Celine Dion, The #10 Female Artist of the Rock Era*

Editor's Note:  The women from #8-10 are extremely close, with one or two big hits separating them from each other.  #11 is far away from this group, and #7 is not within range in the immediate future.

Celine was born in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, named after the song "Celine" by Hugues Aufray.  She performed along with her brothers and sisters at her parents' small piano bar Le Vieux Baril.  Celine co-wrote her first song at age 12, and recorded a demo.  The song was sent to manager René Angélil, who was moved to tears by her voice.  

In 1981, Angélil mortgaged his home to finance Celine's first record, "La voix du bon Dieu" ("The Voice Of The Good God"), which became a #1 hit in Quebec.

In 1982, Celine was awarded Top Performer at the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, Japan.  

Also in 1982, she won the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival.  The following year, she earned a gold record in France, and several Felix Awards, including Best Female Performer and Discovery of the Year.

Celine represented Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest and won the top prize with her song "Ne partez pas sans moi" ("Don't Leave Without Me)".  But she had yet to become known in the United States.  Celine underwent dental surgery and studied English at the  École Berlitz School in 1989.

After releasing several French language albums, Celine signed a recording contract with CBS Records.  She released her first English album, Unison, in 1990.  The first single, "(If There Was) Any Other Way)", finally gave Dion her first American hit, a #8 Adult Contemporary song. 

The next single, "Unison", also received AC airplay, but it was "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", that gave Celine her first mainstream smash--#2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #4 overall in the United States and #6 in Canada. 

In 1991, Dion performed with Voices That Care in a tribute to American troops fighting in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq.  She got a major break when she was chosen to sing a duet with Peabo Bryson on the title song for the animated movie Beauty and the Beast.  It reached #3 on the AC chart and #9 overall in the United States and #2 in Canada.

Celine and Peabo won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, they were nominated for Record of the Year and Dion was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.  The song's writers, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Later that year, Dion released the album that would help her explode onto the music scene.  The self-titled second album contained four big hits, including "Beauty And The Beast".  Celine's next single, "If You Asked Me To", was her first #1 in Canada and on the AC chart in the United States (it reached #4 overall).

Dion released the single "Love Can Move Mountains" next, a #2 smash in Canada and, although it hit #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart, it was a highly underrated #36 overall.  With its positive message, it is one of The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era*.

"Water From The Moon" was another great song that helped the album go Double Platinum, #7 in Canada and #11 on the AC chart in the United States.

Dion won a Billboard International Creative Achievement Award.  Celine's album was so great that her hits weren't the only songs driving its success.  This is another fan favorite--"If I Were You".

Future Dion releases would get more attention and sell more records, but they weren't better than this one.  We'll feature another song from Dion's self-titled album, a song written by the famous Diane Warren--"Nothing Broken But My Heart".

Celine also released the French album Dion chante Plamondon in 1991.  The album was certified Gold in Canada the day it was released.  Dion won a World Music Award as the World's Best-Selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year, and a Governor General's Medal of Recognition Award for her contribution to Canadian culture.  Meanwhile, the relationship between Celine and Angélil blossomed from a strictly business one to one of love as well. 

In 1993, Dion released the album The Colour of My Love.  The first single, "When I Fall In Love", with Clive Griffin, topped out at #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #23 on the Top 40 chart.  It was featured in one of the all-time top movies, Sleepless in Seattle.  The pair was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. 

"The Power Of Love", a song originally done by Jennifer Rush in 1985, became one of Celine's biggest career hits, #1 in the United States, Canada and Australia, and #3 in France and #4 in the U.K., and sold over two million copies.  It is one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.  Dion was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Celine has promoted the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation since 1982, and in 1993, she became the foundation's National Celebrity Patron.  "Misled" peaked at #4 in Canada and hit #15 on the AC chart in the U.S.

The Colour of My Love sold 4.5 million copies in the United States, nearly 2 million in the U.K., and over 20 million worldwide.  The next single, "Think Twice", went to #1 for seven weeks in the U.K., and was #2 in Australia and #6 in Switzerland.

Dion won two more World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year in 1995 and 1996.  Celine released the single "To Love You More", a #1 Adult smash in the United States and #9 in Canada.

Celine and René were married in December of 1994 in an event broadcast live on Canadian television.  By this time, Celine had established herself as one of the top-selling artists in the world.  In 1995, she released the French album D'eux, which was a #1 album in France, Switzerland and Norway.  She achieved her first #1 French single, "Pour que tu m'aimes encore".

In 1996, Dion released the album Falling into You.  Another Diane Warren composition, "Because You Loved Me" was the theme for the movie Up Close & Personal, and became another song of Celine's in The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.  

