Celine Dion

From humble beginnings in a rural French Canadian home town, Celine Dion has risen to international superstardom like a shooting star. Celine has been called the premier contemporary pop vocalist of the Nineties. She has earned music industry accolades from around the world: Grammy Awards in the US, Juno and Felix Awards in Canada, and World Music Awards in Europe. The entire world has seen Celine Dion literally transform herself from a gifted pre-adolescent into an international superstar.

Born in Charlemagne (a small town 30 miles east of Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Celine is the youngest of 14 children of a highly musical family. Her parents, both musicians, operated a small club, and on weekends, the entire family performed and entertained the local population. From the tender age of 5, Celine sang with her siblings and quickly acquired the ability of performing live. At the age of twelve, together with her mother and one of her brothers, Celine composed a French song which would forever alter the course of her life.

The demo tape containing the song was brought to the attention of Rene Angelil, a well respected personal manager. In January 1981, Rene was so taken by the voice of the young Celine, that he became determined to make her an internationally known talent – he even mortgaged his house to finance the recording of Celine’s debut album!

Celine began to receive recognition for her talent in 1982, winning the Gold Medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo, along with the coveted Musician’s Award for Top Performer. In 1983, she became the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France.

By 1988, Celine had established a strong name for herself in her native province of Quebec, where she was enjoying superstar status, receiving numerous Felix Awards and racking up platinum albums. That same year, Celine won the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin Ireland, where she performed live before a television audience of 600 million viewers throughout Europe, the USSR, the Middle-East, Japan, and Australia.

Celine’s international breakthrough came when she recorded the title track for the soundtrack to the animated Disney hit movie ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ The song went to number one and garnered an

Academy Award and a Grammy Award. Beauty and the Beast formed the cornerstone for Celine’s second English language album, called simply ‘Celine Dion.’ That album produced four more hit singles including “Love Can Move Mountains,” “Water From The Moon,” “If You Asked Me To” and “Did You Give Enough Love.” In Canada, the album went six times platinum and set the stage for an incredible streak of Juno Awards.

At this time, the Celine juggernaut started rolling at a momentous pace in the UK. British fans took extremely well to “Think Twice,” a ballad on ‘The Colour Of My Love’. For five consecutive weeks, the song and album stood on top of the respective British charts, an achievement not replicated since 1965 and the heyday of The Beatles. “Think Twice” remained at number one for two more weeks, surpassing the magic

million mark to become only the fourth million-selling single ever in the UK by a female artist.

With ‘D’eux’, Celine achieved what everyone thought was impossible – introduced French music to the upper reaches of the British charts. The world had truly discovered Celine Dion.

Blessed with one of popular music’s truly great voices, she has crossed all barriers – even that of language – with her electrifying series of international hits. With her breakneck pace of recording, video shoots, touring and appearing on TV shows and awards specials, it seems like Celine has time for little else. Not the case when it comes to an important cause. Celine has used her talents to further cause of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In fact, one of Celine’s most emotional songs (“Vole,” from the ‘D’eux’ album, later translated into English as the song “Fly,” which appears on the ‘Falling Into You’ album) is a memorial to her niece, Karine, who was taken from her by this disease.

Released in March 1996, ‘Falling Into You’ became the best-selling album released that year; topped the charts in 11 countries, and was voted Album of the Year and Best Pop Album in the 39th annual Grammy Awards. The album to date, has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.

‘Let’s Talk About Love’ is the follow-up to Celine’s double Grammy Award-winning album. Recorded in London, New York and Los Angeles, ‘Let’s Talk About Love’ features a host of special guests including some of popular music’s greatest vocalists, songwriters, and producers.

‘Let’s Talk About Love’ was released on the same day as the soundtrack of the motion picture ‘Titanic’. Both albums featured the much-loved Titanic movie’s theme song, “My Heart Will Go On,” written by James Horner and produced by James Horner and Walter Afanasieff. “My Heart Will Go On” quickly became the wedding song of choice for Celine’s fans.

In a stunning back-to-back achievement, ‘Let’s Talk About Love’ went on to match the 27 million worldwide sales of its predecessor; ‘Titanic’ also sold over 27 million copies worldwide. It is the all-time best-selling orchestral soundtrack in recording history. Celine sang “My Heart Will Go On” on the worldwide telecast of the 70th Annual Academy Awards, live from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song — the second Oscar for a song sung by Celine Dion, following “Beauty And The Beast.”

Celine’s next album, ‘These Are Special Times,’ featured sixteen songs of the holiday season, including the Christmas pop classics “Blue Christmas” and “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)”; and such traditional religious favorites as “O Holy Night” and “Adeste Fidelis (O Come All Ye Faithful).” In addition, ‘These Are Special Times’ produced the No. 1 single “I’m Your Angel,” Celine’s duet with R. Kelly, who wrote and produced the song; the Diane Warren-penned title track, “These Are Special Times”; and “The Prayer,” a duet with Andrea Bocelli.

‘All The Way…A Decade Of Song’ is a collection of Celine’s greatest hits, including her chart-topping hit singles “The Power Of Love,” “Because You Loved Me,” “I’m Your Angel,” and the Grammy and Academy Award-winning classic “My Heart Will Go On.” Also included are “Beauty And The Beast,” “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”; and “If You Asked Me To.”

Seven brand-new songs, were recorded specifically for this collection, including the title song “All The Way,” a respectful and loving tribute to one of Celine’s all-time favourite singers, the late Frank Sinatra.

