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A promotional-photo for Celine Dion's A New Day Has Come album.

Céline Marie Claudette Dion OC, OQ (born March 30 1968 in Québec, Canada) is a Grammy, Juno and Oscar award-winning popular singer and songwriter. Her music has been influenced by a myriad of genres, ranging from pop, rock and roll, and soul, to gospel and classical, and she has often been noted by fans and industry critics alike for her vocal abilities, lyricism, and her ability to express the text of her songs.

Dion's music career began when her current husband and manager, René Angélil, mortgaged his home in order to finance her career. As a francophone artist, she gained popularity in Canada by releasing numerous French records, and in Europe and Asia by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Song Festival, and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. After signing to Columbia Records in the late 1980s, Dion released Unison, her first English album, which helped her to break into the anglophone North American market.

During the 1990s, Dion continued to release such chart topping singles as "Because You Loved Me" and "My Heart Will Go On"—the successful love theme from the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic —and commercially successful albums as Fallin' into You, Lets talk about Love, and D'eux (The French Album), which enabled her to become one of the best-selling female artists of all time.[1] She has been the recipient of many awards and accolades including over twenty Juno Awards, five Grammys, and nine World Music Awards (including the Chopard Diamond award in 2004). In 1998 she was appointed "Officer of the Order of Canada, and a year later, she became an inductee into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.

After taking a career break in 1999 to enjoy family life and to care for her husband who had been diagnosed with throat cancer, Dion returned to the music scene in 2002 with the album A New Day Has Come and, as of 2003, performs nightly in her show A New Day...Live in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

Dion was the youngest of fourteen children, born to Adhemar and Therese Dion in a poverty stricken home in Charlemagne, a small town thirty miles east of Montréal, Québec, Canada. The family was always surrounded with music, and Dion honed her talents by singing with her siblings from the age of five in the small pianobar belonging to her parents. On weekends, the entire family performed and entertained the local population.

File:SmallCelineDion.jpg
Dion won the gold medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo in 1982.

At the age of twelve, together with her mother and one of her brothers, Dion composed her first song, "Ce n'etait qu'un rêve" ("It Was Only a Dream"), which her brother Michael sent to René Angélil, a manager whose name he had found on the back of an album by popular Francophone singer, Ginette Reno. Angélil, who was brought to tears by Dion's voice, immediately decided to make her an international success. He mortgaged his home to help finance Dion's career and in 1981, they released her first record in her native French language, "La Voix du bon Dieu" ("The Voice of God"), which became a local number-one single, making her an instant star in Québec.

Dion's recognition would soon spread worldwide, as in 1982, she competed in, and won the gold medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo. She also won the Musician's Award for Top Performer. This would help to give Dion the much needed exposure and establish her as a rising star, not only in her hometown, but in the rest of the world.

In 1983, she became the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France.

At eighteen, Dion saw Michael Jackson performing on television and she told Angelil that she wanted to be a star like him. Dion then underwent a physical transformation to remake her image: she cut her hair, shaved her eyebrows, and had her teeth capped to cover up the incisors that had caused a Québec humor magazine to dub her "Canine Dion".[2] She was also sent off to an English language school which would polish her language enable her to break into the anglophone North American market.

International success

Career breakthrough: 1987 to the early 1990s

In 1987, Dion produced the album Incognito, which became a huge success in francophone Canada. She enjoyed superstar status, racking up multiple sales and receiving numerous Felix Awards. She was later approached by Swiss songwriters Atilla Şereftuğ and Nella Martinetti, who asked her to represent Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. By singing "Ne partez pas sans moi", Dion won the contest in Dublin on April 30 1988, receiving a large boost to her career not only in Europe, but also in the USSR, the Middle-East, Japan, and Australia. Her recognition in the US, however, was still limited.

Dion's first English album, Unison, released in 1990, was declared as "a fine, sophisticated American debut" by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, of All Music Guide [3]. The album, largely influenced by rock music, initiated her recognition in America with the breakthrough top five single, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now". Other singles were not as successful in the American or World market. The album earned Dion her first certification from RIAA as it went platinum in the United States. The album's international success, however, was limited.

Dion's real international breakthrough came when she recorded the title track for the soundtrack to the animated Disney hit film Beauty and the Beast with Peabo Bryson. The song topped the U.S. charts for five weeks and earned its composing duo of Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman the Academy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television, and for Dion and Bryson the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. In Canada, at the Felix Awards show, Dion won an award for the "English Speaking Artist of the Year". Dion openly refused to accept the award on the grounds that she was a French and not an English artist [4].

