Céline Dion Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
]] Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born March 30, 1968) is a Québécoise vocalist. She does not like the label "Québécoise" above all others, however; she wishes to be known first and foremost as a Canadian.
She was born in the small town of Charlemagne, Quebec, with a singing voice that her mother encouraged. By the age of five she was performing for anyone who would listen.
In 1980 her mother brought her to agent/manager René Angélil, who so believed in her voice that he mortgaged his home to help finance her career. In 1981 they released her first record in her native French language, "La Voix du bon Dieu" ("The Voice of God"), that made her an instant star in Quebec. The following year she competed and won the gold medal at the Tokyo World Song Festival. Her career continued to blossom, and in 1987 she produced the album Incognito, which became a huge success. Approached by Swiss song writers Atilla Serefthug and Nella Martinetti she was chosen to represent Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest singing "Ne partez pas sans moi". By winning the contest in Dublin, Ireland on April 30, 1988, she received a large boost to her career in Europe. Her first English-language album, Unison (1990), expanded her international recognition with the breakthrough single, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now".
Many of the hit singles that followed over the next ten years ("If You Asked Me To", "Water from the Moon", and "Nothing Broken but My Heart") were written by Diane Warren, a composer best known for power ballads. However, Céline Dion finally showcased her talents as a songwriter when she co-wrote "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" for the 1998 Christmas album, These Are Special Times and "Treat Her Like a Lady" on her Let's Talk about Love album, 1997.
In late 1993, she indicated to the world for the first time that she was in love with her producer, 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 were engaged and she married him in 1994. The wedding, which was broadcast on television across Canada, was very high-rated. The couple also has a son, René-Charles Angélil (born January 2001).
To date Céline has sold around 175 million albums, making her the best-selling female artist of all time.
Some of Dion's own songs have been covered, My Heart Will Go On by Claire Sweeney and These Are Special Times by Christina Aguilera.
In March 2003 Céline was everywhere: on the 25 March her A New Day show opened in Las Vegas, her album One Heart was released, which some fans have called her worst album, although it charted well.
She also released her own perfume line, which was well received and featured on commercial television in the form of an advertisement. It was one of the top ten selling perfumes of 2003.
In 2003, moviegoers once again heard Céline Dion's voice in the song "Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered" on the soundtrack to Mona Lisa Smile.
In October 2003 her French album 1 Fille & 4 Types was released. The album is yet again a collaboration between Céline and Jean Jacques Goldman (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, which sold 8,000,000 copies worlwide, making it the most sold French-language album of all time). Critics have called it Céline’s best and most natural album. Céline herself has referred to it as "the album of pleasure".
In October 2004, Dion released her first concept album, Miracle, as part of a multimedia franchise conceived by both Dion and photographer Anne Geddes. The theme of the album is centered around babies.
Dion first imagined the idea for the show after seeing O by Dragone early into her break from recording. The show is described as 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 didn't get the best reviews from some critics it has been very well recieved by audiences, selling out every night since opening in March 2003.
Celine performing "I'm Alive"
Career beginnings
Movie soundtracks
Dion's work has featured heavily in the soundtracks of a number of hit films. In North America, and working in the United States, her song for Disney's Beauty and the Beast (written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman), "Because You Loved Me" (from 1995s Up Close and Personal, another Diane Warren composition), and a cover of Nat King Cole's "When I Fall in Love" (from 1993's Sleepless in Seattle), added to her growing stardom. By 1997 her records and her rendition of James Horner and Will Jennings' song "My Heart Will Go On", written for the motion picture Titanic (but making its debut on her album Let's Talk about Love), made her the top-grossing star of the music world, with more than 50 million records sold. One year later, she performed "The Prayer" for the 1998 animated film Quest for Camelot. Her last movie song before her short two-year hiatus to have a child came in 1999 with "Then You Look at Me" (from Bicentennial Man, also written by Horner and Jennings).Tribute recordings
Dion is also no stranger to participating in tribute albums, such as a 1995 collection of Carole King songs called Tapestry Revisited, In My Life (a collection of Beatles songs in tribute to producer George Martin), and a 1997 double-CD set commemorating Diana, Princess of Wales. In 1996 at the Olympics, she performed the theme song, The Power of the Dream.Cover songs
Dion has covered several popular songs in her time, including Jennifer Rush's hit "The Power of Love", Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and Roy Orbison's "I Drove All Night".Hiatus
In 2000, Céline began a two-year hiatus from the music industry. In that time, she mothered a child and prepared plans for her biggest show to date, A New Day.Return
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In 2002 after her two-year hiatus, she returned to the music world with a new album ("A New Day Has Come") and a contract to play again in Las Vegas, Nevada. The song "I'm Alive" from her A New Day Has Come album was featured in the second Stuart Little motion picture.A New Day...Live in Las Vegas
On March 25, 2003, Dion began a three-year engagement to play five nights a week at the the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show is put together by Franco Dragone.Band
Discography
| Album title | Released | World-wide sales |
|---|---|---|
| Miracle | 2004 | 1 million |
| A New Day... Live in Las Vegas (Live album/DVD from her show in Vegas) | 2004 | 1 million |
| 1 Fille & 4 Types; (in French) | 2003 | 2 million |
| One Heart | 2003 | 8 million |
| A New Day Has Come | 2002 | 12 million |
| All the Way...A Decade of Song (greatest hits CD) | 1999 | 18 million |
| Au cœur du stade; (Live album/DVD from two sold-out shows in Paris) | 1999 | 1 million |
| These Are Special Times | 1998 | 12 million |
| S'il suffisait d'aimer (in French) | 1998 | 3 million |
| Let's Talk About Love | 1997 | 31 million |
| Live à Paris (live album/VHS/DVD) | 1996 | 3 million |
| Falling into You | 1996 | 32 million |
| D'eux (in French, known as The French Album in the United States) | 1995 | 9 milion |
| Céline Dion à l'Olympia (in French) | 1994 | 1 million |
| The Colour of My Love | 1993 | 15 million |
| Céline Dion | 1992 | 3 million |
| Dion chante Plamondon (in French) | 1991 | 1 million |
| Unison | 1990 | 2 million |
| Incognito (in French) | 1989 | 500 000 |
Trivia
Billboard Hot 100 placements
(Only top-ten hits are included here.)
United Kingdom Number Ones
These singles appeared 45th and 39th respectively in the official list of the best-selling singles in the UK issued in 2002.
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