Celine Dion, The #15 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Four

 

(Continued from Part Three)

Celine joined other celebrities to support "World Children's Day", which raised money from more than 100 countries to benefit orphanages and children's health organizations.   Dion also released the Francophone album 1 fille & 4 types (1 Girl & 4 Guys).  This is "Tout L'or des Hommes" ("All The Men's Gold)".

 

In 2004, Celine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  After giving birth to a boy in March, she released the album Miracle, featuring the themes of motherhood and babies that included covers of Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" and John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy".  The album debuted at #4 in the U.S.

 

The Miracle project also included an 180-page book with photographs from Anne Geddes.  Here is the title song.

Dion's worldwide sales had now reached 175 million, and she received the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for topping 100 million career sales. 

 

In 2007, Dion released the French-language album D'elles (About Them) which debuted at #1 in Canada and also reached #1 in France and Belgium.  Here is "Et S'il N'en Restait Qu'une (Je Serais Celle-Là)", which means "If There Were Only One Woman Left (I Would Be That One)" in English.

 

Celine won the Legend Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Music Industry at the World Music Awards.  We also want to feature "On s'aime à cause" ("We've Loved Each Other Because") .

 

This is "Je Ne Suis Pas Celle" ("I'm Not The One").

Celine also released the album Taking Chances, her first English album in four years.  Her worldwide tour took her to five continents that included 132 shows, and Celine finished the year as the top concert draw in the world.  The title song, written by David Stewart of the Eurythmics, jumped #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart and hit # 5 in Switzerland, #7 in France, and #9 in Canada.  

 

The album reached the Top 10 in virtually every country (#1 in Canada, #2 in France, and # in the U.S.) and topped one million in sales in the U.S. and three million worldwide.  Here is her cover of the Heart hit "Alone".

 

Another solid track is the inspirational "New Dawn".

This song, written by Stewart and Kara DioGuardi, was originally going to be released as a single for their group Platinum Weird.  When they played it for Angéli, he loved it and Celine recorded it as well.  Here is  "Taking Chances".

In May of 2008, Deion received the highest award from France, the Legion of Honour, from President Nicolas Sarkozy.  On August 22, 2008 Celine offered a free outdoor concert in Quebec City to commemorate the city's 400th anniversary.  The show attracted 490,000 people, one of the largest concerts in history.  The show was filmed and released on DVD as Céline sur les Plaines.  While there, Celine received an honorary doctorate in music from the Université Laval.  Dion also released the compilation My Love:  Essential Collection, which went Gold.

In 2009, Dion finished the decade as the top-selling solo touring act, with a gross of $522 million.  

Celine released the documentary film Celine:  Through the Eyes of the World, now available on DVD.  Dion returned to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for another three-year residency that when ended, it was the second-most successful residency of all-time only to her previous engagement.

In 2012, Dion released the French album Sans attendre, which has topped 1.5 million in sales.  She was nominated for World's Best Female Artist, World's Best Live Act, World's Best Entertainer of the Year and World's Best Album at the World Music Awards.

 

The following year, she released the album Loved Me Back to Life, which reached#1 in Canada and the Netherlands, #2 in the U.S. and Belgium, and #3 in the U.K., France, and Switzerland.  Here is the title song.

On July 26, 2013, Celine received the Companion of the Order of Canada.  She was nominated for World's Best Album at the World Music Awards.  We also want to feature "Water And A Flame".

In 2014, Celine postponed all live appearances, including her concerts in Las Vegas, as René underwent the removal of a tumor and his health was deteriorating.  She resumed the tour in August of 2015, but had to cancel again when René died from cancer on January 14.

In 2016, Celine received the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards.  The French album Encore un soir  made it to the Top 10 in Canada, France, Switzerland, and Belgium and has sold over one million copies.

Celine toured Europe and Canada with two sold-out tours in 2016 and 2017 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2018.

 

In 2019, Dion released the album Courage, #1 in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, and Belgium and #2 in the U.K., Australia, and France, and #4 in Germany.  Here is the title song.

Celine toured the world to support the album until the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dion has resumed the tour now that we have finally made progress in masks and social distancing.  Celine was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

She is one of the most honored recording artists in history, winning 292 career awards and receiving 535 career nominations.  Including in that amazing list are Knight of the Legion of Honor Award from France, Officer of the Order of Canada for Worldwide Musical Influence and Commitment to Numerous Humanitarian Causes, Officer of the Order of Canada for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Contemporary Music, 12 World Music Awards with 22 total nominations, 6 American Music Awards from 14 nominations, 4 Grammy Awards out of 16 nominations, 7 Billboard Music Awards from 41 nominations, the Eurovision Song winner in 1998, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one People's Choice Award from five nominations, two MTV Video Music Award nominations and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award out of six nominations.