The smash was #1 across formats in the United States, topping the Adult Contemporary chart for an incredible 19 weeks and selling over two million copies, hitting #1 in Canada and Australia, and reaching #3 in Switzerland and #5 in the U.K.  Dion earned Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and the songwriter, Diane Warren, won Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Celine gave performances around the world for over a year to support her new release, which became her first #1 album.  Jim Steinman produced and wrote Celine's next release--"It's All Coming Back To Me Now", #1 on the Adult Contemporary and #2 overall in the U.S. and another two-million seller, #1 in Canada, #3 in the U.K., and #8 in Australia.  Dion also won a BMI Pop Award for Song of the Year.

Falling into You is approaching historic levels of sales.  As of this writing, it is nearing 11 million copies in the United States, 2 million in the U.K., and 32 million across the world.  Celine's remake of the Eric Carmen hit "All By Myself" became her seventh #1 AC smash and ninth to reach the Top 5 (it was #4 overall), and it was #5 in France, #6 in the U.K. and #7 in Canada.  It was certified as a million-selling single.

As with past albums, it was another solid effort that went far beyond her hit singles.  Her remake of the Four Tops & Supremes smash "River Deep--Mountain High" was superb.

The album captured Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album, and Celine won World Music Awards for World's Best-Selling Recording Artist, World's Best-Selling Pop Artist, and World's Best-Selling Canadian Artist.  Another great song on Falling into You is the beautiful and passionate "Seduces Me".

Celine was now on top of the world, and she sang "The Power Of The Dream" at the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dion kept the momentum going the following year with the album Let's Talk About Love.  She combined with another superstar, Barbra Streisand, for the single "Tell Him", a #3 smash in the U.K., France and Belgium, #4 in Switzerland, #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S., and #9 in Australia.  The two legendary female singers earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. 

  

Celine was front and center on the world stage by being chosen to sing the song for the blockbuster movie Titanic.  "My Heart Will Go On" was a #1 song on nearly every country on the planet, one of the top songs of 1997, and one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*. 

Dion won the prestigious Record of the Year as well as Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards.  "My Heart Will Go On" sold over one million copies, and captured a Billboard Music Award for Soundtrack Single of the Year, and both Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture.  Dion also came home with a Blockbuster Award for Favorite Song from a Movie.  The song's writers, Will Jennings and James Horner, captured Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. 

Celine won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and World Music Awards as the World's Best-Selling Female Pop Artist and World's Best-Selling Canadian Recording Artist of the Year.  Celine also won Billboard Music Awards for Album Artist of the Year, Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year and Soundtrack Album of the Year (for the "Titanic" Soundtrack), and a People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Music Performer.  Dion once again toured the world for two solid years to promote her amazing album.

Celine's album has now sold 9.6 million copies in the United States, nearly two million in both the U.K. and Canada, and is now over 31 million in sales worldwide.  Let's Talk About Love captured a Billboard Music Award for Female Album of the Year.  Dion's next collaborative effort with the Bee Gees, "Immortality", reached #2 in Germany, #5 in the U.K. and #8 in Switzerland.

Let's Talk About Love was a #1 Album in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the U.K., Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the combined European charts.  The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.  Celine joined renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti on the song "I Hate You Then I Love You".

In 1998, Celine released the Christmas album These Are Special Times, which in addition to Christmas songs featured the single "I'm Your Angel", with R. Kelly.  The song was a #1 smash on both the AC and Top 40 charts in the U.S., #3 in the U.K. and #7 in Switzerland.  The pair was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the Grammy Awards.

These Are Special Times has sold over five million albums in the United States alone and over 12 million across the world.  Celine then released another French-language album, S'til suffisait d'aimer.  That album has now gone over the four-million mark in sales, and went to #1 in Canada, France, Switzerland and Belgium. 

Dion was asked to perform on the VH1 special Divas Live in 1998.  Celine received two of the highest honours from Canada that can be bestowed upon a private citizen--Officer of the Order of Canada for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Contemporary Music, and Officer of the National Order of Quebec.

In 1999, Dion released her compilation album All the Way...A Decade of Song, and it was wildly received, going over the 8-million mark in the U.S. and now over 17 million worldwide.  It included the new release "That's The Way It Is", a #1 Adult Contemporary hit that was #6 overall in the United States.  It also peaked at #5 in Switzerland, #6 in France, #7 in Belgium and #8 in Germany.

Dion and Andrea Bocelli released a famous single together that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals--"The Prayer".

Celine's career sales by the end of the decade and surpassed the 100-million mark, more sales in 10 years than all but a handful of artists have in a lifetime.  She received an American Music Award for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, and a World Music Award in 2000 as the World's Best-Selling Female Pop Artist.

Then at the height of her popularity, as one of the brightest stars on Earth, Celine took a hiatus to focus on raising her family, a move that earned her tremendous respect among her fans. 

