Celine Dion: all news and scoops!

Occupation: singer
Sign: Aries
Date of birth: Saturday 30 March 1968 (age: 52)
Country: Canada

Céline Dion was born on March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec. The youngest of a family of 14 children, young Céline did not have the best marks in class, but her voice impressed those close to her very early on. In 1980, her mother and brother Jacques, convinced of her potential, collaborated with her to compose and record her first song, Ce n’était qu’un rêve. Michel, another of her brothers, sent her to the impresario René Angelil, who had just been thanked by Ginette Reno. Impressed by the 12-year-old’s voice, he calls her up and, convinced in turn of her talent, decides to mortgage his house to finance his first albums.

For ten years, Céline Dion gradually climbed the ladder, releasing an album every year and earning gold records in Canada. Between 1986 and 1989, in anticipation of an international career, she changed her style of clothing and music, had her teeth fixed, signed with CBS (the same label as Michael Jackson) and learned English. All of these changes paid off: her first English-language album, Unison, released in 1990, gave her the opportunity to make her name in the United States and across the Atlantic.

However, it was not until 1995 and his first collaboration with Jean-Jacques Goldman, who wrote the album D’eux for him, that he was brought to the world’s attention. The French composer made him adopt a more sober way of singing, making him control his powerful vocal outbursts. The singer’s album sold eight million copies worldwide and her single, Pour que tu m’aimes encore, more than four million copies. The singer has become a must-have in French-speaking Europe: a star is born. Between her millions of albums sold and a string of awards, Grammy Awards and Victoires de la musique every year, the much sought-after singer took the time to sing at the inauguration ceremony of the new President of the United States, Bill Clinton, in 1993. On 17 December 1994, she married the man who had always believed in her talent and launched her career, the impresario René Angelil. In 1996, she confirmed her status as an international icon by being chosen to sing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Her album, Falling Into You, released in 1996, became one of the best-selling albums in history. 1997 marked a new step forward in Celine Dion’s career.

After performing two songs during the Oscar ceremony, she is chosen for the soundtrack of the film Titanic. My Heart Will Go On remains the singer’s biggest hit and is part of the Let’s Talk About Love album, which is as successful as Falling into You, with over 31 million copies sold. She received two of her country’s highest honours when she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada (for “Outstanding Contribution to Contemporary Music”) and an Officer of the Ordre National du Québec. In 1998, she released the album S’il suffisait d’aimer, her new collaboration with Jean-Jacques Goldman, which again met with great success.

At the end of 1999, after an explosive world tour, Celine Dion decided to take a break from her career to have a child and to be at the side of her husband René, who had just been diagnosed with throat cancer. Finally, he recovered after a few months and, on January 25, 2001, Celine Dion gave birth to a little René-Charles in a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida. That same year, she participated in Garou’s first album, Sous le vent, with whom she recorded the duet. Céline Dion returns to the stage in 2002 with a new opus in English, A New Day Has Come, more mature and a testimony to her recent status as a mother. In 2003, she released the album One Heart. At the same time, she signed a three-year contract to perform four to five nights a week at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, a huge amphitheatre specially designed to host her show A New Day. The same year, Céline Dion signs with Parfums Coty for the creation of Celine Dion fragrances. The perfume is a success and new fragrances are regularly produced.

The success of her show was such that she signed at the end of December 2005 for two more years. On January 6, 2004, Celine Dion received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. That same year, she received the Chopard Diamond Award from actor Michael Douglas and was presented as the best-selling female artist of all time. In 2007, after a live album of her show, A New Day… Live in Las Vegas (2004) and her first French-language best-of, On ne change pas (2005), she released a French-language album in 2007: D’elles, with all the lyrics written by women. The same year, Taking Chances, her English-language album, was also released. The album did not work in France but sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.

In February 2009, she finished her tour and decided to retire for several months. Nevertheless, she still managed to get out of her retirement to pay tribute to Michael Jackson at the Grammy Awards. The singer gave birth to twins, Nelson and Eddy, on 23 October 2010. Regularly cited in Forbes magazine’s list of the most highly paid personalities, a ranking by the New York Daily News places her in 4th place among the richest female singers on the planet, with an estimated $590 million in assets in 2010. But the singer with a big heart doesn’t hesitate to share. Since 1982, she has supported many associations, is at the origin of the Celine Dion Foundation and has come several times to help the victims of natural disasters (hurricane Katrina, earthquake in Haiti)… In 2011, Celine Dion is back on stage to perform Charlie Chaplin’s song Smile during the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony and signs for a new show, soberly entitled Celine, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas starting in March. Two new albums are expected: the English album Water of Fame and the French album Sans Attendre (with collaborations with Luc Plamondon, Maxime Le Forestier and Jean-Pierre Ferland, among others).

In June 2014, Céline Dion and René Angelil announce that they will no longer work together after thirty-three years of collaboration. Aldo Giampaolo, a long-time friend of the couple, is now associate manager and CEO of Feeling Productions, which manages Céline Dion’s career. In April 2017, Aldo Giampaolo resigned from his position to devote himself to his family.

On January 14, 2016, in Las Vegas, René Angelil died at the age of 73 from throat cancer. Two days later, Celine Dion lost her older brother, Daniel, who also died of cancer at the age of 59.