50 Fun Facts About Celine Dion

Celine Dion was born in Charlemagne, a small town about 24 km northeast of which city?

Montreal is the metropolis nearest Charlemagne, a town of about 6,000 on the north shore opposite the island's eastern tip; her parents ran a piano bar there, Le Vieux Baril, where she sang as a child.

Dion was the youngest of how many children?

Her eldest sister was already married and pregnant with her first child while their mother was pregnant with Celine.

Dion's signature song 'My Heart Will Go On' was the love theme of which 1997 film?

Titanic's end-credits song, composed by James Horner with lyrics by Will Jennings, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammys, including Record of the Year.

Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 representing which country?

Canada does not compete in Eurovision, so she sang 'Ne partez pas sans moi' for the Swiss and won by a close margin.

Which man discovered Dion, became her manager and later her husband?

He was 26 years her senior, and the couple kept their romance secret at first for fear the public would find it inappropriate.

What did her manager do in 1981 to pay for Dion's first record?

He mortgaged his home to pay for the recording after her brother Michel mailed him a demo tape of 'Ce n'etait qu'un reve', a song written within the family.

Dion's first duet hit, the title song of a 1991 Disney film, was recorded with which singer?

Peabo Bryson shared the Disney title song with Dion; 'Beauty and the Beast' won the 1993 Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group and was her first UK top-ten hit.

Dion's Las Vegas residency A New Day... was staged at which casino resort?

Caesars Palace built the 4,100-seat Colosseum for the show at a cost of about 95 million dollars; A New Day... ran from March 2003 to December 2007 for over 700 performances.

Which director, known for Cirque du Soleil's O, staged Dion's show A New Day...?

Franco Dragone, the Belgian-Italian director behind Cirque du Soleil's O and Mystere, created A New Day... after Dion saw O during her career break; Mia Michaels choreographed the show.

Dion's 1990 album Unison was her first in which language?

English was new territory: after eight French-language albums in the 1980s she took Berlitz English lessons in 1989, and Unison gave her the first US top-five hit 'Where Does My Heart Beat Now'.

Which 1996 Dion album won the Grammy for Album of the Year?

Falling into You took Album of the Year and Best Pop Album at the 1997 Grammys; it sold over 30 million copies worldwide and carried 'Because You Loved Me' and 'It's All Coming Back to Me Now'.

Dion's 1995 album D'eux, the best-selling French-language album ever, was mostly written and produced by whom?

Jean-Jacques Goldman wrote and produced D'eux, which sold around ten million copies; its single 'Pour que tu m'aimes encore' spent twelve weeks at No. 1 in France and reached the UK top ten.

'The Power of Love', Dion's first US No. 1 single, was a remake of a 1985 hit by which singer?

Jennifer Rush co-wrote and first recorded 'The Power of Love', a UK No. 1 in 1985; Dion's 1993 cover topped the US Hot 100 for four weeks in early 1994.

At which Summer Olympics opening ceremony did Dion perform 'The Power of the Dream'?

Atlanta 1996 featured 'The Power of the Dream', written by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Babyface; Dion sang it at the 19 July opening ceremony before a worldwide audience.

Which song did Dion perform from the Eiffel Tower to close the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony?

It was her first public performance in four years, following her 2022 diagnosis.

In December 2022 Dion announced she had been diagnosed with which rare neurological disease?

Stiff-person syndrome, an autoimmune disorder causing muscle rigidity and spasms, affects about one person in a million; it forced her to cancel the remaining Courage World Tour dates in 2023.

Dion co-wrote her first song, 'Ce n'était qu'un rêve', at what age?

She was 12 when she, her mother Therese and brother Jacques wrote 'Ce n'etait qu'un reve' ('It Was Only a Dream'); the 1981 demo tape reached her future manager and launched her career.

Dion was named after a song by which French singer, who had recorded 'Céline' two years before her birth?

Hugues Aufray released 'Celine' in 1966, a ballad about a devoted elder sister; her mother Therese chose the name for her last child, born in March 1968.