Shortly after her Unison album was released, Dion acted in a television mini-series called Des fleurs sur la neige (Flowers on the Snow). She played a young woman named Elisa who lived a very difficult, abused life. Dion enjoyed her role and has since expressed interest in acting in a film.

Dion's 1992 eponymous album also featured the single "Beauty and the Beast". The album incorporated music from a myriad of genres and sub-genres including rock, soul, and adult contemporary, and Erlewine believed that it was "even stronger and more accomplished [than her debut]". It produced four more hit singles; the gospel tinged "Love Can Move Mountains", "Water from the Moon", "If You Asked Me To", and "Did You Give Enough Love". The album was certified double platinum in America and six times platinum in Canada, winning her many Juno Awards and the World Music Award for being the "World’s Best selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year".

"The colour of love"

File:Colourofmylove.jpg
In the dedication section of The Colour of My Love, Dion named Angélil "the colour of [her] love".

Apart from her rising success, there were also changes in Dion's personal life, as Angelil would make the transition from manager to lover. However, fearful that the public would find the twenty-six-year difference between their ages perturbing, the relationship was kept a secret. In late 1993, Dion indicated to the public for the first time that she was in love with her manager, René Angélil. In the dedication section of her third English-language album, The Colour of My Love, Dion named Angélil "the colour of [her] love". Eventually, they became engaged, and married in December 1994. The wedding was widely watched on television across Canada. The couple would soon have a son, René-Charles Angélil (born in January 2001).

The album was well-received both critically and commercially, being certified six times platinum in America. Erlewine of All Music Guide noted that "while the songs aren't quite as consistent [as her eponymous album] ... the record is nevertheless quite successful, thanks to the careful production, [and] professional songwriting" [5]. It spawned "The Power of Love", a remake of Jennifer Rush's 1982 hit, which topped the US charts for four weeks, and "When I Fall In Love", a duet with Clive Griffin. The record was well received worldwide. "Think Twice", though not a major hit in North America, became a massive hit in the United Kingdom. Both the song and album stayed at the summint of their respective charts for five consecutive weeks, with "Think Twice" spending two more weeks at the top. It surpassed the million mark to become the fourth million-selling single by a female artist in the U.K. Singles Chart history.[6]

In keeping with her French roots, Dion continued to release successful French albums between her English language recordings. These include the albums Dion chante Plamondon and Céline Dion à l'Olympia, 1994, and D'eux (known as The French Album in the United States) in 1995.

"Falling into You":1996

In March 1996, Dion released Falling into You. A trend with Dion's previous albums, Falling into You contained numerous pop, rock, gospel, and adult contemporary tracks. Erlewine of All Music Guide wrote that while the album was formulaic: "Falling into You is a remarkably well-crafted set of adult contemporary pop and Dion's best album."[7] It spawned hits such as the title track, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", a remake of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself", and the chart-topper "Because You Loved Me". The album topped the charts in eleven countries, and won the Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album at the thirty-ninth annual Grammy Awards ceremony. Falling into You has become Dion's most successful album. Not only is it her most critically acclaimed, it also boasts her most robust sales to date;it has been certified eleven times platinum in America, and has sold approximately thirty-two million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best selling albums of all time.[8]

That year, Dion was also asked to perform at the opening ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics. She performed the theme song, "The Power of the Dream" accompanied by composer David Foster and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

"Titanic" accomplishments: 1997 to 1999

File:Celine Grammy.jpg
A tearful Dion receiving the Grammy award for "Record of the year" for "My Heart Will Go On".

Dion followed Falling into You with her 1997 release Let's Talk About Love, publicised as the sequel to her 1996 album. It was recorded in London, New York and Los Angeles and featured a host of special guests, including some of music's greatest vocalists; Barbra Streisand, the Bee Gees, and world-renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti, as well as many noted songwriters and producers. Though it was a tough act to follow, Let's Talk About Love actually matched success of its predecessor. It received rave reviews from critics who cite the incorporation of a myraid of music genres into the album's success [9]. Erlewine said that "even the filler is immaculately produced".[10] Dion's album was released on the same day as the soundtrack of the 1997 film Titanic. Both albums featured the theme song, "My Heart Will Go On", written by James Horner and produced by James Horner and Walter Afanasieff. At first Dion was reluctant to record "My Heart Will Go On"; her husband and James Horner had to convince her. Titanic became the all-time best-selling orchestral soundtrack in recording history. The album went on to receive diamond certification in the United States, and has sold approximately thirty million copies worldwide.

