There’s only one Céline Dion. The songstress has been a fixture in pop music since her emergence in the 1990s, as hit songs like “The Power of Love,” “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” “Because You Loved Me” and, of course, “My Heart Will Go On,” earned her the title of the Queen of Power Ballads.
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By the turn of the century, Dion had established herself as an otherworldly force, a pop diva of the highest order and a voice millions of fans (and aspiring singers) looked to for inspiration. In 2022, the French-Canadian icon shared the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder affecting the muscles of her entire body. The diagnosis effectively forced her legendary career into hiatus, though she made a rare public appearance to attend the closing night of Katy Perry’s Las Vegas residency in November 2023.
In honor of Dion’s inimitable impact on music history, American Songwriter has broken down five reasons below why she’ll forever be considered an icon.
Her voice has inspired generations of singers
Ask practically any singer worth their mettle in the last 20 years about the vocalists who’ve inspired them, and it’s safe to say Dion will be on that list. Along with contemporaries like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, the singer is widely credited with both creating the blueprint for how female pop stars sing and turning the adult contemporary power ballad into the defining sound of ‘90s and early ‘00s popular music.
“Céline Dion was better than almost anyone at capitalizing on pop’s ability to articulate feelings in sensational, over-the-top ways,” MTV wrote in a 2017 retrospective marking the 20th anniversary of Titanic. “She personified the notion of defining romance through bold declarations. Frankly, there was a reason she took the VH1 Divas Live stage back in 1998 alongside Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain, and Mariah Carey. She, like them, made emotions feel important.”
Her discography is filled with No. 1 hits
Where to even begin? It goes without saying that Dion is one of the most successful recording artists in the history of the music industry. But the actual statistics help put her achievements into perspective: four of the singer’s albums are among the best-selling of all time (Falling Into You, Let’s Talk About Love, All the Way… A Decade of Song and The Colour of My Love have each sold more than 20 million copies worldwide). Additionally, she’s had four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (“The Power of Love,” “Because You Loved Me,” “My Heart Will Go On” and “I’m Your Angel”) and reached the summit of the Adult Contemporary chart 11 times—the most of any female artist in history.
Fun fact: it’s easy to get lost in all the records, No. 1s, and Diamond-certified sales that came after, but did you know that Dion first hit the world stage by winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest? She represented Switzerland (rather than her native Canada) with her song “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi” (translation: “don’t leave without me”), and released her English-language debut album, Unison, in 1990, kicking off her career as a bona fide pop sensation.
She practically invented the modern-day Vegas residency
Long before Usher, Katy Perry, Adele, or U2 were setting up shop in Sin City, pop fans went to Las Vegas to see one superstar: Céline Dion. Yes, the concept of the A-list Vegas residency was popularized by Britney Spears with Britney: Piece of Me, and Shania Twain’s Shania: Still the One (and before that, of course, there was a guy named Elvis Presley), but Dion was performing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for years before any of these modern-day pop stars were taking the stage.
The diva’s first Vegas spectacle, A New Day…, as well as its self-titled follow-up, Céline, ran for more than eight years—from March 2011 to June 2019—and was seen by nearly 1.75 million fans. In its initial three-year run, the show grossed $116.5 million and went through several iterations as it was extended. By 2016, Dion celebrated her 1,000th show in Las Vegas over the course of a decorated career; by the time she took her final bow in the summer of 2019, dozens of other A-list artists had followed her lead and hopped on the Vegas bandwagon.
[RELATED: Céline Dion Reveals Diagnosis of Rare Neurological Disease—“It’s Been a Struggle”]
“Céline was a pioneer, without question,” Caesars Palace vice president of entertainment Kurt Melien reflected in 2014. “20 years ago, we couldn’t have got someone the stature of Britney Spears to appear in Vegas. Stars like her would never have considered it if Céline hadn’t paved the way. She changed the face of modern Vegas.”
She’s an international treasure
Born in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, Dion has the distinction of being a beloved figure in both her homeland and across the border in the United States. In her native Canada, the superstar has been honored with the Order of Canada, the highest rank in the country, by the Governor General of Canada. She’s also received a star on the Canada Walk of Fame and has been inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.
“An incomparable artist, she is equally known for her compassion, generosity and commitment to a number of social and humanitarian causes,” the Governor General said during Dion’s investiture ceremony in 2013. “She is notably the national celebrity patron for Cystic Fibrosis Canada and honorary patron of the CHU Sainte-Justine. In addition, through her foundation, she also helps children in need and their families here in Canada and abroad.”
In America, she was honored as Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 1998, the same year she’d sold 18 million units across various songs and albums, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame six years later. In case you need a reminder of just how cherished Dion is, just look at the backlash Rolling Stone received when the magazine failed to include her in its January 2023 list ranking the 200 best vocalists of all time.
Her heart will go on (and on and on)
It wouldn’t be a proper celebration of Dion’s legacy without taking a moment to honor perhaps her career-defining hit: “My Heart Will Go On.” The song anchored the soundtrack to the blockbuster film Titanic in 1997, but has since gone on to live its own life as a standalone success.
Dion always closed her Vegas residency with the iconic ballad. It was a must-see moment on every one of her post-Titanic tours. And now, as she soldiers through her heartbreaking diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, the song represents both Dion at her very best and serves as a reminder to all her fans of her strength, tenacity, and unending impact on millions of hearts around the globe.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
