Céline Dion Returns: Her Paris Residency Opened With Tears, a New Song, and a Surprise Disco Turn

Six years after her last headline show, Céline Dion stepped onto the Plenitude Arena stage in Nanterre on September 12 and opened her Paris residency the only way that felt right: in tears. Before she sang a note of“On Ne Change Pas,”the 30,000-person crowd was already on its feet. It was her first performance since publicly sharing her diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, and the room knew exactly what they were witnessing.

The night leaned on the French catalog that first made her a superstar in that country, much of it from D’eux, the best-selling French-language album in history. She debuted“Dansons,”her 2026 comeback single written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, delivered“All by Myself”completely a cappella, and surprised everyone with a disco stretch featuring covers of“I Feel Love”and“Sweet Dreams.”The show started 47 minutes late and ran nearly two and a half hours, closing at 11:14 p.m. with“Pour Que Tu M’aimes Encore”and“S’il Suffisait D’aimer.”

The demand told its own story. Tickets for the opening 16 autumn dates sold out within hours, drawing more than nine million lottery entries for a total run that will reach over 480,000 attendees. Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Aya Nakamura and Thomas Pesquet were spotted among the opening-night guests. Which Céline song would you have needed to hear live? Tell us in the comments.