Céline Dion’s music may be iconic, but did you know these nine facts about the singer?
1. Her manager mortgaged his house to finance her first album. Before the worldwide hits, singer Céline Dion’s career began with a very personal investment: her manager and future husband, René Angélil, put his home on the line.
“He mortgaged his house to make me do my first album,” Dion said on LARRY KING LIVE.
2. She took a career break to prepare to sing in English. Dion didn’t simply switch languages between recording sessions. Looking back in 2002, she described stepping away from the spotlight to learn English and change her style before pursuing an international career.
“When I turned 18 years old I wanted to learn English and I wanted to sing in English,” she explained.
3. She once received about 1,000 song submissions a year. Finding her next song meant sorting through quite a stack. In 2002, Dion said her team narrowed the submissions to roughly 100–200 songs for her to hear, and she made the final selections.
“I receive about 1,000 songs a year,” Dion said.
4. She initially wanted to turn down “My Heart Will Go On.” Yes, the voice behind TITANIC’s signature song needed convincing. In Billboard’s 2017 oral history, Dion credited Angélil with encouraging her to record it despite her objections.
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“I’m so thankful that they did not listen to me,” she confessed.
5. Her Oscars bodyguards were protecting her necklace—not her. Recalling her 1998 Academy Awards appearance, Dion told Billboard that six bodyguards accompanied her on the red carpet because of the valuable necklace she wore.
“I thought it was for me, but it was not for me. It was for the necklace,” she said.
6. She swapped singing for humming when her baby cried. Even a superstar has to adjust her bedtime routine. Dion told host Larry King in 2002 that her infant son, René-Charles, cried when she sang to him, so she hummed a new tune for him each night instead.
“So I just hum,” she said.
7. Ballet became part of her offstage routine. The powerhouse singer also found a workout at the barre. In a 2019 interview with Entertainment Tonight correspondent Lauren Zima, Dion described ballet and stretching as part of caring for herself.
“I do ballet. I do a lot of stretching and I work out because it helps my mind, body and soul,” she said.
8. She enjoys giving leftovers a second act. Discussing life beyond the stage with The Guardian in 2007, Dion shared a surprisingly practical pleasure: sprucing up what was already in the kitchen.
“I love to take leftovers and make them look better,” she told The Guardian.
9. Her Las Vegas residency was also a parenting decision. Staying in one city offered more than a steady stage. In that same 2007 Guardian interview, Dion explained that giving René-Charles stability helped motivate the move to Las Vegas.
“I didn’t want to tour the world and bring him backstage one night here, one night there,” she said.
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