tour is about equality, it's about justice for all no matter what you look like, no matter your shape, your size, your ethnicity — we're all the same and we are all one," he added. "We know that racism is evil and we know that division is evil, it is wrong, but we are here to be the difference makers and I want to say thank you to each and every one of you guys for being part of this tour. Let's enjoy the rest of the night."
Bieber also shared a gallery of photos of him from the show. "Luv u guys and I missed you 🥰," the Grammy-winning singer wrote in the caption.
"One thing I know for certain is you can't keep this guy down..." the singer's wife posted as a caption on an Instagram story taken backstage from the show on the day.
RELATED: Justin Bieber Postpones U.S. Leg of Justice World Tour as He Battles Ramsay Hunt Syndrome
Bieber made the decision to cancel the remainder of his U.S. tour after his diagnosis. In addition to face paralysis, Ramsay Hunt syndrome can also cause hearing loss and requires prompt treatment so it does not become permanent.
"In light of Justin's ongoing recovery, the remaining US Justice Tour shows scheduled for June and early July will be postponed," read a statement on the official Instagram account for the Justice World Tour at the time.
On Instagram, Bieber shared a video describing his situation. "Hey everyone. Justin here. I wanted to update you guys on what's been going on," he said. "Obviously, as you can probably see from my face, I have this syndrome called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and it is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis."
"As you can see, this eye is not blinking," he continued before he winked his other eye. "I can't smile with this side of my face, this nostril will not move, so there is full paralysis in this side of my face."
RELATED: Justin Bieber Shares Update on Ramsay Hunt Syndrome Recovery: 'Each Day Has Gotten Better'
He then addressed his fans who were "frustrated" about the postponement of his upcoming performances.
"I'm just physically, obviously not capable of doing them," he explained. "This is pretty serious as you can see. I wish this wasn't the case but obviously, my body is telling me I got to slow down and I hope you guys understand and I'll be using this time to rest and relax and get back to 100% so that I can do what I was born to do."
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin
Earlier this year, Baldwin Bieber suffered her own health scare, when she was hospitalized after suffering a mini-stroke called Transient Ischemic Attack (or TIA).
As she explained on Instagram at the time, doctors found that she had "suffered a very small blood clot" to her brain, which led to a "small lack of oxygen." Her body was able to pass the blood clot on its own, she said, and she "recovered completely within a few hours."
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The back-to-back health scares wound up strengthening the couple's relationship in a whole new way.
"Honestly the silver lining in the whole situation — what he went through, what I went through — is it really bonds you," she said in June during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan. "I feel like we're closer than ever. It really brings us close. So I'll take that away from it."
She echoed the sentiment on Good Morning America, adding that having to go through health scares publicly pushed the couple to be open.
"It in a way forces you to have to just be upfront about what's going on so that people understand what you're going through," Hailey said. "I actually think it opened up a lot of really important and amazing conversation."
