International Artist- Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion CC OQ (/ˈdiːɒn/, French: [selin maʁi klodɛt djɔ̃], Quebec French: [- d͡zjɔ̃]; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Born into a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, she emerged as a teen star in her homeland with a series of French-language albums during the 1980s. She first gained international recognition by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland. After learning to speak English, she signed on to Epic Records in the United States. In 1990, Dion released her debut English-language album, Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.

During the 1990s, she achieved worldwide fame after releasing several best-selling English albums, such as Falling into You (1996) and Let’s Talk About Love (1997), which were both certified diamond in the US. She also scored a series of international number-one hits, including “The Power of Love”, “Think Twice”, “Because You Loved Me”, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”, “My Heart Will Go On”, and “I’m Your Angel”. Dion continued releasing French albums between each English record; D’eux (1995) became the best-selling French-language album of all time, while S’il suffisait d’aimer (1998), Sans attendre (2012), and Encore un soir (2016), were all certified diamond in France. During the 2000s, she built her reputation as a highly successful live performer with A New Day… in Las Vegas Strip (2003–07), which remains the highest-grossing concert residency of all time, as well as the Taking Chances World Tour (2008–09), one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time.

Dion’s music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel and classical. Her recordings are mainly in French and English, although she also sings in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is regarded as one of pop music’s most influential voices. She has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Billboard named her the “Queen of Adult Contemporary” for having the most number ones on the radio format for a female artist. She is the second best-selling female artist in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era. In 2003, she was honoured by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for selling over 50 million albums in Europe. She remains the best-selling Canadian artist and one of the best-selling artists of all time with record sales of 200 million copies worldwide.

2014–present: Husband’s death, Encore un soir and Courage

On 13 August 2014, Dion announced the indefinite postponement of all her show business activities, including her concert residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and the cancellation of her Asia Tour, because of the worsening of her husband’s health after he underwent the removal of a cancerous tumor in December 2013. However, on 20 March 2015, she announced that she would be returning to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in late August 2015. On 14 January 2016, she cancelled the rest of the January performances due to her husband’s and her brother’s death from cancer. Dion resumed the residency on 23 February to a sold-out crowd and rave reviews.

In October 2015, Dion announced on social media that she had begun working on a new French album, posting a photo by the side of Algerian singer Zaho. Dion’s French single, “Encore un soir”, was released on 24 May 2016. On 20 May, she released a cover of Queen’s song “The Show Must Go On”, featuring Lindsey Stirling on violin. She performed “The Show Must Go On” at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards on 22 May, and received the Billboard Icon Award (presented to her by her son, René-Charles Angélil) in recognition of her career spanning over three decades.

The singer’s new French album, Encore un soir, was released on 26 August 2016. It features fifteen tracks performed in French and, according to the singer, has a personal choice of the songs – more uplifting lyrics were chosen. Encore un soir topped the charts in France, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland, and was certified Diamond in France, 2× Platinum in Canada and Platinum in Belgium and Switzerland. It has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. In 2016 and 2017, Dion toured Europe and Canada with two sold-out concert tours. On 9 September 2016, she released “Recovering”, a song written for her by Pink after Dion’s husband René Angélil died in January 2016. Dion also recorded “How Does a Moment Last Forever” for the Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, released in March 2017. Her compilation, Un peu de nous topped the chart in France in July and August 2017.

On 3 May 2018, she released the single “Ashes” from the film Deadpool 2. The remix version of the song topped the US Dance Club Songs chart in July 2018. From June to August 2018, she toured the Asia-Pacific region and grossed $56.5 million from 22 shows. On 24 September 2018, she announced the end of her Las Vegas residency Celine, with the final date set for 8 June 2019. She is currently working on a new English album. In January 2019, she performed “A Change Is Gonna Come” at the “Aretha! A Grammy Celebration for the Queen of Soul” Franklin’s tribute concert, to be broadcast in March 2019.

In March 2019, she was one of 11 singers from Quebec, alongside Ginette Reno, Diane Dufresne, Isabelle Boulay, Luce Dufault, Louise Forestier, Laurence Jalbert, Catherine Major, Ariane Moffatt, Marie Denise Pelletier and Marie-Élaine Thibert, who participated in a supergroup recording of Renée Claude’s 1971 single “Tu trouveras la paix” after Claude’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease was announced.

On 3 April 2019, during a Facebook Live event, Dion announced her 2019/2020 Courage World Tour, beginning in Quebec City on 18 September 2019. She also announced a new English language album of the same name, to be released later in November 2019.