Céline Dion

Céline Dion rose from her early days as a teenage singer performing French pop material to achieve global renown as a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning artist who crossed over successfully once she entered the English market through emotional ballads that showcased her commanding and singular vocal style. Beyond capturing top honors at the 1988 Eurovision song contest, her acclaimed work on motion picture soundtracks broadened her reach into mainstream entertainment, especially through tracks such as "Beauty and the Beast" for the 1991 Disney animated feature and the massive "My Heart Will Go On" tied to the 1997 box office phenomenon Titanic. At the same time she earned several Grammy trophies, among them Album of the Year for the worldwide chart leader Falling Into You issued in 1996. Along with additional successes including her 2003 version of "I Drove All Night," her sequence of number one albums continued well into the following century back home in Canada, where Courage from 2019 marked her fourteenth consecutive studio release to reach the summit of the Billboard ranking. In parallel her standing as a cherished pop figure gained further confirmation via sold-out extended engagements at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas that ranked her among the venue's all-time top earners.

Born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec as Céline Marie Claudette Dion, she grew up as one of fourteen siblings in a household that nurtured musical interests. She began performing early on, appearing at the family piano bar and during her older brother's wedding. Determined to pursue a singing career she composed her debut song "Ce N'etait Qu'un Rêve" (It Was Only a Dream) in 1980 alongside her mother and brother. The single arrived in June 1981, climbing into the Top 20 on the Quebec singles chart and appearing on her first album La Voix Du Bon Dieu (Super Etoiles/Saisons) which followed in November. Guided by producer and manager René Angélil she secured "Top Performer" and "Best Song" at the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo plus multiple Felix Awards in Quebec for her third project Tellement J'ai D'amour…, recognized for Best Pop Album, Newcomer of the Year, and Female Vocalist of the Year. That release earned platinum certification in Canada and found success in France. A consistent flow of projects continued through the late 1980s, encompassing four studio albums, several compilations, and two holiday collections that helped establish footholds in markets including Belgium and Switzerland.

In 1987 Dion underwent a complete pop transformation on her eighth album Incognito (CBS Records). The double-platinum collection produced five hit singles and was supported by a Canadian tour featuring an extended stay at the Saint-Denis Theatre in Montreal. Amid the rapid rise of Incognito she claimed victory at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Switzerland with "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi." Ready for wider global visibility she then shifted away from French-language Canadian recordings to target the American pop mainstream as the decade closed.

Her first English-language album Unison emerged on Columbia Records in April 1990 after focused work on her language abilities and vocal coaching. The effort proved highly successful, moving over a million units in the United States and millions more internationally. Alongside singles "Have a Heart" and "Unison" it featured Billboard entries such as "The Last to Know," "(If There Was) Any Other Way," and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now," which reached number four on the Hot 100 and number two on the Adult Contemporary chart. Unison's results drew Disney's interest leading to her contribution on 1991's "Beauty and the Beast," a duet with Peabo Bryson for the animated film. Produced by Walter Afanasieff and written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the ballad became a Top Ten hit and earned Dion a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Her second English release appeared in 1992. Capitalizing on "Beauty and the Beast" placed as the opening single, Celine Dion moved beyond the youthful pop of prior work by presenting a more mature image through longing ballads and assured, R&B-tinged dance tracks. With contributions from Afanasieff, Diane Warren, and Prince, the self-titled album reached the top 40 of the Billboard 200 and ultimately surpassed Unison in sales. It contained hits "If You Asked Me To," "Nothing Broken but My Heart," and "Love Can Move Mountains." Privately Dion and Angélil began a romantic relationship revealed discreetly in 1993 through the liner notes of her subsequent album; the pair married at the close of 1994.

