Arts & Entertainment
Celine Dion performs own song for surprised fans at drag karaoke in NYC

Legendary singer Celine Dion celebrated the release of her newest album last week by partying with some of her gay fans in New York.
“Courage,” the Canadian diva’s first English-language album in six years, dropped on Friday, and to mark the occasion, she turned up at Lips, an NYC restaurant on the Upper East Side that has regular drag shows, giving patrons gathered there an unexpected night to remember.
The venue was hosting a Celine-themed night, tied in with the new album, with fans singing karaoke versions of Dion’s biggest hits. Just after midnight on Friday morning, the 51-year-old Dion appeared onstage and began to sing one of her latest songs – with the karaoke screen flashing the lyrics so that the surprised and delighted fans in the crowd could sing along.
One audience member, @dbenderstern on Twitter, tweeted:
“I can’t believe I watched Céline Dion do karaoke of her own song at a gay bar at 12:30 AM last night.”
The tweet included a clip of Dion and has gone viral with over 225k likes.
Dion told the crowd, “This album has been a long process. I’m sorry it took awhile, but thank you so much for all your support through the years and for being here tonight.
“I hope René will like the album, and I hope you like it as well, of course. I put my heart into it. I love you all very much.”
The René referenced by Dion is her late husband, René Angélil, who passed away in 2016.
She performed a song from the new album, entitled, “Flying On My Own.”
Stephanie Stone, a drag queen present on the stage alongside Dion, told NBC’s Today, “As we know in life sometimes there are disappointments. Celine is not one of them. She delivers. So funny, kind and everything you hope for.”
The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)








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The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)









Books
Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?
‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia
‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages
Mom called you in a panic the other day.
She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.
These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.
You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?
Chin says maybe, yes.
He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.
Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.
Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.
Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.
Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”
Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.
Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.
Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.
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