Celine has sold over 220 million albums in her amazing career and recorded 23 hits with 10 of those going Top 10 and 4 #1 smashes.  Among adults, Dion's star is even brighter, achieving 46 career hits, 22 Top 10's and 11 #1 songs, among the most impressive chart statistics in history for music fans over the age of 18. 

Celine Dion, The #15 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

Celine released the Christmas album These Are Special Times (#1 in Canada and the Netherlands and #2 in the U.S.) and the French-language album S'il suffisait d'aimer in 1998.  The former, featuring complex orchestral arrangements, now boasts sales of 12 million copies and includes  Celine's fourth #1 in the U.S.--"I'm Your Angel" (with R. Kelly).

Steve Dollar, in his review of These Are Special Times, opined that Dion was a "vocal Olympian for whom there ain't no mountain—or scale—high enough".    

Celine won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Musical Performer and was nominated for Top Billboard 200 Album Artists - Female and Hot 100 Single Sales (for "I'm Your Angel") at the Billboard Music Awards.  "The Prayer", her stunning duet with Andrea Bocelli, was featured in the movie Quest for Camelot and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Celine and Andrea were nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the Grammy Awards.

Dion's rise to the top was cemented by pulling off the rare feat of winning both Favorite Pop (Rock) Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist at the American Music Awards.  Precious few of The Top 100 Artists* have ever done that.  Two years after it's release, Let's Talk About Love was still on fire and was nominated in 1999 for Favorite Pop (Rock) Album. 

Celine also gives one of the best performances of the classic reverent song "Oh Holy Night".

Celine appeared in VH1's Divas Live special and was awarded Officer of the Order of Canada.   S'il suffisait d'aimer is now over four million in sales.  Celine had come a long way indeed, and her compilation album All the Way...A Decade of Song in 1999, another universal #1, has gone over nine million in sales in the U.S. and 22 million worldwide.  

Together with her biggest hits, the album also includes seven new songs, led by 

this one, which was written and produced by Andreas Carlsson, Kristian Lundin and Max Martin, who have written a string of hits for Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys and NSync.  "That's The Way It Is", #1 on the AC chart and #6 in America and #5 in Canada and Top 10 in nearly every country in the world.

 

Celine won World Music Awards for World's Best-Selling Female Pop Artist of the Year in 1999 and again in 2000.  The album also features an overdubbed duet with Frank Sinatra on Frank's big hit--"All The Way", which Celine likes to perform in concert.  The recording earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

"Then You Look At Me" is the theme for the 1999 movie Bicentennial Man.  James Horner and Will Jennings, who wrote "My Heart Will Go On", also wrote this one for Dion.

By the end of the decade, Celine had topped 100 million in sales, which only a small percentage of artists have done in a career.  "My Heart Will Go On" was included in the Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.  Dion was nominated for Billboard Music Awards for Top Pop Artists - Female and Top Billboard 200 Artists - Female.   

But Angélil had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and Celine to her credit took a break from recording and touring.  In 2001, Celine gave birth to son  René-Charles Dion Angélil and published her autobiography My Story, My Dream in 2001.  She also won another American Music Award for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist and was nominated for Favorite Pop (Rock) Female Artist for the fourth time.  

 

Dion returned following the 9/11 murders to sing "God Bless America" at the televised benefit concert America:  A Tribute to Heroes.  Of her performance, Billboard's Chuck Taylor wrote: "the performance ... brings to mind what has made her one of the celebrated vocalists of our time: the ability to render emotion that shakes the soul. Affecting, meaningful, and filled with grace, this is a musical reflection to share with all of us still searching for ways to cope."  Dion performed the song again in 2003 before Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego, California.  

In early 2002, Dion announced what was to be a three-year 600-show deal to appear in a multimedia project called A New Day... at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Celine got the idea after seeing O by Franco Dragone during her hiatus.  Caesar's Palace designed a 4,000-seat area specifically for the show and modelled after the Roman Colosseum.  Dion premiered the show on March 25, 2003.

The lavish show, directed by Dragone and choreographed by Mia Michaels, sold out night after night.  In 2005 alone, she had sold 322,000 tickets and grossed $43.9 million, and the phenomenal success led Celine to extend the contract into 2007.  In 2006, A New Day... was the 6th biggest-selling tour in the U.S.  The monumental show was the most successful residency in history, grossing over $385 million and drawing three million people.  The Live in Las Vegas:  A New Day... DVD was released in 2007.  