With each new release, Celine has managed to top her previous successes and, along the way, has become one of the brightest stars in the world of popular music. Who would have imagined that Quebec’s best kept secret could have conquered the world the way she has?

Looking back now, we should have known it all along.

A new day has come for Celine Dion.

On March 26, 2002, the Sony Music superstar will release A New Day Has Come–her first new album since beginning a two-year career hiatus in 2000, and her first collection of new songs since Let’s Talk About Love in 1997.

To date, Celine Dion has sold over 140 million albums worldwide, including 28 million copies of Let’s Talk About Love. But with A New Day Has Come, Celine has the created the most accomplished and diverse music of her extraordinary career. This 16-track collection ranges from pure 21st century pop (“A New Day Has Come,” “Ten Days”) to dramatic ballads (“Have You Ever Ever Been In Love”), from breathtaking dance music (“Sorry For Love”) to a pair of pre-rock classics from the Great American Songbook (“At Last,” “Nature Boy”).

“I didn’t train my voice at all for two years,” Celine says. “So going back into the studio and doing my vocal exercise, ‘meeting’ my voice again–yes, I was a little nervous. But the first session went so well…I felt my singing was looser and more relaxed. Still powerful but more controlled, and I think that comes from happiness!”

“I don’t like to spend too much time in the studio. I don’t like to work my songs, to sing them over and over–you’ve got to find your emotions the first time. It’s got to come naturally.”

The album’s title song, “A New Day Has Come,” appears in two strikingly different versions. The original recording, produced and arranged by Walter Afanasieff and Aldo Nova, is all pastel elegance in a delicate, nearly a cappella arrangement. Then the radio remix raises the rhythmic temperature–and transforms the song into a jubilant pop masterpiece. The video for “A New Day Has Come” is directed by David Meyers, whose résumé includes hit videos by Kid Rock, Aaliyah, Creed, and Britney Spears.

“Ten Days” is a distinct change of pace for Celine, with its urgent guitar licks and alluring lower-register vocal. “Ten Days” was composed by French singing star Gérald De Palmas and Maxime Le Forestier.

“I’ve enjoyed Gérald De Palmas’ music a lot recently,” Celine enthuses. “I loved this song in particular, so I asked Aldo Nova to do the English translation and it became ‘Ten Days.’ It’s more of a rock song, which is a little different for me and very refreshing. I love my ballads, but at the same time, why not try something different? Music is always changing, and I don’t want to limit myself to just one style.”

Speaking of ballads, “Have You Ever Been In Love” is classic Celine Dion in the tradition of “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” and “The Power of Love.” From her understated delivery of the opening verse, the song builds inexorably to a thrilling climax. Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates) is one of four co-writers of this number, which was produced by Swedish hitmakers Anders Bagge and Peer Astrom.

By contrast, “Rain, Tax (It’s Inevitable)” is almost funky, with its electro-tinged arrangement and infectious chorus. The song was written by the UK team of Charlie Dore & Terry Britten, and produced by Christopher Neil. “This track just has a completely different vibe,” says Celine, “and it’s one of my favorites on the album. Like most of my songs, it came through Vito Luprano [executive producer of A New Day Has Come]. He listens to about a thousand songs every year–poor guy!–and sends me maybe a hundred to choose from.”

No Celine Dion album would be complete without at least one track of up-tempo dance music. On A New Day Has Come, that honor goes to “Sorry For Love.” Multiple mixes are surely forthcoming, but the original album version is produced by Anders Bagge, Peer Astrom (who played all instruments), and Arnthor Birgisson.

The album closes on an intimate note with the Nat King Cole classic “Nature Boy.” Celine’s warm, unadorned vocal performance is matched by the sensitive solo piano accompaniment of Jorge Calandrelli.

“Our first idea was to build an orchestral arrangement around the piano,” she recalls, “but we decided to keep it very simple and very pure. It’s really a one-take performance: If you pay close attention, you can hear the touch of Jorge’s foot on the pedals of the piano. He was following me, I was following him…and it was probably my best experience in making this album.”

On April 7, 2002, Celine Dion will star in the one-hour CBS network special “A New Day Has Come.” It will be the singer’s third CBS special: The first, “These Are Special Times,” was broadcast November 25, 1998 and became the highest-rated program in its time period and the Number One network program for the night. It was followed on November 24, 1999 by a second hit CBS special, “All The Way.”

In March 2003, the singer will commence her three-year, 600-show engagement at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Celine will perform in a custom-designed, 4000-seat theater, the Caesars Palace Coliseum, in a musical and theatrical presentation directed by Franco Dragone (“O”, “Mystere”).

“When I saw Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas in 2000,” Celine explains, “it changed my vision. I said, I want to perform like that–I want a visual show like that, for every song to become a visual experience. And there was no way we could have done that on tour.”

“The sets, the special effects–aside from the costs, the logistics of traveling would make it impossible. Caesars was capable of giving us everything we wanted: building the theater, working with Franco Dragone, having 50-60 performers on stage with me–there’s no limit.”

This innovative arrangement will also allow Celine to go home each night to her devoted husband Rene Angelil and their son Rene-Charles, who was born January 25, 2001. Looking back on her years of international touring, Celine says simply: “I have no regrets. I had such a great time. When you don’t have any responsibilities other than to give the best possible show, it’s fine. But once you become a mother, it’s a different deal.”