Dion sang 'Because You Loved Me', written by Diane Warren, as the theme to which 1996 film?

Up Close & Personal, a 1996 drama starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, used the Diane Warren ballad as its theme; it earned an Oscar nomination and spent six weeks atop the Hot 100.

Which single spent a then-record 21 straight weeks atop the US Adult Contemporary chart in 2002?

'A New Day Has Come', title track of her 2002 comeback album, logged 21 weeks at No. 1 on Adult Contemporary, beating the nineteen-week mark shared by Phil Collins and her own 'Because You Loved Me'.

Dion recorded 'I'm Your Angel', her fourth US No. 1, as a duet with which R&B singer?

R. Kelly wrote and produced 'I'm Your Angel' and sang it with Dion on her 1998 Christmas album These Are Special Times; it spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100.

'The Prayer', Dion's duet with Andrea Bocelli, was written for which 1998 animated film?

Quest for Camelot, Warner Bros.' animated Arthurian tale, featured 'The Prayer' in separate solo versions by Dion and Bocelli; the song, by David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager, won the 1999 Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Which Italian tenor duetted with Dion on 'I Hate You Then I Love You' from Let's Talk About Love?

Luciano Pavarotti recorded 'I Hate You Then I Love You' with Dion for Let's Talk About Love in 1997; the album also paired her with Barbra Streisand on 'Tell Him' and the Bee Gees on 'Immortality'.

Dion's 1992 hit 'If You Asked Me To' was a cover of a Patti LaBelle song from which James Bond film?

Licence to Kill (1989), Timothy Dalton's second Bond film, used Patti LaBelle's version over its end credits; Dion's 1992 cover of the Diane Warren song became her first Canadian No. 1 and reached No. 4 in the US.

Dion's wedding on 17 December 1994 was broadcast live where?

Canadian television carried the ceremony live from Notre-Dame Basilica; she had revealed the romance a year earlier in the liner-note dedication of The Colour of My Love.

Which single from The Colour of My Love spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the UK?

'Think Twice' spent seven weeks at UK No. 1 in early 1995 and sold over a million copies there; single and album topped both British charts together for five weeks, a feat last managed by the Beatles in 1965.

Let's Talk About Love's first-week Canadian sales, then a record, were how many copies?

230,212 copies sold in Canada in the week of its November 1997 release, the country's first-week record until Adele's 25 in 2015; worldwide the album sold over 30 million copies.

Dion's 2003 album One Heart was tied to an endorsement deal with which car maker?

Chrysler signed Dion to a three-year endorsement deal in 2002 tied to its 'Drive & Love' campaign; One Heart's lead single fronted the ads, and critics accused her of catering to sponsors.

Dion's 2004 album Miracle, themed on babies and motherhood, was a joint project with which photographer?

Anne Geddes, the Australian photographer famed for baby portraits, shot the images for Miracle; the album included 'What a Wonderful World' and John Lennon's 'Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)'.

Dion gave a free outdoor concert for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City in 2008 at which historic site?

The Plains of Abraham, site of the 1759 battle for Quebec, hosted her free show on 22 August 2008 before a crowd estimated at over 200,000; it was released as the DVD Celine sur les Plaines.

Dion made a record 27th appearance on which US television host's programme in February 2011?

The Oprah Winfrey Show hosted Dion 27 times, more than any other guest; the February 2011 visit came in the show's final season and promoted her second Vegas residency, Celine.

Which singer wrote 'Recovering' for Dion after her husband's death in January 2016?

Pink wrote 'Recovering' as a gift for Dion, who released it in September 2016; her husband died of throat cancer on 14 January and her brother Daniel two days later.

Dion's 2018 single 'Ashes' was recorded for which superhero film?

Deadpool 2 opened in May 2018 with 'Ashes' over its Bond-style opening titles; the video had Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool dancing beside her on a Las Vegas stage, and a Steve Aoki remix topped the Dance Club Songs chart.

Dion's 2019 album Courage gave her a US No. 1 album for the first time in how many years?