 

In 2002, Celine released her first album in three years, the inspirational and personal A New Day Has Come, which debuted at #1 in 17 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.  The title song peaked at Canada and Switzerland, and although it topped the Adult chart in the U.S. for a record 21 weeks, it stalled at #22, another of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  The song has sold over one million copies.

 

The album has now sold three million units in the U.S. and 12 million worldwide.  Another of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era* is the vibrant "I'm Alive", also featured on the soundtrack for the animated film Stuart Little 2.  It reached #6 AC and peaked at #2 in Belgium, #4 in Germany, and #7 in Switzerland and France.

 

Dion won an American Music Award for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, her third in that category, and she was again nominated for Favorite Pop (Rock) Female Artist.  The single "Have You Ever Been In Love" hit #2 on the AC chart.  It won an ASCAP Award for one of the Most Performed Songs.

 

Louis Biancaniello and Sam Watters teamed up to write "I Surrender".  Biancaniello has written songs for Elton John, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Kelly Clarkson, the O'Jay's, Al Green and Shanice.  Watters was a member of Color Me Badd ("I Swear", "All 4 (sic) Love" and I Adore Mi Amor") and co-wrote many songs with Biancaniello.

Celine performed on VH-1 Divas Live in 2002, which proceeds going to the Save the Music Foundation.  She released the album One Heart in 2003, featuring her great cover of the Cyndi Lauper song "I Drove All Night".

Join us for Part Four of Celine Dion, only on Inside The Rock Era!

Celine Dion, The #15 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

Celine's popularity had continued to grow with each release, but the Falling into You album in 1996 catapulted her into superstardom.  The Diane Warren-penned song "Because You Loved Me", from the movie Up Close and Personal, became her biggest hit to date, topping charts in the U.S., Australia, and Canada and selling over two million copies.  It remained at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for an incredible 19 weeks.

Dion was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammys, for Hot 100 Single, Hot Adult Contemporary Single, Hot 100 Singles Airplay and Hot Adult Top 40 Single at the Billboard Music Awards and she was nominated for Favorite Female Artist -Pop and Favorite Song from a Movie at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.  

Celine performed concerts throughout the world in support of the album.  Falling into You reached #1 in the U.S. and nearly every other major country and has sold over 11 million copies to date in the U.S. alone and over 32 million worldwide.  "It's All Coming Back To Me Now", written and produced by Jim Steinman, also sold over two million singles and topped charts in Canada and Belgium and the U.S. AC chart (#2 overall).

Dion captured Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album and she won Billboard Music Awards for Top Billboard 200 Album Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album Artist - Female and Hot Adult Contemporary Artist and was nominated for Top Pop Artist, Top Pop Artist - Female and Top Billboard 200 Album.  

 

Her remake of the Eric Carmen song "All By Myself" peaked at #1 on the AC chart and #4 Popular in the U.S., #5 in France, #6 in the U.K., and #7 in Canada.

Celine was nominated for Favorite Pop (Rock) Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist two consecutive years at the American Music Awards, capturing the former award in 1998.  "Falling Into You" reached #1 in Spain and Greece and was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and Norway. 

 

Dion performed "The Power Of The Dream" before a television audience of half a billion people at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996.  David Foster and Babyface combined to write the song, which includes accompaniment by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 

 

Here is Celine's remake of the song first recorded by Ike and Tina Turner made popular by the Four Tops & Supremes collaboration--"River Deep - Mountain High".

 

Dion won three World Music Awards, including World's Best-Selling Artist of the Year and World's Best-Selling Pop Artist of the Year.  By singing "Seduces Me", Celine herself entered the world of seduction.

Dion's Let's Talk About Love album in 1997 featured several high-profile stars, an indication of how much her own star had risen since her debut.    

 

Let's Talk About Love went to #1 in nearly every major country and has sold over 10 million in the U.S. and 31 million total.  In Canada, it sold over 230,000 copies in its first week, an all-time record.  "Tell Him" is the great duet between Celine and Barbra Streisand that earned the two superstars a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.  The collaboration was initiated when Celine and Barbra met at the 1997 Academy Awards.

 

The song that would become Celine's signature song, though, was her unforgettable classic featured in the movie Titanic--"My Heart Will Go On".  The song and movie are now so inextricably linked that it is impossible to hear the song or watch the movie without thinking of the other.  It topped charts throughout the world and won four Grammy Awards, including the prestigious Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song.  It also earned Celine a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Song from A Movie.  

