CELINE DION

Singer. Born March 30, 1968, in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada. The youngest of 14 children of Adhemar and Therese Dion, she grew up in a close-knit musical family. Her parents formed a singing group, Dion's Family, which toured Canada when Celine was still an infant. They later opened a piano bar, where the five-year-old Celine would perform to the delight of customers. At the age of 12, Dion recorded a demo tape of a song she had written with her mother. They sent the tape to the manager and producer Rene Angelil, who handled the career of the popular French singer Ginette Reno. After hearing the tape and inviting Dion to perform for him in person, Angelil signed her immediately under the condition that he would have complete control over her career. He mortgaged his own home to finance her debut album, La Voix du bon Dieu (The Voice of God). By the age of 18, Dion had recorded nine French albums and won numerous Felix and Juno awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy). In 1988, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland, and her performance was broadcast live in countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Japan. After this taste of international acclaim, Dion began looking to the south, and American stardom. She recorded her first English language album, Unison, in 1990. Like most of her English language albums, it was a collaboration with the songwriter-arranger-musician David Foster. Driven by the top-five single "Where Does My Heart Beat Now," Unison sold over one million copies worldwide. Dion's real breakthrough into pop music stardom came in 1992, when she recorded the theme to Disney's hit animated feature Beauty and the Beast, a duet with Peabo Bryson. The song became a No. 1 smash, winning both a Grammy and an Academy Award. It was featured on her second English album, Celine Dion, which became her first gold record in the United States and sold more than 12 million copies internationally. The undeniable success of her self-titled effort, which also included her second No. 1 hit, "If You Asked Me To," allowed Dion to launch her first headlining tour in the United States. Making it in America Dion quickly capitalized on her newfound fame, releasing the top-selling The Colour of My Love in 1993. The album showcased the romantic power ballads that Dion had become known for, including "When I Fall in Love" (featured on the soundtrack for the hit film Sleepless in Seattle), "The Power of Love," and "Because You Loved Me" (from the soundtrack to Robert Redford's sentimental Up Close and Personal).