Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion CC OQ (/seɪˌliːn diˈɒn/ say-LEEN dee-ON;[b] born March 30, 1968)[3] is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Queen of Power Ballads",[4][5] she is noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals.[6][7] Her music has incorporated genres such as pop, rock, R&B, gospel, and classical music. Her recordings have been mainly in English and French, although she has also sung in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese, and Chinese.
For the album, see Celine Dion (album).
Céline Dion
- Singer
- actress
- entrepreneur
- philanthropist
1980–present[a]
3
- Adhémar Dion (father)
- Thérèse Tanguay Dion (mother)
Vocals
Born into a large family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion was discovered by her future manager and husband René Angélil, and emerged as a teen star in her home country with a series of French-language albums during the 1980s. She gained international recognition by winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland with "Ne partez pas sans moi". Her debut English-language album, Unison (1990), established her as a viable pop artist primarily in North America and several English-speaking markets, while The Colour of My Love (1993) gave her global superstardom. Dion continued her success throughout the 1990s with several of the bestselling English-language albums in history, such as Falling into You (1996) and Let's Talk About Love (1997), which were certified diamond in the US with more than 30 million sales worldwide each. She also released a series of international number-one hits, including "The Power of Love", "Think Twice", "Because You Loved Me", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "I'm Your Angel", "That's the Way It Is", "I'm Alive" and her signature song "My Heart Will Go On", the theme for the 1997 film Titanic, which solidified her popularity.[8]
Dion continued releasing French-language albums between each English record; D'eux (1995) became the best-selling French-language album of all time, while S'il suffisait d'aimer (1998), Sans attendre (2012), and Encore un soir (2016), were all certified diamond in France. During the 2000s, she built her reputation as a successful live performer with A New Day... on the Las Vegas Strip (2003–07), the highest-grossing concert residency of all time, and the Taking Chances World Tour (2008–09), one of the highest-grossing concert tours of the 2000s. In 2009, she was named by the Los Angeles Times as the top-earning artist of the decade, with combined album sales and concert revenue exceeding $747 million.[9][10]
With 200 million records sold worldwide, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist and the best-selling French-language artist in music history and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time.[11][12] She is the sixth most successful female artist in the history of US Billboard 200 and received recognition from the IFPI for selling over 50 million albums in Europe.[13] Seven of her albums have sold at least 10 million copies worldwide, the second most among women in history. She was ranked as the fourth most outstanding pop vocalist by Cover Magazine and the ninth greatest voice in music by MTV. One of the highest-grossing touring artists in history, she is the second woman to accumulate US$1 billion in concert revenue.[14] Forbes has named her the annual top-earning female musician four times across two decades (1990s–2000s).[c] Dion has also received two honorary doctorates in music degree from Berklee College of Music and Université Laval.[19][20]
Other activities
Business endeavours
Les Productions Feeling Inc., also known as Feeling Inc. or just Feeling, is an artist management company based in Laval, Québec, Canada, and owned by Dion and her husband and manager, Rene Angélil. She is also founder of Nickels Restaurant food chain. She and her husband also own Le Mirage Golf Club and Schwartz's Restaurant. In association with Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Shaquille O'Neal, she opened a popular night club called Pure, located at Caesars Palace.[387]
Dion became an entrepreneur with the establishment of her franchise restaurant Nickels in 1990. She has since divested her interests in the chain and is no longer affiliated with Nickels, as of 1997.[388] In 2003, Dion signed a deal with Coty to release Celine Dion Parfums.[389] Her latest fragrance, Signature, was released in September 2011[183] with an advertising campaign by New York agency Kraftworks NYC.[390] Since its inception, Celine Dion Parfums has grossed over $850 million in retail sales.[391][392] In October 2004, Air Canada hired Dion as part of their promotional campaign to unveil new service products and an updated livery. "You and I", the theme song sung by Dion, was written by advertising executives working for Air Canada.[393]
Dion also launched an eponymous bag and accessories line "Céline Dion Collection". According to Innee-Sedona International, the Asia partner for Bugatti Group said that it already topped $10 million sales after just three collections.[394]
Philanthropy
Dion has actively supported many charity organizations, worldwide. She has promoted the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) since 1982, and became the foundation's National Celebrity Patron in 1993.[395] She has an emotional attachment to the foundation; her niece Karine died from the disease at the age of sixteen, in Dion's arms. In 2003, she joined a number of other celebrities, athletes, and politicians, including Josh Groban and Yolanda Adams, to support "World Children's Day", a global fundraising effort sponsored by McDonald's. The effort raised money from more than 100 nations and benefited orphanages and children's health organizations. In addition, she has been a major supporter of the T. J. Martell Foundation, the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and many health and educational campaigns. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she donated $1 million to the victims of the storm, and held a fund-raising event for the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami, which subsequently raised more than $1 million.[396] After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, she donated $100,000 to China Children & Teenagers' Fund and sent a letter showing her consolation and support.[397] Since 2004, she is involved, alongside husband René Angelil, with the Québec gay community by supporting the publication of health and HIV prevention materials in Gay Globe Magazine, owned by journalist Roger-Luc Chayer.[398] She is also a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.[399] In November 2018, she launched a gender-neutral clothing line for kids, Celinununu.[400] In 2009, Dion joined an effort along with Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron and Kate Winslet, to donate money to support the nursing home fees of the then-last living survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, Millvina Dean. The campaign resulted in $30,000 as donation.[401][402]
by Sony Music Canada (in English and French)
