Celine Dion Biography

Fast Facts

• First began supporting the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 1982 and was eventually named the organization's National Celebrity Patron in 1993
• Raised awareness for children's causes, read a book to children and served food at a McDonald's restaurant for World Children's Day in 2003
• Born to musician parents who owned and operated a small club, she was the youngest of 14 children
• Married her longtime manager René Angélil in 1994
• Began singing with her brothers and sisters at the age of 5 and wrote her first song, a French song that would later grab the attention of manager René Angélil, with her mother and one of her brothers at the age of 12
• Released her first album in the early 1980s and soon found herself one of the most popular singers in her home region of Quebec, releasing numerous platinum albums over the next decade
• Quote: "A lot of my sisters and brothers hoped to be successful singers, and I've seen the effort and hard work that went into their unrealized dreams․ If I'm successful, I do it for them and for me․"
• Quote: "[on her decision to leave school at 14 to pursue music] "I missed my family and my home, but I don't regret having lost my adolescence․ I had one dream; I wanted to be a singer․""
• Gained international recognition after supplying a track to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991, a single that earned her the first of many Grammy Award nominations
• Reached unprecedented success in 1996 following the release of both "Falling Into You," an album that sold over 30 million copies, and "My Heart Will Go On," the theme from James Cameron's blockbuster film "Titanic․"
• Following a two-year hiatus, she signed a five-year residency deal with Las Vegas' Ceasars Palace in 2003
• Released her first English-language album in 1990, titled "Unison․"
• Named after the song "Celine" by Hugues Aufray
• Initially only fluent in French, she enrolled in English intensive courses at the Berlitz school in Montreal in 1986
• Her first manager, René Angélil, mortgaged his own home in order to finance her first album in the early 1980s