Annick Chenard, 38, has seen Celine Dion in concert 21 times and also has a large tattoo of Ms. Dion’s face and flowing hair on her right shoulder. She recently spent a whole day out on a Montreal street with a fold-up chair and a poncho, waiting for a slim chance to meet her queen.

Was Ms. Chenard O.K. waiting this long? “What do you mean, wait this long?” Ms. Chenard said, exasperated. “I saw her over 20 times and never met her!”

Ms. Chenard was among more than a thousand people camped out for Ms. Dion’s appearance for the debut of her handbag and accessories line, the Celine Dion Collection — and it worried Ms. Dion. She was concerned they hadn’t eaten, that there were children there, that they had been up for so many, many hours — all, ostensibly, for a purse!

Ms. Dion looked toward the front of the store; fans peered in the windows. “People love me beyond what I do,” she said. “They get married with my song. They lose people with my song. They remarry with another one. They sing a lullaby with their kid with my song.”