{"id":7286,"date":"2026-02-28T09:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T09:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7286"},"modified":"2026-02-28T09:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T09:06:21","slug":"crazy-without-limits-paris-disco-haunt-of-jagger-and-grace-jones-to-reopen-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7286","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Crazy, without limits\u2019: Paris disco haunt of Jagger and Grace Jones to reopen | Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In the late 1970s, Le Palace in Paris\u2019s busy theatre district was one of continental Europe\u2019s most famous nightclubs.<\/p>\n

On the opening night on 1 March 1978, Grace Jones stunned VIP guests with her rendition of Edith Piaf\u2019s classic La Vie en Rose. Later, Serge Gainsbourg and Prince came to perform, Bob Marley was photographed there and Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld were part of a glittering cast of international celebrities, politicians, designers and models who came to drink and dance.<\/p>\n

It was, as the queen of disco Donna Summer would sing, hot stuff. But within five years of Le Palace opening, disco was on its way out. The Parisian boogie wonderland where they had strutted their stuff to Stayin\u2019 Alive was dead and not even Gloria Gaynor\u2019s defiant I Will Survive would save it.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Mick Jagger attending a party at Le Palace in 1980.<\/span> Photograph: WWD\/Penske Media\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The avant garde nightclub that had attracted a glitterball generation closed temporarily in 1982 when its owner, Fabrice Emaer, was ill with terminal cancer. It turned out to be the end of Le Palace as everyone knew it.<\/p>\n

But today, Le Palace is rising from the rubble strewn across its famous dancefloor. The French producer Mickael Ch\u00e9trit bought the iconic building last year and wants to revive Le Palace as a popular venue and breathe some of the spirit of the era back into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m too young to remember the club in its heyday but I\u2019ve seen the photos and documentaries and I\u2019ve spoken to people who used to come here,\u201d he said during a tour of what is left of the historic building.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those days everyone knew Le Palace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since news of its reopening \u2013 planned for the start of 2027 \u2013 spread, Ch\u00e9trit says he has been inundated with requests from artists all over the world who want to visit and perform.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Mickael Ch\u00e9trit hopes to revive Le Palace.<\/span> Photograph: Ed Alcock\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had lots of requests, and from some great artists. Everyone wants to come back and have a show here. Many French artists and foreign artists want to perform at Le Palace because they started here and want to return to where it all began for them,\u201d he said, refusing to name names.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big thing. When you said you were singing at Le Palace, it was like saying you were performing at Olympia. Le Palace is still a well-known name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was a symbolic place but I never knew how much it meant to people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful place. You can feel its spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of the renovation is to respect that spirit, the history and what people experienced here. I didn\u2019t want to change everything and create something completely new, it\u2019s about keeping the name and using the history of what it was to create what it will become.\u201d<\/p>\n

The building on the busy Rue du Faubourg Montmartre first opened in 1912 as a cinema before being transformed into a concert and music hall where Tino Rossi, Maurice Chevalier and Jos\u00e9phine Baker appeared. In the 1920s an operetta containing a scene of simulated sex caused a scandal and nearly had the authorities closing the place down.<\/p>\n

After the war it became a cinema once more, but it closed in 1969 as France<\/a> turned to television.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Singer Wendy O Williams of the band Plasmatics during a concert at Le Palace.<\/span> Photograph: Thierry Orban\/Sygma\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the late 1970s it was bought by Emaer, a restaurant and nightclub owner, who modelled it on the celebrated Studio 54 nightclub in New York.<\/p>\n

Celebrities had a laissez passer <\/em>but the club\u2019s unusual door policy meant you were just as likely to be bopping with a local firefighter or a Parisian plumber as a well-known name. Fame was only one way in; guests were also admitted for having a certain style, look or attitude.<\/p>\n

After Emaer\u2019s death in 1983, Le Palace reopened under new management, but eventually lost its beat. By the end of the 1990s, the legendary nightclub was abandoned to squatters and looters. It was eventually revived as a theatre and concert venue, but closed definitively in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe place was squatted in and completely ransacked. There used to be magnificent chandeliers here and wall lights, but everything was stolen,\u201d Ch\u00e9trit said. \u201cWe can\u2019t recover everything but we have photos of how it was and we\u2019re going to try to restore it to its original state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the facade\u2019s neon sign is partly hidden with scaffolding in preparation for the renovations that begin next month to recreate a basement nightclub and a theatre-concert venue with a capacity of up to 1,400 people.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Le Palace nightclub today.<\/span> Photograph: Ed Alcock\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Parts of the main theatre, including a large hand-painted fresco depicting naked dancers that dates back to when the building opened in 1912, are listed and the renovation has to be overseen by official architects responsible for protecting France\u2019s heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt costs a lot of money when things are listed because the work has to be done by specific companies and craftsmen chosen to restore it to its original state. It complicates things, but it\u2019s a way of respecting the architecture and the historical aspect of the place,\u201d Ch\u00e9trit said.<\/p>\n

The revamp is being overseen by the interior designer Jacques Garcia, best known for his contemporary redesigns of luxury Paris hotels and for creating the Gainsbourg boutique and cafe bar next to the late singer-songwriter\u2019s home, which is now a museum.<\/p>\n

The 78-year-old designer told French media: \u201cI spent my life here, with one party after another alongside some incredible people. We were crazy, without limits, but with a certain elegance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name Le Palace is a setting in itself. It represents a myth for many people who experienced it. I can only embrace the myth and the setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The glass cabinets flanking the entrance corridor still display posters of some of Le Palace\u2019s most famous patrons. Photographs from the late 1970s and early 80s feature Yves Saint Laurent, Tina Turner, Jerry Hall and Gainsbourg.<\/p>\n

Ch\u00e9trit says these will brought alive on video screens when Le Palace reopens. \u201cYou will be able to experience Le Palace with photos, videos of the people who frequented it, so that those who didn\u2019t know it back then can understand what Le Palace was like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no other venue of its kind in Paris with such a history. It\u2019s been neglected but we\u2019re going to restore it all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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