Céline Dion

Celine Dion was born on March 30, 1968, in Charlemagne, Québec, a little town 50 kilometers from Montréal. She was the 14th child of Thérèse Tanguay and Adhémar Dion. The Dion family was a humble one of modest means, but never lacked for love. The house was jam-packed with children, and Celine’s mom even had to lay her littlest one to sleep in a drawer. The entire family shared the same passion: music. The parents and children even formed a group that performed concerts in the area. From her earliest childhood, Celine would join in. Thérèse swiftly noted her baby’s remarkable talent. All of her children were gifted, but Celine was exceptionally so. At the age of 12, she wrote her first song, with the help of her mother and her brother Jacques: "Ce n’était qu’un rêve." But it certainly was not just a dream! And thanks to her mother, that dream would start to become a reality. Thérèse sent a cassette of the song to impresario René Angélil. She chose him because he had managed the career of the family’s idol, Québécois singer Ginette Reno. In fact, Reno had just informed Angélil that she would no longer require his services. He was about to realign his career when he heard the cassette that would change his destiny, and the destiny of a young girl from Charlemagne. He invited her to an appointment in his office, handed her a pencil and said, “Here’s your microphone. Now sing as though you were in front of a sold-out audience.” Celine sang. On the spot, René became her biggest fan. It was the beginning of the most wonderful artist-manager relationship in the history of show business. On June 19, 1981, Celine Dion sang on TV for the first time, on Michel Jasmin’s talk show. The Québécois audience immediately adopted her. Everyone was convinced that she would go far, but no one could have imagined what was to come. René Angélil believed so completely in his young protégée that he mortgaged his house to finance her first album. It was the finest bet the great gambler ever made. Lyricist Eddy Marnay, who had worked with some of the world’s greatest vocalists including Édith Piaf, Yves Montand and Barbra Streisand, agreed to write songs for Celine. The first time Marnay heard Celine sing, he exclaimed: “It’s the voice of the Good Lord!” La voix du bon Dieu would become their first hit. In 1982, Celine won the gold medal at the 13th Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo. She sang "Tellement j’ai d’amour pour toi", written by Marnay and Giraud, for an audience of 115 million TV viewers. She was just 14. Next, she made her first appearance on TV in France, on famed program Champs-Élysées hosted by Michel Drucker. To this day, the entire country recalls the moment when the host announced to his audience: “Remember her name: Celine Dion!” In 1983, she became the first Canadian to be awarded a gold album in France. It would not be her last. That same year, at the ADISQ gala recognizing the finest in Québécois music, she won her first 4 Félix Awards. She has won a record 45 to date. And then, she and her manager decided the time was right to take a break. An artist on the rise, Celine withdrew from live performance for 18 months. It was another daring gamble. Would she be forgotten like so many child stars before her, never able to recapture the success of their debut? In fact, the opposite was true. When she returned, her audience met a Celine transformed, more solid than ever, having perfectly mastered English, topping the charts with the album marking her metamorphosis: Incognito . The title track was written by Luc Plamondon, a talented lyricist in tune with his era. Celine was no longer a child singer – she was the voice of her time. Incognito sold over half a million copies. It was the first album produced with her new record label, CBS, which would become Sony Music; the same label as Michael Jackson. Celine was in the major leagues. In 1988, in Dublin, Ireland, she won the prestigious Eurovision contest before an audie