This Tuesday, July 23, when Céline Dion's jet lands at Le Bourget, it's more than a return that is at stake. It has been two years since the star said yes to Thomas Jolly to come and sing at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But beyond her participation in the immense global celebration, she is especially preparing to relaunch his career, forced pause since March 8, 2020 and the cancellation of his “Courage World Tour”. And what could be better than Paris, the city of love and heart, to start all over again?
Thomas Jolly's team refused until the end to confirm or deny the information surrounding the presence of the Canadian. Because the director considered canceling his visit until the last minute. If he had requested her from 2022, the star had always correlated her participation to her state of health, she who has suffered from stiff person syndrome since 2008. She understood that she could never do her job in the same way again, her body and her voice being exhausted by years of drug treatments. But Céline never gave up. If she held on, it was because she wanted to find – one day – her audience again. Exactly like in 2016, when, five months after the death of René, her husband, she consoled herself by singing her love for him in European theaters.
Very private visit to the museum's flagship room, which usually welcomes around 20,000 visitors per day.
© Laura Gilli
If Céline is in Paris that morning, it is because she feels sufficiently fit to perform the “Hymn to Love”. Edith Piaf's title resonates within her as the song of resilience par excellence. Piaf gave it a middle finger to the death of her lover Marcel Cerdan. In 2024, the song has a completely different flavor for Céline: a successful performance will show the whole world that she is stronger than the disease. A last minute cancellation, on the other hand, would plunge her into deep disarray.
A tête-à-tête with Monna Lisa, a childhood dream for someone who had never been able to visit the Louvre
But before the test, once installed in one of the presidential suites of the Royal Monceau, off to the Louvre. She was the one who asked if she could get some pure relaxation while visiting the museum. Closed on Tuesdays, the establishment was quick to open its doors. If she has come time and time again to the City of Lights since January 29, 1983 (the day of her first “Champs-Élysées” with Michel Drucker), the Quebecer has never had the time to stroll through the largest museum in the world.
Silence collected in his personal dressing room.
© Laura Gilli
Paris may be her Eden – she still remembers her two evenings at the Stade de France in 1999 when the public chanted the name of René who was facing his first cancer – rare are the moments when she was able to enjoy the capital alone . “It was very upsetting for her to find herself face to face with “The Mona Lisa” says Laura Gilli, the photographer who accompanied her that day. She was very moved and stayed for many minutes in front of the canvas, realizing how lucky she was to be there. » This timeless moment brought her the serenity she was looking for. After three hours spent wandering among the masterpieces of art, Céline thanks the Louvre teams at length, touched by this interlude which would have seemed impossible to her a few months earlier.
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As soon as she returns to the Royal Monceau, she sees the hundred fans waiting for her, despite the late hour. Regardless of the titanic fight she must face three days later, Céline takes the time to sign autographs and take selfies, under the tender gaze of René-Charles. Because, from now on, his eldest son has become a key man in his career. Although she works with two new managers, John Nelson and Joyce Smyth (who also manages the Rolling Stones), RC is the man for all situations. At the same time a companion, giving his feelings on the decisions to be made, constantly covering his mother with a protective gaze. “Their relationship is close,” says someone close to the Quebecer, “we really feel an immense love between the two of them. He was the first to burst into tears when she finished her performance at the Eiffel Tower. And it was she who came to take him in her arms, to comfort him. »
Céline is harnessed barely a meter from the void
The days of the 24th and 25th are reserved for the preparation of the opening ceremony, Céline must rehearse in real conditions on the night of the 25th at the Eiffel Tower. Only one possible time slot: between 2 and 3 a.m. Because if Thomas Jolly's idea is about to come to fruition, it still has to be technically impeccable. It is therefore the staff of the monument who ensures that the star is harnessed – ensuring that he is not visible to viewers under his Dior dress, while installing him barely a meter from the void .
Final touch-ups after wearing a Dior dress in white silk georgette studded with silver pearls, signed Maria Grazia Chiuri.
