More than ۳۰,۰۰۰ Céline Dion fans have gathered in Paris for the Canadian singer’s long-awaited return to performing on Saturday night – four years after she revealed her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition.
Thousands more people without tickets have flocked to a series of giant karaoke events across France to belt out Dion’s famous power ballads, in celebration of the star’s health stabilising enough for her to return to the stage.
Paris’s city hall (Hôtel de Ville) organised a free outdoor karaoke for ۱۰,۰۰۰ people on Friday night as a giant sing-along to hits such as Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, which featured in the Oscar-winning film Titanic and became the second-bestselling single by a woman in music history.
Emmanuel Grégoire, the mayor of Paris, said the capital’s giant street karaoke would honour Dion as “an artist of the people” and a great “unifier” in France. “Music has that singular power to bring together and build a society,” he said.
Dion, who grew up the youngest of ۱۴ children in a small town near Montréal in French-speaking Quebec, has a massive fanbase in France. Her French-language ballads are regularly the most requested songs at karaoke venues.
Dion’s popularity also stems from her life story: from an upbringing in a poor Quebec family, singing as a child at her father’s piano bar, to her massive stadium gigs.
Dion, ۵۸, announced in ۲۰۲۲ that she had been diagnosed with the incurable autoimmune disorder, stiff-person syndrome. She took a break from performing, later describing how the condition meant she had suffered muscle spasms so strong that her ribs were broken. She told journalists there were times she could not walk. In the ۲۰۲۴ documentary I Am: Céline Dion she provided insight into the severity of her pain from the condition, including having a seizure.
The content of Dion’s series of concerts at the Plenitude arena in La Défense, west of Paris – the biggest indoor concert venue in Europe – have been kept secret. The singer told fans outside her hotel that she was being careful to protect her health, travelling to and from her hotel only to rehearse and greeting waiting fans from a safe distance.
Dion told the crowd that the concerts would be longer than her usual performances and advised them to wear comfortable shoes.
Usually in France, Dion would sing a set mostly made up of her French-language hits – her ۱۹۹۵ album D’eux became the biggest-selling Francophone album of all time. But with Paris currently her only venue, many fans are coming from North America and across the world, so English-language hits will also feature.
In April, about ۹ million people had registered for the pre-sale ticket lottery. The concerts swiftly sold out.
The Paris region expects the ۱۶-date residence in September and October as well as further sold-out dates in May to boost to the local economy by up to €۸۰۰m. The Céline Dion frenzy could eclipse the profits seen by local hotels, restaurants and tourist sites around previous concerts by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
At the Galeries Lafayette department store, a Céline Dion merchandise corner had seen a steady trade, with some fans arriving before opening hours.
Alexandra, ۳۶, a civil servant from the Paris region, had bought a T-shirt and signature Céline Dion macarons. “It’s important to me because I grew up with her music,” she said. “My mother was huge a fan so I listened to Céline Dion songs on the way to school.
“Whenever we went on holiday, Céline Dion would be playing in the car. Her music is part of some of my best memories of childhood. She is humble and she has managed to stay very close to the people.”
She added: “I’ve followed her health challenges. I thought she might not be able to perform again. But she has clearly set herself an incredible challenge and I hope she can manage these concerts without impacting her health. I think she’ll be so lifted up by the fans’ love for her that she will find strength in it.”
