Céline Dion, born on March 30, 1968 in
Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, is one of Canada's brightest
stars. She is the youngest of 14 siblings, all of which
are musically gifted. Her parents, who were musicians too,
operated a small club in Céline's hometown. On weekends
her family would show off their musical talents to the
local population. Since she was five she would preform
with her siblings, on stage, and it was during these
preformances that she would not only learn basic vocal
skills, but it was here that she discovered her love for
the show.
At the age of twelve she wrote a french
song with her mother and her brother that would ultimately
change the course of her life. This song found it's way to
René Angélil (Céline's present day husband and manager).
After hearing Céline's voice René Angélil was breath taken.
He was so breath taken he was determined to make Céline's
voice recognized world wide. He went so far as to morgage
his house just to finance Céline's first CD.
In 1982 Céline began to receive
recognition for her work, winning the Gold Medal at the
Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo. She also won the
coveted Musician's Award for Top Performer. In 1983 she
made another first, she was the first Canadian to receive
a Gold Record in France. Céline's streak of recognition had
just begun!
By 1988, Céline was enjoying her
superstar status, having received many Felix awards and she
was racking up the platinum albums. In the same year
Céline won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland.
During which she preformed live in front of a huge
television audience of 600 million viewers, located in
Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and the USSR.
Céline's major international breakthrough
came when she recorded the unforgettable title theme to Beauty
And The Beast with Peabo Bryson. The song went straight
to the top, giving Céline Dion a Grammy Award and an Academy
Award. Beauty And The Beast was a cornerstone to her
second english album, simply titled Celine Dion (the first
album was Unison). The album had four more hit singles, Love
Can Move Moutains, Water From the Moon, If You
Asked Me To, and Did You Give Enough Love. In Canada
Celine Dion (the album) went six times platinum. The album
also paved the way for an awesome set of Juno Awards.
Around this time the Céline Dion snowball
was rolling at lightning speed in the United Kingdom (UK).
British fans adored the song Think Twice a ballad on
The Colour of my Love. For five weeks in a row the
album and the song were at number one. A feat not repeated
since 1965 with the Beatles. Think Twice remained at
number one for two more weeks, surpassing then million dollar
mark, to become only the fourth million-selling single ever
in the UK by a female artist.
With Céline's the album D'eux, Céline
Dion, who started her singing career in the small town of
Charlemagne (30 miles east of Montréal), had done what everyone
thought to be impossable: she introduced french music to the
upper reaches of the British Charts. The world as a whole
had finally accepted Céline Dion.
Céline Dion has crossed land and sea
with her music, crossing all barriers, including that of
language, with her electrifing voice. With her breakneck
pace of recording, video shoots, touring and appearing on
TV shows and awards specials, it seems like Celine has
time for little else. This is far from the truth, at least
when it comes to one important cause that's close to Céline
Dion's heart. Celine has used her talents to further cause
of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She went so far
as to sing a song, one of her most Fly), as a memorial to her
niece, Karine, who who died by this disease.
Released in March of 1996, Falling Into You
became the best selling album released that year; topped the
charts in 11 countries, and was voted Album of the Year and
Best Pop Album in the 39th annual Grammy Awards. The album
to date, has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
Céline Dion has released many discs in
her career, each of them producing never forgetable smash
hits. Looking back on all of this, some of us just can't
help but think "Shouldn't we have seen this coming?"
Biography by: Tom Nobbe
Submitted On : 09.29.01
Works Cited and
Consulted
Céline Online
All Things Céline
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