Celine Dion

Some Lesser Known Facts About Celine Dion

• Does Celine Dion smoke?: No

• Does Celine Dion drink alcohol?: Not Known

• She was born into a large family, and she was the youngest of 14 children of Adhémar Dion, a butcher, and Thérèse (née Tanguay), a homemaker. 

• She was named after the song “Céline,” which was recorded two years before her birth.

• Since her childhood, she was inclined towards singing.

• Her family was a big music lover, and they formed a singing group named Dion’s Family and toured Canada when she was just an infant.

• In 1973, when she was just five, she sang a song titled “Du fil des aiguilles et du coton” at her brother Michael’s wedding.

• She used to perform at a small piano bar called Le Vieux Baril “The Old Barrel,” which was owned by her parents.

• At the age of 12, she, along with her mother and brother Jaques, wrote and composed her first song titled “Ce n’était qu’un rêve,” translated as “It Was Only a Dream” or “Nothing But A Dream.”

• Her recording was then sent to music manager René Angélil, who was mesmerized by the voice of Celine and he was so impressed by her song that it brought tears in his eyes and the very moment, he decided to make Celine a star. 

• She performed in front of 65,000 people including Pope John Paul at the Montreal Olympic Stadium and sang “Une Colombe.” 

• She was called Vampire Queen in her high school days because of her sharp looking smile.

• René Angélil mortgaged his house to fund Celine’s first record- La voix du Bon Dieu in 1981, which was a big local No.1 hit and she was labeled as an instant star in Quebec. 

• She became the first Canadian artist in 1983 to receive a gold record in France for her single “D’amour ou d’amitié” (meaning- “Of Love or of Friendship”).

• By the end of her teens, she achieved a great amount of stardom and fame and already, her nine French albums were released. But she wanted a level of success that Michael Jackson had and took a one-year hiatus from singing, had a complete makeover, learned English and came up with her debut English album- Unison.

• During her first American tour for Unison, she lost her voice. Her vocal cords were inflamed and were strictly asked by the doctors to give rest to her vocal cords for at least three weeks.

• In 1991, she came up with her international breakthrough when she duetted the title track of Disney’s animated film- Beauty and the Beast with  Peabo Bryson. Here’s a video of her song:

• Celine declared her feelings for her manager through her English-language album The Colour of My Love.

• She tied the knot with Angelil on December 17, 1994, which was broadcasted on Canadian television. 

• In an interview with People Magazine, she stated that she misses her family as well as her home, but she doesn’t regret losing her adolescence as she had only one dream of becoming a singer and she achieved that.

• Before going to stage for performing, she prefers doing some stretching exercises as a warm-up.

• She was offered an opportunity to sing for the theme song of Titanic, but she rejected the offer by saying she didn’t want to sing a song for a film. However, later she was convinced by her husband Rene and recorded the song in just one take.

• The song “My Heart Will Go On” for the 1997 blockbuster film- Titanic topped the charts across the world and became Celine’s signature song. Here’s the video of the song:

• Celine was named “Reigning Queen of Pop” by her singing teacher Linda Lister for her phenomenal contribution towards singing in the 1990s.

• She founded the first Nickels Grill & Bar, a restaurant chain and expanded it to eight restaurants across Quebec and Ontario. It’s now named as Nickel’s Delicatessen and Celine is no longer part of it. 

• Her stepson Patrick Angélil is just three months younger to her.

• According to her, portion control, good genes, and an active lifestyle can lead to a healthy body, whereas working out and dieting is a waste.

• According to some online sources, it is rumored that she had plastic surgery in her teens.

• Her forte in lyrics is on themes relating to poverty, world hunger, spirituality, love, and romance.

• She was honored with two of the highest Canadian honors- Officer of the Order of Canada for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Contemporary Music and Officer of the National Order of Quebec.

• In 2000, she took a hiatus from her singing career; as she underwent two small operations at a fertility clinic in New York, which was done to improve her chances of becoming pregnant. The very next year, she gave a birth to a boy and named him Rene-Charles.

• Celine was enlisted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame and was honored with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. 

• She is multilingual and comfortable with Spanish, German, French, English, and Japanese.

• In January 2004, she received a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, and she dedicated that to her late father. 

• She was ranked by Forbes as the 5th richest woman in entertainment having an estimated net worth of US $250 million in 2007.

• Celine has been conferred an honorary doctorate in music from the Université Laval in Quebec City. 

• She and Rene were blessed with twins in 2010 and they named them Nelson and Eddy in honor of Nelson Mandela and Eddy Marnay.

• In 2014, Celine’s childhood home was demolished and was replaced by a building that holds a charity organization named “Fondation Maman Dion.” 

• The same year, Celine announced the unspecified postponement of all her business activities to take care of her husband, who was suffering from cancer at that time.

• She has a collection of over 500 pairs of shoes. 

• On May 3, 2018, her single titled “Ashes” was released from the movie Deadpool2.