Dion won Billboard Music Awards for Hot Soundtrack Single, Top Billboard 200 Album and Hot Soundtrack Album (for Titanic) and was nominated for Hot Adult Contemporary Single and Top Billboard 200 Album for Let's Talk About Love as well.  The video was nominated for Best Video form a Film and Viewer's Choice at the MTV Video Music Awards.  Once again, Celine toured the world to promote her album. 

 

"Immortality" gave her a 14th #1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.  It also reached #2 in Germany and #5 in the United Kingdom.

 

"Let's Talk About Love" was co-written by fellow Canadian Bryan Adams, who also plays guitar on the middle eight..

 

"I Hate You Then I Love You" is an adaptation of the Italian song "Grande grande grande" by Mina.  Celine teamed with famed tenor Luiciano Pavarotti for this one.

Other guests on the album included Carole King, Sir George Martin, and Diana King.

The beloved songstress continues with Part Three!

Celine Dion, The #15 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

 

"That unmistakable, incomparable, angelic voice that I have loved all my life! God bless you, Celine. Thank you for being a part of my life all these years."

"Celine Dion is awesome!"

"This woman is absolutely special."

"A beautiful woman with a golden voice."

"There are just a few true GREATS and this lady is one of them!!! My God, what a voice. Love to hear her sing!"

"The Queen of Music, living legend."

"One of the greatest of all-time."

"A legendary voice that is irreplaceable."

"She's the most romantic singer ever."

"One of the greatest voices of all-time."

"Her voice sends shivers up my spine and brings tears to my eyes. Incredible."

"Celine is an icon. Legendary."

"One of my favorite singers of all-time."

"Celine Dion forever. The real diva. Legendary."

"One of the best ever."

"Such an extraordinary voice!!!!"

"Her songs motivate me; they give me strength and courage to go on when I pass through difficult moments."

"Her music is beautiful and meaningful."

"Celine Dion is a legend. She has a way to evoke so much emotion and her voice is just mesmerizing and heaven-sent."

"Celine manages to make every song eternal."

"Her voice is so pure and angelic."

"She is magical, just heavenly."

"My favorite artist forever."

"Her voice is such a blessing to us."

"My favorite singer of all-time."

"Living legend--you are the best."

"Her voice is total precision, like a finely-tuned instrument."

Celine was ranked 10th in the 2014 book The Top 100 Female Artists of the Rock Era*.  Her album sales have continued to soar since that time, to the point where now, Celine is the fourth-ranked female artist of all-time.

Celine Dion (named after the song "Céline", which had been recorded by Hugues Aufray two years before her birth) was born in Charlemagne, Quebec, the youngest of 14 children.  Celine made her first public appearance when she sang at her brother Michel's wedding in 1973 at the age of five.  Dion continued to perform with her siblings at Le Vieux Baril ("The Old Barrel"), her parents' small piano bar.  Celine also was a member of Girl Guides of Canada.

When she was 12, Celine wrote her first song,  "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" ("It Was Only A Dream", with her mother and brother Jacques.  Michel sent the recording to music manager René Angélil.  Angélil loved what he heard and set out to make her a star.  Angélil was so committed that in 1981, he mortgaged his home to fund her first record, "La voix du bon Dieu", which became a big hit in Quebec.

The Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Carole King and Anne Murray are among the influences on Celine, all of whom eventually collaborated with her.

Dion competed in the 1982 World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, Japan, and came home with the award for "Top Performer" and the gold medal for Best Song with "Tellement j'ai d'amour pour toi".  The following year, she became the first Canadian artist to earn a Gold record in France for "D'amour ou d'amitié" ("Of Love Or Of Friendship"), and in 1988, Celine represented Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest and won the contest singing "Ne partez pas sans moi".  

By 1987, Dion had released eight French language albums, and her most recent, Incognito, boasted worldwide sales of 500,000.  Dion had high ambitions and although Angélil was convinced she had the talent to be a big star, he also realized that Celine's image had to be changed to be able to market her worldwide.  Celine underwent dental surgery and she was sent to the Ecole Berlitz in 1989 to improve her English.

 

Just two years after she learned English, Celine released her debut album Unison in 1990 with the help of producer David Foster.  The single "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" was written by Taylor Rhodes, who has written songs for Journey and Loverboy, and Robert Johnson, who wrote many songs for Lynyrd Skynyrd.  The song hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #4 overall in the U.S. and #6 in Canada.  