Issued in November, The Colour of My Love led charts throughout Europe and Canada, entered the Top Ten in the United States and even Japan, and became her strongest seller to that point with more than 20 million copies moved. The Juno- and Grammy-winning project delivered romantic successes including the Clive Griffin duet "When I Fall in Love" from the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack, U.K. number one "Think Twice," and the global hit "The Power of Love," a Jennifer Rush cover that later received the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s). As Love stood as Dion's biggest album she redirected attention to her French listeners with another major success.

After the live album À L'olympia recorded in Paris in September 1994, Dion released D'eux (issued as The French Album in the U.S.) in 1995. It featured chart-topping singles "Pour Que Tu E" and "Je Sais pas," both reaching number one in France and Belgium. The album held the top spot on the French chart for 44 weeks, establishing it as the best-selling French-language album ever. Her extended French chart reign ended in 1996 when she was displaced by her own Falling Into You.

Returning to English material, Dion attained another peak with Falling Into You. Exceeding the commercial reach of her prior two projects, the album placed her at the height of her popularity, extending her worldwide chart control through platinum singles such as "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and the Grammy-winning "Because You Loved Me" from the Up Close and Personal soundtrack. Regular collaborators Diane Warren and David Foster contributed once more, and the set captured Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album while ranking among the highest-selling albums in history. To promote it she undertook a world tour exceeding a year that visited locations across Asia and Australia. Only months after the final date in Switzerland she reclaimed the top position with her next release.

Let's Talk About Love arrived in late 1997. Afanasieff and Foster, among others, returned as producers while guests including Barbra Streisand, the Bee Gees, Luciano Pavarotti, Bryan Adams, Diana King, Brownstone, Carole King, and George Martin participated on vocals and songwriting. Beyond the successful duets "Tell Him" and "Immortality," the album included what became her signature track, "My Heart Will Go On," the James Horner composition from the blockbuster Titanic. With its memorable flute motif and sweeping cinematic quality, the single echoed the film's cultural impact by becoming a constant radio presence and topping charts in Canada, Europe, Australia, and the United States. After securing an Academy Award in 1997 for Best Original Song, "My Heart Will Go On" earned a Golden Globe in 1998 then dominated the 1999 Grammys with Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal, and Best Song for a Motion Picture or Television. While touring in support of Let's Talk About Love, Dion issued the holiday album These Are Special Times, the greatest-hits collection All the Way: A Decade of Song, and another French project S'il Suffisait D'aimer. She concluded the decade by being named Officer of the Order of Canada for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Contemporary Music and Officer of the National Order of Quebec. Following her uninterrupted 1990s chart achievements and global touring, Dion paused to prioritize family after Angélil received a cancer diagnosis and their first child arrived in 2001.

Dion resumed recording in 2002 with a renewed pop approach on A New Day Has Come. Another multi-platinum chart leader, the album drew inspiration from her son's birth and the September 11 attacks, prompting a focus on love, hope, and renewal. Joining established collaborators Afanasieff, Christopher Neil, Ric Wake, and Guy Roche, she also worked with Swedish producers Anders Bagge, Peer Astrom, and Arnthor Birgisson plus songwriters Kara DioGuardi and Corey Hart. Although less dominant globally than her late-1990s releases, A New Day yielded uplifting singles "A New Day Has Come" and "I'm Alive," two expansive tracks that reflected her fresh pop assurance. Continuing in this revitalized mode she followed quickly with 2003's One Heart, which housed the driving dance-pop single "I Drove All Night," a Roy Orbison cover first popularized by Cyndi Lauper in 1989. The remainder of the album displayed this polished, pop-oriented evolution, enlisting producers such as Cathy Dennis and Max Martin, recognized for their work with Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. Despite critical resistance to the stylistic change, One Heart ranked as her lowest-selling English-language album in over a decade yet still achieved platinum certification and sales exceeding five million worldwide.

