Celine Dion

Full Biography

 

From humble beginnings in a rural French Canadian home town, Celine Dion has risen to international superstardom like a shooting star. Celine has been called the premier contemporary pop vocalist of the Nineties. She has earned music industry accolades from around the world: Grammy Awards in the US, Juno and Felix Awards in Canada, and a World Music Award recognizing her status as the best-selling female artist of all time. The entire world has seen Celine Dion literally transform herself from a gifted pre-adolescent into an international superstar.

 

Born in Charlemagne (a small town 30 miles east of Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Celine is the youngest of 14 children of a highly musical family. Her parents, both musicians, operated a small club, and on weekends, the entire family performed and entertained the local population. From the tender age of 5, Celine sang with her siblings and quickly acquired the ability to perform live. At the age of twelve, together with her mother and one of her brothers, Celine composed a French song which would forever alter the course of her life.

 

The demo tape containing the song was brought to the attention of René Angélil, a well respected personal manager. In January 1981, René was so taken by the voice of the young Celine, that he became determined to make her an internationally known talent – he even mortgaged his house to finance the recording of Celine’s debut album!

 

Celine began to receive recognition for her talent in 1982, winning the Gold Medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo, along with the coveted Musician’s Award for Top Performer. In 1983, she became the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France.

 

The streak of recognition had only just begun.

 

By 1988, Celine had established a strong name for herself in her native province of Quebec, where she was enjoying superstar status, receiving numerous Felix Awards and racking up platinum albums. That same year, Celine won the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin Ireland, where she performed live before a television audience of 600 million viewers throughout Europe, the USSR, the Middle-East, Japan, and Australia.

 

Celine’s international breakthrough came when she recorded the title track for the soundtrack to the animated Disney hit movie ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ The song went to number one and garnered an Academy Award and a Grammy Award. “Beauty and the Beast” formed the cornerstone for Celine’s second English language album, called simply ‘Celine Dion.’ That album produced four more hit singles including “Love Can Move Mountains,” “Water From The Moon,” “If You Asked Me To” and “Did You Give Enough Love.” In Canada, the album went six times platinum and set the stage for an incredible streak of Juno Awards.

 

On December 17, 1994, Celine Dion and René Angélil were married at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.

 

On New Year’s Eve 1999, in Montreal, Celine Dion gave her last public performance before beginning a temporary hiatus from show business to enjoy her private life… and improve her golf game! During Celine’s hiatus, a compilation album, ‘The Collector’s Series…Volume One,’ was released in October 2000. Among Celine’s greatest hits and best-loved recordings, the album also includes “The Power of the Dream” which Celine performed at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games as well as a Spanish version of “All By Myself.” But the greatest joy for Celine and René came with the birth of their son René-Charles Angélil, born January 25, 2001 at 1:00 AM, weighing 6 lbs, 8 oz. He was baptized six months later on July 25, 2001, in Montreal’s grand Notre-Dame Basilica.

 

In March 2003, Celine began a three-year commitment to appear five nights a week at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, a 4000-seat arena designed for her show. A 90-minute event, A New Day… introduced a new form of entertainment, a fusion of song, performance art, theatrical innovation and state-of-the-art technology. The show was created by Dragone Productions, a team led by Franco Dragone, the creative spirit behind ten of the critically acclaimed productions by Cirque du Soleil.

 

Due to the unprecedented sold-out success of Celine’s Las Vegas show, the original three-year engagement was extended an additional two years. On December 15th, 2006, Celine announced that she was entering the last year of performances with the final curtain set to rise and fall on December 15th, 2007.

 

Shortly after the release of ‘D’elles’, Celine was back in the studio recording songs for her next English studio album, ‘Taking Chances’. A month before ‘Taking Chances’ was released, Celine announced that after she finished her 5-year run in Las Vegas, she would embark on a brand new world tour starting on February 14, 2008!

 

Celine took the stage for her final performance of A New Day… on December 15, 2007. The spectacular Las Vegas show that had been seen by nearly 3 million fans at 717 performances since its premier in March 2003 had come to an end. But Celine was about to embark on a new adventure…her brand new Taking Chances World Tour! Celine promised fans another spectacular live concert event directed by famed director/choreographer Jamie King. Celine’s performances of her biggest hits along with songs from her new albums, ‘D’elles’ and ‘Taking Chances’ were accompanied by a visual feast of colour, fashion, dance and surprise. The ‘Taking Chances World Tour,’ would take Celine to countries that she had never been to before, beginning in South Africa and then making stops in Asia, Australia, Europe, USA and Canada.