 

The following year, Celine's duet with Peabo Bryson in the animated movie Beauty and the Beast gave her tremendous exposure, and the title song also reached the Top 10 and earned Celine a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and an Academy Award for Best Song from a Motion Picture.  The message is that love can be strong no matter how different two people are.  "Beauty And The Beast" rose to #2 in Canada, #3 on the AC chart and #9 Popular in the U.S. as well as in the U.K. and sold over one million singles.

Celine was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for her self-titled album.

 

The single also appeared on Celine's self-titled album in 1992, which went Triple Platinum and reached #3 in Canada.  The album has sold over five million worldwide.  "If You Asked Me To", written by famed songwriter Diane Warren, reached #1 in Canada and #4 in the U.S. (#4 AC).

"If You Asked Me To" captured the ASCAP Pop Award for Most Performed Song and was nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Hot Adult Contemporary Single of the Year.  Celine also earned a Billboard nomination for Hot Adult Contemporary Artist.

 

Dion performed this song for the first time on July 14 on The Tonight Show.  The single "Nothing Broken But My Heart", another Warren tune, gave Celine her first U.S. #1 on the Adult chart and reached # in Canada and also won an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Song.  

Walter Afanasieff, who co-wrote several songs with Mariah Carey, produced and arranged the song and also played keyboards and synthesized bass and oversaw the drum and rhythm programming.  Michael Landau, who has played on albums by Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, James Taylor, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Boz Scaggs, Richard Marx, Stevie Nicks, Glenn Frey, and Seal, among many others, played guitar on the track.  

Celine scored another Top 10 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S., a song that unexplainably stalled at #36 overall.  It is one of The Most Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  Here is the inspirational "Love Can Move Mountains".

Celine may have taken longer to get off the ground without Warren (!), who also wrote this great track--"Water From The Moon".

Afanasieff also co-wrote this song with John Bettis--"If You Could See Me Now".

 

Here is another solid track--"If I Were You".

Dion and Angélil became romantically involved during this time, and were married in 1994.  Dion released another French album, Dion chante Plamondon, which reached #2 in France and has now sold over two million copies worldwide.

Meanwhile, Dion released her third English album, The Colour Of My Love, which was a huge success, selling over six million in the U.S. alone, another two million in both the U.K. and Canada, and a total of 20 million globally.  The album topped charts in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and Belgium, and reached #2 in the Netherlands and #4 in the U.S.  Celine won World's Best-Selling Female Recording Artist of the Year at the World Music Awards.  

 

The first hit of this song was Doris Day's version in 1952.  "When I Fall In Love", with Clive Griffin, from the classic movie Sleepless in Seattle, was nominated for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards and hit #6 on the AC chart.

Celine's remake of the Jennifer Rush song "The Power Of Love" topped charts in the U.S., Australia, and Canada and reached #3 in France and #4 in the U.K.  It has sold over two million singles in the U.S. alone.  David Foster produced the song and also played keyboards on "The Power Of Love", the 8th-best-selling song of 1994.

"The Power Of Love" was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Popular (which for the last 65 years has been Rock) Single, a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Billboard Music Awards for Hot 100 Single of the Year and Hot Adult Contemporary Single of the Year.  Celine received nominations for Top Pop Artist - Female, Hot Adult Contemporary Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album Artist - Female and Hot 100 Singles Artist - Female at the Billboard Music Awards.

 

The great song "To Love You More" went to #1 on the Adult chart in the U.S. and peaked at #9 in Canada.

 

Aldo Nova, who had a minor hit with "Fantasy" in 1982, produced this song.  "Think Twice" was a big hit in the U.K., landing at #1 for seven weeks and was only the fourth single by a female artist ever to top one million in sales.

 

Here is the beautiful "Love Doesn't Ask Why".

Celine continued to release albums recorded in French, including the live À l'Olympia, recorded at the Paris Olympia in 1994, and D'eux in 1995, which became the top-selling French-language album of all-time and has now achieved 10 million in worldwide sales.

 

"Pour que tu m'aimes encore" ("So That You'll Love Me Again") claimed the #1 spot in France for 12 weeks, was #1 for 15 weeks in Belgium, and also landed in the Top 10 in the U.K. and Ireland, one of only a handful of French songs to reach the Top 10 in those locations.  It sold over one million copies in France alone and four million worldwide.  It has become so popular that in 2015, it ranked #5 on Billboard's France Digital Songs Sales Chart, 20 years after its release!

In 1996, Celine won a World Music Award for World's Best-selling Female Recording Artist of the Year for the third straight time.

Dion impressed with her first few albums and was gaining popularity rapidly.  In the next segment, she becomes a superstar!