Dion won many Juno Awards, and two Grammys (the song itself won four, while two were awarded to the songwriters) in 1999, and three World Music Awards for being the "World’s Best-Selling Canadian Recording Artist of the Year", the "World's Best-Selling Pop Artist of the Year", and the "World's Overall Best-Selling Recording Artist of the Year". She also received many awards for her achievements in Europe and Asia. In 1998, she received one of the highest honours from her home country; she was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for outstanding contribution to the world of contemporary music and Officer of the National Order of Quebec. A year later, she was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.

File:Celine Dion OC.jpg
Céline Dion receiving the Order of Canada.

At the peak of her career Dion was asked to perform on VH1's Divas Live special with such superstars as Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, and Shania Twain, solidifying her status as one of the biggest divas of contemporary music.

Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Dion, known for her tribute recordings, participated on a double-CD set in commemoration.

Keeping busy in the studios, Dion released the holiday album These Are Special Times in 1998 and it went on to become one of the biggest-selling of its kind. The single "I'm Your Angel", a duet with R. Kelly, became a number-one single in the United States and Canada. She also released "The Prayer", a duet with Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, which was recorded for the 1998 animated film Quest for Camelot.

All the Way... a Decade of Song, was released in 1999. It contained a collection of her previous hit singles, such as "Beauty and the Beast", "The Power of Love", "Because You Loved Me", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "I'm Your Angel", and "My Heart Will Go On". Also included were seven new songs including "That's the Way It Is", a remake of Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "All the Way", her remake with Frank Sinatra (which she dedicated to her husband), and "Then You Look at Me" (from Bicentennial Man, also written by Horner and Jennings). An accompanying DVD with videos and live performances was also released. On this album, she also told the public that she was taking a break from the music industry to enjoy her family.

Career break—1999 to 2002

Things took a turn for the worse in Dion's personal life: her husband, Rene Angelil, was diagnosed with throat cancer. Dion decided to put a new emphasis on her family life and announced a temporary retirement so that she could spend more time at home and have a child. On New Year's Eve 1999, in Montréal, Dion gave her last public performance before beginning this break. After undergoing fertility treatments, she gave birth to a son, René-Charles Angélil, in January 2001. Her son's baptism on 25 July was broadcast live throughout Canada. She has decided to raise her son to be multilingual as she plans to send him to a school where he will learn English, French, and Spanish.

During Dion's break, a compilation album, The Collector's Series... Volume One, was released in October 2000.

New beginnings

"A new day"

A New Day Has Come, released in March 2002 ended her two-year break from the music world. The album debuted at number one across seventeen countries, and sold over 600,000 copies in the United States in its first week. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide writes: "it's more ambitious than it needs to be... it's a balancing act that nobody since Barbra Streisand has been able to pull off", but noted that the album is forgettable [11]. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stones was less enthusiastic about the record, saying that "Dion's voice is still just furniture polish."[12]

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The music video for "A New Day Has Come". The song was a major hit, resuming her success.

A New Day Has Come features the tracks "A New Day Has Come", "I'm Alive" (which is featured in the second Stuart Little film), "The Greatest Reward", which is an adaptation of "L'envie d'aimer", a song from the French stage musical Les dix Commandements (The Ten Commandments), and a cover of Etta James' hit, "At Last", for which Sheffield believes Dion does not have the voice.[13] The album resumed her success, and has since become three times platinum in the United States and six times platinum in Canada, with worldwide sales reaching over twelve million copies.

On March 25, her A New Day show opened in Las Vegas, and her album One Heart was released with singles including the title track, "Have You Ever Been in Love", which spent fourteen weeks at number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and a remake of Roy Orbison's "I Drove All Night". The album has been certified as the tenth-best-selling album of the year, according to IFPI.

Dions French album 1 fille & 4 types was released in October 2003. The album which, like S'il suffisait d'aimer, took only five to six days to record, and was a collaboration between Dion and Jean-Jacques Goldman. They were joined by three of his friends, Gildas Arzel, Eric Benzi, and Jacques Veneruso, who had previously worked with her on S'il suffisait d'aimer and D'eux (also known as The French Album. Critics have called it Dion's best and most natural album. Dion herself has referred to it as "the album of pleasure". The first single from this album, "Tout l'or des hommes", established the record for becoming the highest charting francophone single on the National (English) CHR Audience chart in the BDS era. "Tout l'or des hommes" reached number five on the English CHR Audience Chart.

