Enrico Macias Live 2026 in Abu Dhabi

Enrico Macias Live 2026 in Abu Dhabi brings the French chanson singer to the Cultural Foundation on Saturday 12 December, a day after his 88th birthday. Billed as a celebration of six decades of music, the concert gathers his greatest classics and best-loved melodies in an intimate theatre setting. The tour is expected to be one of his final international appearances, and this may well be his last show in the UAE. Doors open at 7:30pm and the music starts at 8pm.

A voice between two shores

Few singers carry the Mediterranean in their voice quite like Enrico Macias. Born Gaston Ghrenassia in Constantine, then part of French Algeria, on 11 December 1938, he grew up surrounded by malouf, the Andalusian classical tradition his violinist father played. As a teenager he joined the orchestra of the celebrated malouf master Cheikh Raymond Leyris, learning a style of guitar playing and phrasing that still colours his songs today.

When he left for France in 1961, he took that sound with him. His first record, “Adieu mon pays” in 1962, was a song of farewell to the land he had left, and it struck a chord with a generation who had made the same journey. Within two years he was on stage at the Paris Olympia, and from there his career became truly international.

A singer of many languages

One reason his songs have travelled so far is that he has never sung in only one language. Over his career Macias has recorded and performed in French, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, English and more. He made a live album with the Turkish star Ajda Pekkan at the Olympia in 1976 and, in 2003, recorded “Koum Tara” with the raï singer Cheb Mami, a meeting of two generations of North African-rooted music.

That openness made him a star far beyond France. He sang to 120,000 people at Moscow’s Dinamo Stadium in 1966, sold out Carnegie Hall on his American debut in 1968, and performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London and on Broadway in the 1970s. Later that decade he sang at the foot of the Pyramids in Egypt to an audience of around 20,000.

Songs the audience will know

No set list has been published, but a programme of greatest classics is likely to draw on songs such as:

• Les filles de mon pays and Paris tu m’as pris dans tes bras, both released in 1964.
• Non je n’ai pas oublié, released in 1966.
• Mélisa, his gold-selling hit of the mid-1970s.
• Le violon de mon père, a 1977 tribute to his father.
• Mon chanteur préféré, written for his mentor Cheikh Raymond.
• Zingarella, released in 1988.
• Solenzara, the song the Abu Dhabi listing pairs with his name.

A singer for peace

Macias’s influence has reached well beyond music. In 1980 the UN Secretary-General named him a “Singer of Peace” after he donated the proceeds of a single to UNICEF, and in 1997 he was appointed a roving ambassador for peace and the defence of children. That warmth and sense of shared humanity runs through the songs he will bring to Abu Dhabi.

Enrico Macias in Abu Dhabi: the evening at the Cultural Foundation

The concert runs for 1 hour 45 minutes, including a 15-minute interval. The Cultural Foundation, on Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street (2nd Street) in the heart of the capital, gives the evening the close, elegant atmosphere the listing promises, and suits a singer whose songs are built on storytelling. Event enquiries are handled through Art for All, the contact listed on the ticket page.

Before you go

• Download the Platinumlist app in advance, as you need it to access your ticket.
• Doors open 30 minutes before the show. Latecomers are only admitted at a suitable break and may be seated elsewhere.
• Photography and audio or video recording, including on phones, are not allowed unless stated otherwise.
• Food and drinks are not allowed inside the theatre.
• The listing states that children under six are not admitted, everyone aged six and over needs a ticket, and under-18s must be with an adult.

Getting there

Parking is available at the Cultural Foundation, but spaces are limited, so it pays to arrive in good time if you are driving. Abu Dhabi Bus Station is about 1.2 km away, and most taxi drivers know the venue well.

Who it suits

This concert is for anyone who grew up with French chanson, for families with roots around the Mediterranean who know his songs from home, and for lovers of music that blends East and West. It also makes a meaningful evening to share with parents or grandparents. If you are in Dubai, he also plays Dubai Opera two nights earlier, on 10 December.

For more ideas, browse things to do in Abu Dhabi, our concerts guide, art and culture, or what is on in December.