How much is Céline Dion worth?
| Net Worth: | $800 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | March 30, 1968 |
| Country: | Canada |
| Height: | 1.71 m |
About Céline Dion
Before everyone got tired of her and her heart going “on and on” in 1997, this Canuck became a star thanks to a string of easy listening tunes in the 1990s. Celine Dion has drawn criticism for the sentimentality of her music, and with good reason—more than 50 of her over 480 recorded songs feature the word “love” in the title. But there is no denying Celine’s musical throne—more than 200 million records have been sold, or one for every 30 people on the planet.
The Canadian diva has amassed too many accolades to list throughout her career, and whether you like it or not, she has stirred, swept, and sang her way into the inner choir of world divas.
I aspired to become a singer.
Dion was the youngest of 14 children born into a musical family in the French-speaking community of Charlemagne, Quebec. Dion craved attention as soon as she could walk, perhaps due to the attention needs of a youngster growing up in a big family. She began singing at the tables of her parents’ modest piano bar, Le Vieux Baril (The Old Barrel), at the age of five, and by the time she was twelve, she had made her first demo.
She forwarded the demo to René Angélil, a 26-year-old man who would go on to manage her and eventually marry her. The young Celine’s voice, according to Angélil, “moved to tears” and in 1981, when Dion was 13 years old, Angélil mortgaged his home to release her debut album, La Voix du Bon Dieu (The Voice of the Good God).
She became well-known in Quebec as a result of the album, but Dion and Angélil had wider ambitions. By the age of 15, she had become the first Canadian musician to receive a gold record in France. Dion quit school the same year to focus on singing, and it was becoming more and more obvious that this was her destiny.
“I missed my family and my home,” she said later, “but I don’t regret having lost my adolescence. I had one dream: I wanted to be a singer.”
My Heart Will Go On And On And On
From the first time Dion performed on American radio, her star was captured, and each attempt was more successful than the last. Her sweeping, melodramatic ballads and unironic calls to love, mocked by jaded young boys, were her hallmark style, and they unmistakably connected with the audience.
The Colour of My Love, released in 1993, debuted at number one in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Its follow-up, Falling into You, became her biggest hit to date with more than 32 million records sold worldwide. However, it wasn’t until 1997—the year that the movie Titanic and the song “My Heart Will Go On,”—that Celine Dion’s fame truly peaked. Over a decade later, her ubiquity in popular culture is still referenced, parodied, and mimicked.
What Makes $400 Million In Vegas, Stays In Vegas
Dion returned to music in 2002 after a brief absence from 2000 to 2002, during which she gave birth to her son René-Charles, to a fairly underwhelming response from both critics and audiences. In a fairly savvy business move, she started a tremendously lucrative residency at Cesear’s Palace in Las Vegas for five years, which ultimately made over $400 million before it ended in late 2007. Her songwriters started to give her more controversial content.
Dion has been busy ever since. She just returned to the recording studio to complete the recording of Taking Chances and the globe tour that accompanied it. She gave birth to twins, Eddy and Nelson, in October 2010, and declared that she would return to Cesear’s Palace in March 2011 for another three-year tenure.
Unadulterated sentimentality will probably never be fashionable, and the cool kids will probably always roll their eyes when they hear the name Dion, but she doesn’t seem to care. I’ve never been cool—and I don’t care, declares the woman who has sold more records than any other solo female performer outside Madonna and (maybe) Mariah Carey.
“I didn’t want people to say, ‘Oh, my God, her again.’ I wanted a life career. I don’t want people to be tired of seeing me or hearing me, so I wanted to take a break.”