Dion returned in 2001 by singing "God Bless America" at the benefit concert America:  a Tribute to Heroes, following the September 11 murders.  She sang the song again during pregame festivities for Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.

In December, Celine published her autobiography, My Story, My Dream.  She ended her three-year sabbatical from the industry with the album A New Day Has Come, which debuted at #1 in over 17 countries, including the United States with first-week sales of 527,000 copies, the U.K. and Canada.  The title song was #1 song number 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart, breaking a Rock Era record by remaining at #1 for 21 weeks.  It also was a much underrated #22 overall in the United States, #2 in Canada and Switzerland, #6 in Germany and #7 in the U.K.

The album has gone over three million in sales in the United States and over 12 million worldwide.  Another of Celine's greatest songs was about to be released.  The single "I'm Alive" hit #2 in Belgium, #4 in Germany, #6 on the AC chart in the U.S., and #7 in Switzerland and France. 

In 2002, Celine announced she had inked a deal to perform 600 concerts over three years at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  She eventually extended it to five years, and in 2005, Dion grossed over $76 million, placing sixth among the top performers for the year.  At the end of the five-year run, the show grossed $400 million and had been seen by over three million people.

Celine performed on VH1's Divas Live again, and performed for the benefit of the Save the Music Foundation.  In 2003, Dion released the album One Heart, which featured a great remake of the Cyndi Lauper song "I Drove All Night".  The single went to #1 in Canada and #7 on the AC chart in the U.S.  

Dion won consecutive American Music Awards for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist in 2002 and 2003.  One Heart is nearing two million units sold in the U.S. and five million in the world.  "Have You Ever Been In Love" was a #2 smash on the AC chart.

In 2003 Celine released the album Miracle, which although it has gone over 2.5 million in sales, was her first in 14 years to not contain a Top 10 hit.  She also released the French album 1 fille & 4 types (1 Girl & 4 Guys), which has gone over one million in sales, and reached #1 in Canada, France and Belgium. 

By 2004, Celine's career sales had gone over 175 million, and she received the Chopard Diamond Award from the World Music Awards for the achievement.  Dion received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that year.  She also earned a FiFi Award for Fragrance of the Year-Women's Popular Appeal for Celine Dion Parfums and an ELLA Award for Contribution to Music and Humanitarian and Community Support.  In 2005 and again in 2006, Celine was named the Best Headliner in Las Vegas by the Las Vegas Review Journal. 

In 2007, Celine received a Legend Award from the World Music Awards.

She released the DVD Live in Las Vegas--A New Day.  She released the French-language album D'elles (About Them) in 2007, which topped the Canadian Album chart.  Celine won another World Music Award as the World's Best-Selling French-Canadian Recording Artist.  Later in the year, Dion released the album Taking Chances, which featured the title cut.  The single landed at #5 in Switzerland, #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States and #7 in France.

Celine went on a year-long worldwide tour, performing 132 shows on five continents.  In 2008, Celine gave a free outdoor concert in Quebec City, Canada for the 400th anniversary of the city.  The show drew approximately 490,000 people.  The concert, Celine sur les Plaines, was released on DVD. 

Dion received France's highest award, the Legion d'honneur, from President Nicolas Sarkozy in May of 2008.  She also received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the Universite Laval.  At the end of the year, Celine released another compilation album--My Love:  Essential Collection.

In 2009, Celine proved her continuing popularity by finishing the decade as the 20th-best-selling artist of the decade, selling 17.57 million albums in the United States alone.  Pollstar announced that Dion was the best-selling solo touring act of the decade with $522.2 million.

In 2010, Dion was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.  She released the documentary film Celine:  Through the Eyes of the World, shot during her Taking Chances tour.  In January, The Los Angeles Times revealed that Dion was #1 among the largest earners of the decade, with $747.9 million in total revenue. 

Celine announced she would return to Caesars Palace for a three-year residency featuring seventy shows a year, beginning in March of 2011.  The French album Sans attendre was released in 2012, and was a smash success in all French-speaking countries.  

In 2013, Dion released the album Loved Me Back to Life.  In July, she received the Companion of the Order of Canada from the Governor General of Canada in a ceremony in Quebec.  

Celine owns an artist management company called Les Productions Feeling, Inc.  They also own a chain of Nickels Restaurants, Le Mirage Golf Club, Schwartz's Restaurant, and recently opened the popular night club Pure in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Celine has influenced countless singers, including Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Adele, Josh Groban, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis and Jessie J.      

Dion has now sold over 220 million albums worldwide, more than any other female artist in history.  She has won five Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and 12 World Music Awards.

Celine was well on track towards becoming one of The Top 5 Female Artists*, but when she committed to performing in Las Vegas, both her output and her success in recording dropped.  Still, she is one big hit away from #8.