Celine Dion Career Bio And Net Worth

Celine Dion is a famous Canadian singer, actress, songwriter, and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $800 million.

French-Canadian singer Celine Dion dominated the pop charts in the 1990s with No. 1 hits like “The Power of Love” and “Because You Loved Me”. After over 35 years as a performing and recording artist, Celine Dion has become a legend of popular music, one of the most powerful and moving voices ever

Who Is Celine Dion?

A star from a young age, singer Celine Dion had recorded nine French albums and won numerous awards by the time she was 18. She delivered her first English-language album, Unison, in 1990. Dion’s real breakthrough into pop music stardom came in 1992 when she recorded the theme to Disney’s hit animated feature Beauty and the Beast. She went on to record several hits, including four No. 1’s: “The Power of Love,” “Because You Loved Me,” “My Heart Will Go On” and “I’m Your Angel.”

Early Life and French Albums

Celine Marie Claudette Dion was born on March 30, 1968, in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada. The youngest of 14 children of Adhemar and Therese Dion, she grew up in a close-knit musical family. Her parents formed a singing group, Dion’s Family, and they toured Canada when Dion was still an infant. They later opened a piano bar, where the 5-year-old Dion would perform to the delight of customers.

At the age of 12, Dion recorded a demo tape of a song she had written with her mother. They sent the tape to the manager and producer Rene Angelil, who handled the career of popular French singer Ginette Reno. After hearing the tape and inviting Dion to perform for him in person, Angelil signed her immediately under the condition that he would have complete control over her career. He mortgaged his own home to finance her debut album, La Voix du bon Dieu.

By 18, Dion had recorded nine French albums and won numerous Felix and Juno awards, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy Award. In 1988, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland, and her performance was broadcast live in countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Japan. After this taste of international acclaim, she began looking to the south and American stardom. 

Dion recorded her first English-language album, Unison, in 1990. Like most of her English-language albums, it was a collaboration with the songwriter-arranger-musician David Foster. Driven by the Top 5 single “Where Does My Heart Beat Now,” Unison sold more than one million copies worldwide.

Breakthrough with ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Dion’s real breakthrough into pop music stardom came in 1992, when she recorded the theme to Disney’s hit animated feature Beauty and the Beast, a duet with Peabo Bryson. The song, “Beauty and the Beast,” made it to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won both a Grammy and an Academy Award.

It was featured on her second English album, Celine Dion, which became her first gold record in the United States and sold more than 12 million copies internationally. The undeniable success of her self-titled effort, which also includes the hit “If You Asked Me To,” which made it to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart, allowed Dion to launch her first headlining tour in the United States.

‘The Colour of My Love’ and No. 1 Hits

Dion quickly capitalized on her newfound fame, releasing the top-selling The Colour of My Love in 1993. The album showcased the romantic power ballads that Dion had become known for, including “When I Fall in Love,” which was featured on the soundtrack for the hit film Sleepless in Seattle, and “The Power of Love,” her first single to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1994, Dion merged her personal and professional life when she married Angelil, who was 26 years her senior. Angelil and his second wife had divorced in the 1980s, and, around this same time, he and Dion had begun a romantic relationship. The couple became engaged in 1991 and tied the knot at Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica in an elaborate ceremony that was celebrated throughout Canada.

Dion’s international stardom was solidified by her performance of “The Power of the Dream,” at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. That same year, her album Falling Into You, including the No. 1 hit “Because You Loved Me” (from the soundtrack to Robert Redford’s sentimental 1996 film, Up Close and Personal), won Grammy Awards for album of the year and best pop album.

‘Titanic’ and ‘My Heart Will Go On’

The following year, however, would hold even greater glory for Dion, with the release of the blockbuster film Titanic (1997), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, for which Dion sang the theme song, “My Heart Will Go On.” The film raked in a record number of Oscar nominations (it won 11, including the award for best song), and Dion’s ballad became ubiquitous on radio stations around the world.

Included on both the Titanic soundtrack album and Dion’s own Let’s Talk About Love (1997), “My Heart Will Go On” shot to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100—marking the singer’s third No. 1 hit—and sold a combined 50 million records worldwide. Let’s Talk About Love also featured collaborations with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, the Bee Gees and Bryan Adams.