In 2004, Dion recorded the title track for the Franco-Québécois movie Nouvelle-France, titled "Ma Nouvelle-France", written by Luc Plamondon and Patrick Doyle, and produced by Christopher Neil. In July 2004, "You and I", the promo song for the new Air Canada advertising campaign, actually hit number one in the Canadian mainstream adult contemporary category, according to Nielsen BDS. The song, included as a "bonus track" on her A New Day... Live in Las Vegas album, was among the Top 100 most requested singles on Canadian radio stations for twenty-three weeks.

Continuing her success, Dion released her first concept album, Miracle, in October 2004. It was produced by David Foster, as part of a multimedia project conceived by both Dion and photographer Anne Geddes. The theme of the album is centred around babies, and available in three different versions: the CD with a 20-page booklet featuring photos by world-renowned baby photographer Anne Geddes. The album received generally positive reviews, and was also commercially successful. In January 2005, Miracle was certified platinum by RIAA in the U.S.

On October 3 2005, Dion released On ne change pas, a collection of her greatest French hits. It sold more than 108,000 copies in its opening week in France, and remained the best-selling compilation album for the next four weeks. The album also debuted at number two in Canada with sales of 35,000. The single "Je ne vous oublie pas" was released in France in late October, and debuted at number on the Single-Sales charts, selling more than 24,000 copies. By November 2005 the album had reportedly sold close to half a million copies worldwide.

Following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Dion appeared on Larry King Live, and tearfully criticised Bush regarding the Iraq War and slow response in aiding the hurricane victims. She claimed that the response was "unacceptable".[14] She vowed to donate one million dollars for relief efforts.

A New Day... Live in Las Vegas: 2003 to present

File:2004and080.jpg
Dion performing "I'm Alive"

In early 2002, Dion had announced a three-year, 600-show contract to appear five nights a week in an entertainment extravaganza, A New Day, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Dion first conceived the idea for the show after seeing O by Dragone early in her break from recording. She began on March 25 2003 in a 4000-seat arena designed for her show. The show is put together by Franco Dragone and promoted by Josh Somerhalder.

A New Day... Live in Las Vegas is a combination of dance, music, and visual effects. It includes Dion performing her songs against an array of dancers and special effects. Even though the show did not get the best reviews from some critics it has been very well received by audiences, selling out every night since opening in March 2003. In September 2004 the contract was extended into 2007.[15]

Dion sold 322,000 tickets and grossed $43.9 million in the first half of 2005, the trade paper Pollstar reported. Billboard placed her show second in the Mid-Year Concert Chart. By the week ending 17 July 2005 Dion had sold out 315 out of 384 Las Vegas shows.

Dion has compiled her performances into the album "A New Day: Live in Las Vegas", which features thirteen live tracks from Celine's show at Caesars Palace, as well as two previously unreleased studio tracks; "You And I" and "Ain't Gonna Look The Other Way. Rob Theakston of All Music Guide opined that the album "drives home the point that Celine is one of the most potent entertainers in adult contemporary music."[16] An accompanying DVD will also be released, which features the recording of the album and the creation of her Las Vegas show.

Other activities

Entrepreneurship

Apart from her success as a musician, Dion has also become a successful entrepreneur with the establishment of her franchise restaurant, "Nickles" in 1990. The franchise has thirty-two restaurants spread across many areas in the U.S and Canada, mainly in Quebec and Ontario markets, with plans for expansion in the coming years.[17] Dion has developed her own magazine — The Céline Dion Magazine which is printed in both English and French.

Charity

Dion has been an active supporter of many charity organisations worldwide. Since 1982, she has began promoting the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) by participating in media interviews, public service campaigns, and in 1996, she helped the foundation to secure an important new sponsorship with Royal Airlines. Dion also contributes millions of dollars to the organization, and in 1993 she became the foundation's National Celebrity Patron. She has an emotional attatchment to the foundation as her niece succumbed to the disease at the age sixteen.

In December 2002, Dion and her husband, Rene Angelil began supporting the "Growing Up Healthy" campaign of the Fondation de l’Hôpital Sainte-Justine, a hospital specializing in the treatment of sick children in Montreal, Quebec. The two have helped to raise over $100 million dollars in donations from the public for the hospital’s development plan.