 

On August 22, 2008, Celine performed a once-in-lifetime concert on the legendary Plains of Abraham in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, Over 250,000 fans gathered on the historic site to see Celine and her specially chosen guests on stage. Celine thrilled the crowd with a selection of her French-language songs, as well as multiple duets with her guests: Garou, Marc Dupré, Éric Lapointe, La Famille Dion, Mes Aïeux, Zachary Richard, Dan Bigras, Nanette Workman, Claude Dubois, Jean-Pierre Ferland and Ginette Reno. In November 2008, Distribution Sélect released the DVD of this exceptional concert in Quebec. The ‘Céline sur les Plaines’ DVD reached the #1 position on the Quebec charts the first week of its release and boasted the highest entry sales numbers for all DVDs in Canada for 2008.

 

Celine’s ‘Taking Chances World tour, her first worldwide concert tour in over nine years, played to sold-out stadiums and arenas throughout 2008. By its completion, at the end of February 2009, it had crossed 5 continents, 23 countries, and 93 cities, en route to playing for an audience of over 3 million people. The tour’s success was undeniable. In North America it was the #2 tour of 2008 (based on ticket sales). In Europe, Celine performed in huge sold-out stadiums including Dublin – 64,000 people, (tickets sold out in one day), Amsterdam – 50,000 people and Copenhagen – 42,000 people.

 

For a limited engagement in February 2010, ‘Celine Through the Eyes of the World’ brought Celine’s 2008-2009 Taking Chances World Tour to movie theaters. This special motion picture event gave Dion fans who attended the extremely popular tour another chance to experience the magical event, this time from a vantage unparalleled by any ticket. ‘Celine: Through the Eyes of the World’ opens a window into the real life, both on-stage and off, of the best-selling female recording artist of all time.

 

On October 23, 2010, Celine’s family grew again. In West Palm Beach, Florida, Celine gave birth to two adorable twin boys weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces and 5 pounds, 4 ounces. Nelson and Eddy were baptized on March 5, 2011 in Las Vegas, just days before Celine’s grand return to the stage.

 

On March 15, 2011 Celine made a triumphant return to the stage of The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The new show, directed by long time Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich, includes Celine’s biggest hits mixed with timeless classics and pays tribute to some of the most celebrated songs and artists of all time. Featuring 31 musicians, consisting of a full orchestra and band, the show is set to a visually stunning presentation designed exclusively for the 4,300 seat state-of-the-art venue.

 

During the first year of this current residency at Caesars Palace, Céline has played to sold out audiences every night, and within a month of her return, the show reached the Number #1 position on the Billboard BOXSCORE chart which lists the highest grossing concerts in North America. With this new engagement at Caesars, Celine does 70 performances per year. From the very first day it opened, the show has been receiving rave reviews from critics all over the world.

 

On November 5, 2012, Celine released her new French-language album ‘Sans attendre’. After a 5-year wait, fans were treated to a wonderful collaboration between Celine and top artists in the francophone music industry such as Luc Plamondon, Jacques Veneruso, Maxime Le Forestier and Stanislas. The album features duets with distinguished artists: Jean-Pierre Ferland, Johnny Hallyday and the late Henri Salvador.

 

A year after the release of ‘Sans attendre’, Celine released the much anticipated ‘Loved Me Back To Life’, her first English-language album in six years. For this album, Celine worked with a team of exceptional producers and songwriters resulting in an absolutely amazing collection of songs, including two fabulous duets with two very talented artists: Stevie Wonder on “Overjoyed” and Ne-Yo on “Incredible”.

 

Following the release of ‘Loved Me Back To Life’, Celine embarked on a promotional tour in Europe which took her to the UK, Germany and France and was followed by a mini-concert tour with two back to back sold-out shows in Antwerp, Belgium and seven sold-out shows in Paris, France.

 

On July 27, 2013, Celine performed before a crowd of 40,000 fans on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. During this unforgettable one-night only concert, Celine performed her biggest French and English language hits for an enthusiastic audience. It was a monumental week for Celine, as while in Quebec City for the concert, she was presented the insignia of Companion of the Order of Canada and René was presented the insignia of Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General in a ceremony at the Citadelle.

 

In May 2014, a recording of her spectacular live concert, ‘Céline une seule fois/Live 2013’, was released on DVD and Blu-ray. ‘Céline une seule fois / Live 2013’ reached top ten on the album charts in France, Canada and Belgium.

 

In August 2014, Celine made the difficult decision to postpone all of her show business activities in order to focus on her family and their health. But Celine’s extraordinary journey is far from over; this much needed break will allow Celine to come back stronger than ever for the next chapter of her career!

 

On January 14, 2016, Celine’s husband René Angélil passed away at their home in Vegas, two days before his 74th birthday of terminal throat cancer. On his birthday, her brother Daniel Dion also passed away of throat, liver and brain cancer. A public service was held for René on January 21st at Notre Dame Basilica, the same place Celine and René were married 20 years ago, that was broadcast around the globe over the internet. Three days later, a service was held for Daniel Dion, that Celine could not attend due to the overwhelming grief she and her children were suffering. On February 3rd 2016, a memorial for René was held at Ceaser’s Palace that was also live streamed over the Internet.