Biography of Celine Dion - a New Day

Celine Dion, born March 30, 1968, is the youngest of 14 children. Celine Dion, originally from Charlemagne, Canada, came from a very musical family. Celine Dion's parents had a piano bar in their town and the whole family worked there. Celine's mother played the violin, her father played the accordion while her sisters and brothers sang.

At the tender age of 5, Celine Dion began singing on stage. By the time she was 12 years old, she had written her first song (in French). When Rene Angelil, her future husband, heard Celine Dion sing at the age of 12, he knew that here was a star in the making. He believed so much in Celine Dion's talent that he remortgaged his home to come up with the funds to pay for her debut album. In 1983, Celine Dion became the first Canadian to receive a gold record in France.

In 1988, Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin and became internationally famous after her soundtrack was released from Beauty and the Beast. Celine Dion, who sang the duet with Paebo Bryson, won an Oscar, Grammy, and earned the achievement of a number one single as a result of this soundtrack. In 1990, Celine's breakthrough album, Unison, was released by Epic Records and several hit songs resulted from this album.

Celine Dion then went on to make history with her hit album, "The Colour of My Love" when the single, "Think Twice", topped the charts for five weeks. This was the first that this had happened in music history since The Beatles.

There has also been rumors that Celine Dion collects a big percentage of the publishing rights from songs that she does not write for her albums. On the "Let's Talk About Love" album, Celine Dion and her husband, Rene, asked the writers, whose songs were submitted for the album, for up to 20 percent of the publishing money.

In 1993, Celine sings for President Clinton, receives the Personality of the Year Award, and received Billboard Magazine recognition.

In 1994, Celine Dion announced to the world that she was in love with her manager, Rene Angelil. Celine and Rene had been involved since 1988, but knew their 26-year age difference would cause a stir so they kept their relationship under wraps. There was some talk and controversary over their relationship once it was made public, but Celine and Rene married in December.

I don't think any of us will ever forget Celine Dion's musical addition to The Titantic soundtrack. "My Heart Will Go On" led the Titantic soundtrack to go on and sell over 27 million copies. "My Heart Will Go On" was also a single on Celine Dion's "Let's Talk About Love" album which also sold over 27 million copies.

Then in 1999, Celine Dion took a much needed break from music to focus on motherhood. Her and her husband, Rene Angelil, had a beautiful son together, who they named Rene Charles. Rene also went through his own personal battle with cancer and is now cancer free.

"A New Day Has Come" from Celine Dion came out in 2002 and Celine returned to many adorning fans. "A New Day Has Come" debuted at number one in over 17 countries - what a comeback for Celine! Along with the release of "A New Day", Celine Dion appeared in Chrysler commercials promoting their upscale line of vehicles with her single, "I Drove All Night". In 2003, Celine announced that she had signed a three-year, 600-show contract in which she would appear five nights a week at Caeser's Palace in Las Vegas. Celine's show, A New Day, will be performed in a custom-built arena that seats 4000 fans! Celine Dion teamed up with photographer, Anne Geddes, in 2004 to create a CD and book project that includes collection of family songs and lullabies.

Even though Celine Dion has sold millions of albums worldwide and has become a household name, Celine Dion still felt her image was hampered due to her humble beginnings, her appearance at that time, and the controversial relationship with her older husband.

Celine Dion has received numerous awards during her career:

1998 Grammy: Record of the Year - Winner
1998 Grammy: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - Winner
1996 Grammy: Album of the Year - Winner
1996 Grammy: Best Pop Vocal Album - Winner
1992 Grammy: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - Winner

Celine Dion also is involved in raising money and promoting public awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. In 1993, Celine lost a niece to Cystic Fibrosis.

Rumor has it that on the "Let's Talk About Love" album, Celine and husband, Rene, asked the songwriters who submitted their work for the album, for up to 20 percent of the publishing money. Celine Dion does not write her own songs for her albums. Songwriter greats such as Carole King, Mark Hudson and Greg Wells were among songwriters to write music for Celine, but they would not give in to these request. Some songwriters who had written for previous Celine albums refused as well and their songs were not used. Six songwriters, who were virtually unknown in the music world, did agree to their requests. "The Reason", which was co-written by Carole King, was still used on the album but was not allowed to be the title, as originally planned.