The middle of the decade proved relatively subdued for Dion. Stepping away from mainstream pop she collaborated in the studio with Jean-Jacques Goldman, Erick Benzi, Jacques Veneruso, and Gildas Arzel on the folk-and-country-tinged 1 Fille & 4 Types, an unexpected exploration of new styles that resonated with her French-language audience. A year later she returned to familiar adult contemporary territory on the infant-themed multimedia project with photographer Anne Geddes, Miracle, which featured her interpretations of songs by John Lennon, Louis Armstrong, Roberta Flack, and others. 2004 also brought A New Day...Live in Las Vegas, a concert document of her multi-million-dollar five-year residency at Caesars Palace. While occupied with those nightly performances five nights weekly she released the extensive greatest-hits set On Ne Change Pas compiling her French-language material from 1981 to 2005. In 2007 after another French album D'elles—an ambitious effort with songs penned by French female authors—she countered with a recalibrating follow-up to One Heart.

Taking Chances appeared at the end of 2007. Positioned as a partial return to form, the album featured the sole hit "Taking Chances" co-written with Kara DioGuardi and the Eurythmics' David A. Stewart plus a reworking of Heart's "Alone" arranged with guitarist Ben Moody formerly of Evanescence. Though among her weaker English sellers commercially, Taking Chances was backed by a record-setting international tour visiting South Africa, China, Malaysia, and Australia that ranked among the highest-grossing of its era.

A further best-of collection, My Love: Essential Collection (gathering post-1999 All the Way… material), sustained her chart presence after the world tour concluded, later documented on 2010's Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert recorded in Boston and Montreal. She also committed to a second multi-year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace scheduled through 2019. In late 2012 she issued the French album Sans Attendre, which led charts in French-speaking regions worldwide and included duets with Johnny Hallyday ("L'amour Peut Prendre Froid"), Jean-Pierre Ferland ("Une Chance Qu'on S'a"), and Henri Salvador ("Tant de Temps"). Her eleventh English album Loved Me Back to Life followed in 2013, featuring the Sia-penned title track plus collaborations with Ne-Yo ("Incredible") and Stevie Wonder ("Overjoyed").

In 2014 Dion's Las Vegas residency and an Asia tour were suddenly suspended when Angélil's health declined sharply. Although performances resumed in mid-2015 they stopped again in early 2016 following the deaths of Angélil and her brother Daniel Dion just two days apart. After a month away from public view a grieving Dion returned to the stage in February.

That summer she released Encore un Soir, a reflective collection of uplifting pop that reached number one in Canada, France, Belgium, and Switzerland and notably became her first French-language album to appear on the U.S. Billboard charts. Encore contained singles including the title track and "L'étoile" co-written by French slam poet Grand Corps Malade.

Dion reentered the film soundtrack arena in 2017. Reconnecting with a property that had helped introduce her to American audiences more than twenty-five years earlier, she supplied "How Does a Moment Last Forever" for Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast remake. Composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice, the song topped the Quebec charts and reached the Top Ten across Asia. In 2018 she contributed to the less conventional soundtrack for Deadpool 2; "Ashes" arrived that May with a music video starring Dion alongside the lead character that rapidly spread online.

The next year Dion issued the dance-oriented "Flying on My Own" as the lead track from her twelfth English-language album Courage. A statement of resilience, the project highlighted a renewed Dion supported by pop and electronic guests including Sia, David Guetta, Sam Smith, and Skylar Grey as well as LAUV and DallasK on the first official single "Imperfections." The album topped both the Canadian and U.S. charts. Its accompanying world tour encountered repeated postponements and cancellations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and reported health concerns for the singer, though select dates and a short Las Vegas residency at Resorts World Theatre in November 2021 occurred. Dion also lent vocals to "Superwoman" on Diane Warren's 2021 release The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1. Ongoing muscle spasms and a later stiff-person syndrome diagnosis prompted additional tour cancellations in early 2022. In April however she released "Love Again," the lead single from her soundtrack to the romantic comedy-drama of the same name that also marked her feature film acting debut. Comprising five new songs and six earlier hits, the Love Again album accompanied the film in May of 2023.