© Laura Gilli
“She is the greatest professional,” says a member of her technical team. Fortunately she doesn't have vertigo! Everything had been secured so that she could concentrate as best as possible on her performance. » And this is what surprised the fifty people present on the 25th and 26th on the scene: “Céline Dion never seemed to have stage fright, she never mentioned her health problems. She never doubted her abilities to do what she was there to do. »
Céline proved that her will was stronger than anything. That singing was a reason to live
On Friday the 26th, on the first floor of the tower, a dressing room area was set up. The Céline team arrives very early because the ceremony is literally taking place under their feet. While downpours transform the party into an ordeal, Céline is more determined than ever, repeating to her team “The show must go on”. And shortly before midnight, while the rain had soaked Paris, forcing Thomas Jolly to reinvent his live show, the elements stopped being unleashed. Leaving Céline to sing under a starry sky in front of 1 billion viewers! She then stayed for many minutes with the team at the Eiffel Tower, then took the time to once again greet the fans who were still gathered in front of her hotel. “It’s rare,” notes Laura Gilli, “such availability, such kindness. »
Accompanied by technicians on the platform where she will sing, with a view of the Seine and the Trocadéro.
© Laura Gilli
That evening, Céline fell asleep happy: the sacred fire was rekindled. The second stage of his return can begin. “She has never hidden her visceral need to find her audience,” explains a close friend of the Canadian. But she also knows that destiny must not be forced. She took stock of the illness that affected her, she is still a woman in convalescence who is learning to live with her illness. Who understood that she would never be able to do her job in the same way again. But who will do everything to achieve it. »
On November 13, she sang again – two titles this time – in Riyadh to celebrate her friend, the designer Elie Saab, designer of most of her stage outfits. Big boss of the show, René Célestin then explained to us “that if everything was organized so that she could sing, we knew that she could also not come for health reasons”. “In the current state of our knowledge, this disease is incurable,” its neurologist, Amanda Piquet, told us in June. I hope that we can cure it, but I can't tell you if it will happen in the next five or ten years. » Céline has proven to him twice already that her will is stronger than anything. That singing was more than a mission: a reason to live.
Upset, British singer Adele interrupts a concert to greet Céline Dion in the audience. In Las Vegas on October 26.
OTHER / © DR
So, in the shadows, its teams are active. An English-language album has been in the works for several months. “The idea is that she covers her greatest songs in duets with others,” we are told by those around her. All the music stars come to Las Vegas, it's quite easy to organize recording sessions there. » But nothing is organized at the moment. On the other hand, there is a second disc in preparation, this time in French. Jean-Jacques Goldman, the man behind “So that you still love me”, “If it was enough to love” or “Encore un soir”, was obviously requested. “They don’t need to see each other or talk to each other to understand each other. Jean-Jacques was always the one who best summed up Céline. It's hard to do without him. »
In the middle of a jet lag, she took the time to sign autographs on July 23.
© DR
He will only sign one track on this new album. It’s also difficult not to aim bigger, stronger. So arrangements were made for a return to the stage. First in Las Vegas where there is more and more talk of a “Céline Dion Show” which would allow her to construct a show in which she would be the star but without having to sing for two hours straight, accompanied by guests every evening. The Resorts World and the Colosseum at Caesars Palace are the two venues expected to return in the first half of 2026. But also The Sphere which, after U2, Dead & Company or Eagles, would offer its setting to the coolest of divas at the start of 2026. The only problem is that this state-of-the-art venue works with concert producer Live Nation, while Céline is loyal to AEG. Will a financial war take place to win the exclusive presence of a singer who might not keep her commitment?
The star leaves her hotel and goes to the Eiffel Tower for the opening ceremony on July 26.
© Laura Gilli
“In the current state of things,” a Parisian producer tells us, “we have to be ready for the day she decides to return to the arena. She was very clear: for her return to Europe, and only if she feels capable, it will be in Paris. » An option was put forward for a month of residency and a series of ten concerts at Paris La Défense Arena for the last quarter of 2026. “The idea is that all European spectators come to Paris rather than it being the one who travels every evening in a different city, continues this producer, but we will only have confirmation when she is certain of her ability to perform the show 100%. She no longer wants to disappoint people with cascading cancellations. »
Those who thought last June that they would never hear her sing again, following the documentary “I am Céline Dion” understood in Paris in July that the frail Quebecer was capable of moving mountains. Finding her in the City of Lights in 2026 would be the most beautiful victory, over life, over illness and over herself.
