A self-professed Céline Dion superfan has gone viral after staging an impromptu performance in the presence of the diva herself.
Freida Solomon was visiting New York this week when she spotted Dion, who is in town for a series of concerts, exiting the Four Seasons Hotel. Dressed in a floral coat and sunglasses, Dion appeared to be attempting to remain incognito as she hopped into the back seat of a waiting car.
That didn’t stop Solomon, a New Jersey native, from belting Dion’s 2002 song “I Surrender” with her idol within earshot and capturing it for posterity in a short Instagram video.
Though Dion didn’t remove her sunglasses, she seemed touched by the moment and instructed her driver to stop the car as Solomon continued the song. The five-time Grammy winner then signaled her approval with a smile and a fist bump through the car window.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 45,000 times.
Speaking to E! News, Solomon said she’d been “singing [Dion’s] songs and listening to her since I was little, so this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
“I’ve loved her and her music for years and had to stay to see her,” she continued. “I told her how I grew up listening to her sing with Andrea Bocelli and how she’s been an icon in my life and out of nowhere I started singing ‘I Surrender,’ one of her most famous songs.”
Fortunately, Solomon’s encounter with Dion didn’t disappoint.
“She was so gracious,” she said.
Dion has been wowing fans across the globe on her Courage World Tour, which kicked off last fall in Quebec City, Canada. She returns to the concert stage Thursday with a performance at New York’s Barclays Center.