Canada’s pride, Celine Dion, has moved audiences worldwide since she was a teenager. A musical prodigy, Celine began singing before audiences at the tender age of five. She is known for her strong and beautiful vocal ability internationally. She is no longer such a force to be reckoned with; but in her day in the mid-nineties she surely was. Celine Dion is one of music’s true divas and here is her story.
Celine Dion’s Childhood
Celine Dion was born in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada on March 30, 1968. The youngest of 14 children to parents Adhemar and Therese Dion, Celine Dion would fit right in as a performer as both of her parents were performers. The family was very music oriented. From an early age Dion was surrounded by music. At the age of five Dion began singing for audiences at her parent’s piano bar.
Dion would record her first demo tape at the age of 12 and send it to producer/manager Rene Angelil. The tape contained songs that Dion had written alongside her mother. Angelil liked what he heard and immediately signed Celine Dion. There was one catch; he had to have complete control over the direction of young Dion’s career. He mortgaged his house to finance La Voix du bon Dieu, which was Celine Dion’s debut album.
Celine Dion Pop Star
By 18, Celine Dion was a huge success throughout Canada and some other international countries. She had amazingly recorded nine French albums and won a number of prestigious awards with the equivalence to the United State’s Grammy Awards. At 22, Dion would record Unison, her first English language album. Dion worked closely with U.S. songwriter/producer David Foster. “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” became a top five single. The album would go on to sell over 1 million copies globally.
Celine Dion American-Hit Maker
In 1992, Disney would come looking for Celine Dion. She and Peabo Bryson would record a song for their movie Beauty & the Beast. The track won an Academy Award and a Grammy Award and hit number one on pop charts. It was also placed on her second English album, Celine Dion. This album would go diamond worldwide selling over 12 million copies.
Celine Dion being not one for many breaks quickly released The Colour of My Love in 1993. Several of Dion’s ballads would be placed on soundtracks for movies like Up Close and Personal and Sleepless in Seattle. In 1994, Dion and Angelil, after a long engagement dating back to 1991, would wed in a huge celebration.
Celine didn’t take time off to celebrate for too long however, she released six albums between 1992 and 1996. In 1996, Celine Dion would release the commercially approved Falling into You. The album won Best Pop Album and Album of the Year the following year at the Grammy Award ceremony. This, along with her performance at the 1996 Olympics and the song “My Heart Will Go On” (Titanic soundtrack) solidified Celine Dion as a legitimate act. But it was her 1997 performance at VH1’s Divas Live! that made her a true diva.
She performed alongside the likes of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and the “Queen of Soul” herself, Aretha Franklin. Sadly, in 1999 Rene Angelil, Celine Dion’s husband, was diagnosed with throat cancer. The couple fought the battle together and today his cancer is in remission.
In early 2000, Dion announced to heartbroken fans that she would be taking time off to attempt to conceive. She and Rene had been trying for a while and decided to try in-vitro fertilization to conceive their first child. The procedure was a success and January 25, 2001, Dion welcomed Rene-Charles into the world.
Celine Dion's Career Decline
After two years of not performing and recording, Dion released A New Day Has Come. This album charted high in over 17 countries. In 2003, Dion would start a 36 month stay at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA performing her many numerous hits. Also in 2003, Celine Dion would begin recording French records again.
2007 would bring the release of Taking Chances and D’Elles. Neither did what one would expect from a singer of Celine Dion’s stature. Though no longer a top pop act, Celine Dion still sells out crowds and is the second highest earning musician according Forbes Magazine.
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