Canadian Diva

Dion received the National Order of Quebec, her province’s highest honor, in April 1998. Later that year, she appeared alongside Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan and Shania Twain on the high-profile televised concert Divas Live on VH-1.

While touring relentlessly and recording several albums (including S’il Suffisait d’Aimer and a holiday album, These Are Special Times, both released in 1998), Dion was well-rewarded at the Billboard Music Awards in late 1998, where she won six awards, including for artist of the year and album of the year, for 1997’s Let’s Talk About Love. Her extensive 14-country tour, which began in the summer of 1998, culminated in a gala concert in Montreal on December 31, 1999, in honor of the new millennium. Dion scored her fourth No. 1 hit with “I’m Your Angel,” a duet with R&B singer R. Kelly featured on These Are Special Times.

Family Life and Children

In early 2000, Dion announced that she was taking time off from her career in order to focus on her family. She and Angelil had been trying to have children for years, and eventually decided to use in vitro fertilization to conceive. In May 2000, Dion underwent two small operations at a fertility clinic in New York to improve her chances of becoming pregnant.

Her efforts were successful, and on January 25, 2001, Dion gave birth to a boy, Rene-Charles. She revealed in interviews that she had stored another fertilized egg in the fertility clinic and planned someday to give her son a sibling. On October 23, 2010, at age 42, Dion gave birth to twin boys, Eddy and Nelson. Angelil, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999, was in remission.

Global Fame and Vegas Residencies

After a two-year hiatus, Celine Dion returned in March 2002 with A New Day Has Come, which topped the charts in more than 17 countries. A year later, she began a much-hyped 36-month engagement at Caesars Palace, the famous Las Vegas hotel and casino. Dion simultaneously released the album One Heart, which did not fare as strongly as its predecessor.

Dion returned to creating French-language albums with 2003’s 1 Fille & 4 Types. Partnering with photographer Anne Geddes, she had a hit with the children’s music album Miracle: A Celebration of New Life (2004). In 2007, Dion released two albums: Taking Chances, which nearly reached the top of the pop album charts, and D’Elles, another French-language recording.

While no longer dominating the charts as she once did, Dion remained a popular entertainer. In June 2009, Forbes reported that the singer had earned approximately $100 million the previous year, making her the second-highest earning musician on the magazine’s list after Madonna.

Dion’s follow-up albums included the French-language Sans attendre (2012) and Encore un soir (2016), as well as Loved Me Back to Life (2013) for English-speaking fans. She also embarked on a long-running residency at Caesar’s Palace in 2011.

Health Problems and Husband’s Death

In August 2014, Dion canceled all of her shows scheduled through March 22, 2015, to focus on her 72-year-old husband, whose throat cancer had returned, and her children. “I want to devote every ounce of my strength and energy to my husband’s healing, and to do so, it’s important for me to dedicate this time to him and to our children,” the singer said in a statement.

The superstar also dealt with her own health issues in 2014: According to a press release, she had “inflammation in her throat muscles” which prevented her from performing in her Las Vegas show. Dion apologized for “inconveniencing her fans” and thanked them for their support during her hiatus from performing. 

In a 2015 interview with USA Today, the singer spoke about her husband’s battle with cancer: “When you see someone who is fighting so hard, it has a big impact on you,” she said. “You have two choices. You look at your husband who’s very sick and you can’t help, and it kills you. Or you look at your husband that’s sick and you say, ‘I got you. I got it. I’m here. It’s going to be just fine.'”

On January 14, 2016, Angelil lost his battle with cancer and passed away at the age of 73 in the family’s Las Vegas home.

New Tours and Album

Recovering from her loss, Dion returned to the stage for what became an annual summer tour beginning in 2016. She also resumed her Las Vegas residency, before the long-running show concluded in June 2019.

Additionally, the singer sparked rumors that she had rediscovered romance after appearing in public with backup dancer Pepe Munoz, though she insisted that they were merely “best friends.”

In September 2019, Dion released three new singles and embarked on a world tour in support of her upcoming album. Fans were thrilled to receive her first English-language studio album in six years, with Courage debuting atop the Billboard 200 that November.