Maps of Music

Sans attendre (2012)

Where the lyrics of Sans attendre take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title means 'without waiting', yet its first single is a song about the father Dion lost in 2003.

Place unknown

Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

Sans attendre (lit. 'Without waiting'): Celine Dion's 24th studio album and 14th French-language album
Released 2 November 2012 by Columbia Records
First French studio album since D'elles (2007)
Standard edition: 14 tracks; deluxe edition: 16 songs
Mostly produced by Jacques Veneruso, David Gategno and Scott Price
Three duets: Johnny Hallyday, Jean-Pierre Ferland, and the late Henri Salvador
Lead single 'Parler à mon père' released 2 July 2012

June 2012: Dion began recording songs for her next French and English albums
The title was announced in an interview with Le Parisien
Dion explained the title as 'don't leave until tomorrow what you can do today'
'Parler à mon père' is about her father, who died in 2003
Duet 'Une chance qu'on s'a' with Jean-Pierre Ferland was announced in August 2012
Dion completed recording the French album in September 2012

Veneruso co-produced the album and composed the arrangements for most songs
Veneruso had earlier worked with Dion on 1 fille & 4 types, On ne change pas and D'elles
David Gategno produced and wrote the music for four songs
A studio version of 'Ne me quitte pas' was included, a song Dion performed in her Las Vegas show Celine

Cover illustrated by Aurore Hutton, niece of former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Cover and edition details were announced on 1 October 2012

Born 30 March 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, the youngest of 14 children.
Discovered by future manager and husband René Angélil after her brother sent him a demo recording of her first song "Ce n'était qu'un rêve".
Angélil mortgaged his home in 1981 to fund her first record, La voix du bon Dieu, which became a No. 1 hit in Quebec.
Won the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo in 1982.
Won the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 for Switzerland with "Ne partez pas sans moi".

Debuted in the Anglophone market with Unison (1990), followed by Celine Dion (1992).
Breakthrough with "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) with Peabo Bryson, winning her first Grammy.
The Colour of My Love (1993) and Falling into You (1996) became major international successes.
"My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (1997) became her signature song and one of the best-selling singles.
D'eux (1995) became the best-selling French-language album.
Held the A New Day... residency at Caesars Palace (2003–2007), the highest-grossing concert residency; the Los Angeles Times ranked her the top-earning artist of the 2000s.
Announced in 2022 a diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, cancelling tours; returned to performing at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

Critics gave mixed to positive reviews, some describing it as a restrained and personal work
The Gazette's Bernard Perusse described the album as full of dramatic emotion
The Arts Desk's Kieron Tyler wrote that the album 'is good'
Pure Charts' Jonathan Hamard concluded that the album is uneven and inconsistent
Quai Baco described the album as uneven, with both strong and superfluous tracks

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three and a half stars out of five
Erlewine described it as a moody collection focused on loss rather than love
Erlewine considered Sans attendre one of Dion's best albums in recent years

Debuted at number one in Canada with 92,135 copies, including 88,206 in Quebec
Certified triple platinum in Canada, with more than 300,000 copies shipped by July 2013
Debuted at number one in France with 95,569 copies
Certified diamond in France on 31 December 2012 for sales over 500,000
Sold more than 800,000 copies in France by November 2013
Number one in Wallonia for five non-consecutive weeks
Worldwide sales exceed 1.5 million copies
Won two Félix Awards in October 2013: Adult Contemporary Album and Best-Selling Album of the Year

Dion gave a television special in Montreal, broadcast on TVA on 4 November 2012, which became the most-watched program of the fall season in Quebec
Sans attendre includes a studio version of 'Ne me quitte pas', a song Dion performed during her Las Vegas show Celine
The deluxe edition was re-released in May 2013 in France, Belgium and Switzerland, with a notebook replacing the desk calendar
The late Henri Salvador appears in a virtual duet titled 'Tant de temps'
The album cover was drawn by the niece of former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
The album won the Félix Award for Best-Selling Album of the Year in 2013