17 years separated Courage's No. 1 debut in November 2019 from her previous Billboard 200 chart-topper in 2002; it gave her No. 1 albums in three consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s).

Dion made her feature-film acting debut in 2023, playing herself, in which movie?

Love Again, a 2023 romantic comedy starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan, cast Dion as herself; she recorded five new songs for its soundtrack, her first new music since her diagnosis.

Which 2024 Amazon MGM documentary chronicled her life with her neurological illness?

I Am: Celine Dion, directed by Irene Taylor, premiered on Prime Video on 25 June 2024 and shows her treatment and a seizure on camera; it arrived a month before her Olympic comeback.

Dion's most successful residency, A New Day..., grossed more than how much across 717 shows?

$385 million was the reported gross for 717 performances between March 2003 and December 2007, with nearly three million tickets sold at an average of about $135.

Which standard did Dion record with Clive Griffin for the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle?

'When I Fall in Love', the Victor Young and Edward Heyman standard, plays over the end credits of Sleepless in Seattle; the Dion-Griffin duet, produced by David Foster, also appeared on The Colour of My Love.

Which SNL cast member, famous for parodying Dion, was invited onstage at one of her New York concerts?

Ana Gasteyer played Dion in SNL's 'The Celine Dion Show' sketches from 1998; Dion enjoyed the parody enough to bring Gasteyer onstage to duet with her at a New York concert.

Which 2021 French film by Valerie Lemercier is a fictionalised biopic inspired by Dion's life?

Aline stars its director Valerie Lemercier as 'Aline Dieu', a Quebec singer whose story shadows Dion's; it premiered at Cannes in July 2021 and won Lemercier the Cesar for Best Actress.

Dion's 1999 compilation included a virtual duet with Frank Sinatra on which song?

'All the Way' was built from an existing Sinatra vocal and Dion's new recording for her 1999 collection All the Way... A Decade of Song; Cahn and Van Heusen wrote it for the 1957 film The Joker Is Wild.

Dion's twin sons, born in 2010, are Nelson and who?

Eddy and Nelson were born on 23 October 2010 after IVF; Nelson honours Nelson Mandela and Eddy honours Eddy Marnay, the French producer of her first albums.

In which city did the teenage Dion win a 1982 gold medal for 'Tellement j'ai d'amour pour toi'?

Tokyo's Nippon Budokan hosted the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival, where the teenage Dion won the gold medal for best song and the Top Performer award in October 1982.

On which tour in 1989 did Dion injure her voice, prompting three weeks of total vocal rest?

Incognito, her 1987 album, was being toured in 1989 when she damaged her voice; specialist William Gould offered surgery or silence, she chose three weeks of silence and then trained with coach William Riley.

With which three sports stars did Dion co-own the Las Vegas nightclub Pure?

Agassi, Graf and Shaquille O'Neal were her partners in Pure, which opened on New Year's Eve 2004; she and her husband also owned Le Mirage golf club in Terrebonne and a stake in Schwartz's deli.

Which restaurant chain did Dion found?

Nickels, a 1950s-style diner chain, opened its first outlet in Quebec in 1990 with Dion as a founding partner alongside her manager and the Mammas brothers; she sold her stake in 1997.

Which former French president presented Dion with the Legion of Honour in 2008?

Nicolas Sarkozy made her a Knight of the Legion of Honour at the Elysee Palace in May 2008; in 2013 she became a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Where was Dion's son René-Charles born on 25 January 2001?

Rene-Charles was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, near the couple's Jupiter Island home, after IVF treatment; in 2016 he presented his mother with the Billboard Icon Award.

Which Cyndi Lauper hit did Dion cover to launch her 2003 car-maker advertising campaign?

'I Drove All Night', written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and a 1989 hit for Lauper, opened One Heart and fronted the 'Drive & Love' commercials; Roy Orbison had recorded it first.

Which patriotic song did Dion sing at the 2001 telethon America: A Tribute to Heroes?

'God Bless America' was her contribution to the 21 September 2001 telethon after the 11 September attacks; her recording then opened a benefit compilation of the same name.