A year later, Dion joined a number of other celebrities, athletes and politicians in support of World Children's Day, a global fundraising effort for children, which was sponsored by McDonald's. The effort which raised money from over 100 countries benefitted many orphanages and children's health organizations.

Dion has also been a major supporter of breast cancer research, education and awareness, and she also supports the T.J. Martell Foundation and the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. She has also been involved in recording tribute and charity singles for many causes.

Discography

Further information: Celine Dion discography

English releases

± two of the best selling albums of the 1990s

French releases

  • 2003 1 fille & 4 types 2,000,000
  • 1999 Au coeur du stade 1,000,000
  • 1998 S'il suffisait d'aimer 6,000,000
  • 1996 Live à Paris 4,000,000
  • 1995 D'eux / The French Album 9,000,000 ±
  • 1994 A l'Olympia 1,500,000
  • 1991 Des mots qui sonnent/Dion chante Plamondon 2,000,000

± The Best-selling French album of all time

Awards and accolades

Further information: Celine Dion's Awards
  • Juno Awards--Canada
    • Best Album – ‘Let’s Talk About Love’ (1999)
    • Best Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic) – ‘Let’s Talk About Love’ (1999)
    • Best Selling Francophone Album – ‘S’il suffisait d’aimer’ (1999)
    • International Achievement Award (1999)
    • Best Selling Francophone Album - 'Live à Paris' (1997)
    • Best Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic) - 'Falling Into You' (1997)
    • International Achievement Award (1997)
    • Best Selling Francophone Album of the Year – ‘D'Eux' (1996)
    • Best Selling Francophone Album – ‘D`EUX’ (1996)
    • Album of The Year - 'The Colour of My Love' (1995)
    • Best Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic) - 'The Colour of My Love' (1995)
    • Single of the Year - "Beauty and the Beast" (coincidentally nominated in the same category for "If You Asked Me To") (1993)
    • Best Selling Francophone Album - 'Dion chante Plamondon' (1993)
    • Best Dance Recording - "Love Can Move Mountains" (Club Mix) (1993)
    • Female Vocalist of the Year (1991- 1994, 1997, 1999)
    • Album of the Year – ‘Unison’ (1991)
  • World Music Award--worldwide
    • Chopard Diamond award in honor of being the best selling female artist of all time. (2004)
    • World’s Best Selling Female Pop Artist of the year (1999)
    • World’s Best Selling Canadian Recording Artist of the Year (1998)
    • World's Best Selling Pop Artist of the Year (1997)
    • World's Overall Best Selling Recording Artist of the Year (1997)
    • World’s Best Selling Canadian Recording Artist of the Year (1992, 1995-1997)
  • In 2003, Dion's voice was ranked the ninth greatest in MTV's "The 22 Greatest Voices in Music". In Cove Magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists", Dion finished fourth.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ "To be honoured at World Music Awards: Céline Dion best selling female artist of all time". Ecstoday news article. Retrieved November 1, 2005Esctactoday.com.
  2. ^ Proefrock, Stacia. "Celine Dion" biography. "All Music Guide" VH1.com Retrieved August 16, 2005.
  3. ^ Erlwine, Thomas. "Review"--Celine Dion Unison. "All Music Guide" allmusic.com retrieved November 18, 2005
  4. ^ Thom'. "Celine Dion's biography". Celinedion.t2u Biography.
  5. ^ Erlwine, Thomas. "Review"--Celine Dion The Colour of Love. "All Music Guide" . all music guide Retrieved November 1, 2005
  6. ^ "The Journey so Far" Celine Dion.com. celinedion.com Celine Dion official website. Retrieved August 16, 2005.
  7. ^ mp3.com Falling into You album review.
  8. ^ Angelfire.com Celine Dion discography.
  9. ^ Amazon.com Lets Talk about Love album review
  10. ^ mp3.com. Lets talk about Love album review.
  11. ^ mp3.com A New Day has Come album review.
  12. ^ rollingstone.com A New Day has Come album review.
  13. ^ rollingstone.com A New Day has Come album review.
  14. ^ angelfire.com. Celine Dion news page.
  15. ^ bbc.com BBC article on "A New Day Has Come...Live in Las Vegas".
  16. ^ artistdirect.com "A New Day Has Come...Live in Las Vegas".
  17. ^ nickelsrestaurant.com. Official website.

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