Emmanuel Macron has said the French pop superstar Aya Nakamura would be in her rightful place performing at an opening ceremony for the Olympic Games this summer, after suggestions that she could sing an Édith Piaf song sparked a racist backlash against the singer.

Asked about Nakamura, who is the most listened to French-speaking artist in the world, Macron said it would be a “good thing” if she performed at an opening or closing ceremony.

As Macron opened the new Olympics Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis on Thursday, he said of Nakamura: “She speaks to a good number of our fellow citizens and I think she is absolutely in her rightful place in an opening or closing ceremony.” He said he could not give details of the ceremony, which remains a closely guarded secret, and the decision was up to the ceremony’s artistic director.

When French media first reported that Macron was in favour of Nakamura performing at the Olympics, many far-right politicians, including Marine Le Pen, and rightwing politicians, including the senate leader, Gérard Larcher, criticised the singer and her music. Mention of Nakamura’s name drew boos from the crowd at a campaign rally in March for the Reconquête party, led by the far-right former TV pundit Éric Zemmour.

A small extremist group calling themselves the Natives hung a banner by the River Seine that read: “There’s no way Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market.”

France’s culture minister, Rachida Dati, warned against “pure racism”. The Paris prosecutor subsequently opened an investigation last month into alleged racist abuse against the singer.

Nakamura, who grew up in the Paris banlieue and arrived in France from Mali as a baby, had responded to the backlash on social media: “You can be racist but not deaf … That’s what hurts you! I’m becoming a No 1 state subject in debates … but what do I really owe you? Nada.”

Nakamura’s catchy hits about love and betrayal have been streamed 7bn times and she made history last year when she sold out three Paris gigs in 15 minutes.