KBAY Christmas 2009

Biography

Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices, Céline Dion remains the best-selling Canadian artist and one of the best-selling artists of all time with record sales of over 200 million copies worldwide. To date, Céline Dion has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. She is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundSc...

Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices, Céline Dion remains the best-selling Canadian artist and one of the best-selling artists of all time with record sales of over 200 million copies worldwide. To date, Céline Dion has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. She is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era. In 2003, Dion was honoured by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for selling over 50 million albums in Europe. In 2004, Dion received the Diamond award at the World Music Awards recognizing her status as one of the best-selling female artist of all time. In 2007 she was honoured with the Legend Award at World Music Awards in recognition of her global success and outstanding contribution to the music industry. Her signature song, "My Heart Will Go On," served as the love theme for the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic and topped the charts worldwide, as well as winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Born to a large impoverished family, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. In 1990, she released the anglophone album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.

Dion had first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to CBS Records Canada in 1986. During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history. However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a temporary retirement from entertainment in order to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer.She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed a three-year (later extended to almost five years) contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

After performing in 25 countries during the Taking Chances World Tour which ended in February 2009 (one year after it began) she took another 2 year hiatus, focusing on expanding her family. After 6 in-vitro tries she gave birth to twin boys Nelson and Eddy in October 2010. In the meantime she announced her return to Vegas, her new show simply named "Céline" premièred on March 15th 2011 to spectacular reviews by media and audience.

Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel and classical. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals. Dion is the best selling Canadian artist of all time; and her album D'eux is the best selling francophone album of all time. Dion is regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices. Linda Lister describes Dion as a reigning Queen of Pop for her influence over the record industry during the 1990s. On a cultural level, Dion is credited for introducing francophone music to many non-francophone countries around the globe. Dion is also credited for both revitalizing and revolutionizing the entertainment scene in Las Vegas with the gargantuan successes of her residencies there. She managed to re-popularize the Las Vegas "residency" as a desirable way for top artists to essentially tour in place, letting their fans come to them. Over the years, fellow established icons such as Britney Spears, Elton John, Bette Midler, Rod Stewart, Cher and Shania Twain followed suit. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.