The drama of Céline Dion, one of the biggest pop stars forced to retire due to a strange illness

Health news from Celine Dion, one of the most successful pop singers in history, are not at all encouraging. In December 2022 she was diagnosed “stiff person syndrome”, a rare disorder that prevents him from singing, as this neurological disease weakens the entire body and affects one in a million people.

This year He had to permanently suspend his world tour announced in May, and in recent days his sister Claudette declared that the interpreter “no longer has control over his muscles”.

Millions of fans around the world then raise their prayers for the improvement of a unique singer, who he never stopped standing out and succeedingas he was able to win the Eurovision contest in 1988 representing his native Canada after a past as a song prodigy.

He shone like no other while singing the tunes from the film The beauty and the Beast and, above all, the shot My heart Will Go On From Titanic.

He then won the Grammy in 1996 for his album Falling into youand maintained its success until Courage of 2019 (his fourteenth Billboard chart-topping album).

More importantly, it laid the groundwork for the postponement artistic residencies at the Caesar’s Palace hotel in Las Vegaswhich served as inspiration for This isthe frustrated return of his idol Michael Jacksonthe person who inspired her to learn English, among some milestones in an eventful life.

One success after another

Born in Quebec, a region located in the French-speaking part of Canada, in 1968, At 13 years old and thanks to the individual Ce N’etait Qu’un RêveCéline reached first place in the regional sales chart.

That song, plus the records The voice of Bon Dieu (1981) e Tellement j’ai d’amour… (1982), catapulted her to fame in her home country, France, Belgium and Switzerland: all French-speaking countries.

The success of Incognito (1987), added to his Eurovision victory at the hands of Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, representing Switzerland, led Dion to carefully prepare his landing on the Anglo-Saxon market. The project began in 1990 with the album Unison: a collection of Pop songs that stick like good chewing gum and ballads capable of disarming the toughest.

There are singles like (If it existed) Another way, the last to know (previously recorded by Sheena Easton) and the one that gives the title to an album that has sold a million copies in the United States and millions more across the planet.

Immediately afterwards UnisonDisney made Céline an offer he couldn’t refuse: a duet with soul singer Peabo Bryson to perform the film’s theme song. The beauty and the Beast. The success of the ballad was such, after spending weeks in the Billboard Top Ten, that it earned them a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Unstoppable growth

Precisely The beauty and the Beast was included as the first single from their 1992 self-titled album. There is no doubt that it was a commercial recognition, but an album with compositions by successful authors such as Walter Afanasieff, Diana Warren and even himself Prince it couldn’t fail in terms of sales.

This album consolidated it alongside Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey among the great voices of AOR pop, the so-called Adult oriented rock (Rock for adults) – Around the same time, Céline began a torrid love affair with her manager René Angélil, whom she knew as a child and whom she eventually married.

But Dion continues his unstoppable rise. The color of my love (1993) sold well 20 million copies worldwidedespite the fact that critics continued to ignore her and mock her and her mezzo-soprano vocal range.

The cover of the standard When I fall in love (in duet with the English Clive Griffin), The power of love (original by Jennifer Rush, also covered by Air Supply and Laura Branigan) and Think twice They were some of the workhorses that shone in the midst of the grunge era.

After a return to his native language (the live album At the Olympia AND D’euxalso known as The French album in the Anglo-Saxon market) and a return to English with Falling into you (which included Because you loved mefrom the soundtrack of the film Up Up close and personal) would be the true Everest of Céline Dion’s career.

The album was called Let’s talk about love it is included duets with the Bee Gees (Immortality), with Barbra Streisand (Tell him), with Luciano Pavarotti (I hate you and then I love you) and a song produced by legendary Beatles producer, George Martino (The reason).

But, even though it may seem like a lie, all those names pale in comparison to names My heart Will Go On. central theme of the film Titanicdirected by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, This love song forever became synonymous with Céline Dion..

Paradoxically, the American readers of Rolling Stone They ranked it the seventh worst song of the ’90s, MTV viewers voted it the sixth best song of the same decade, and The Hollywood Academy awarded him an Oscar. All at the same time.

My heart… had all possible uses and versions, even appearing in The Simpsons. Today, even his most ardent detractors do not hesitate to at least respect him..

Shows in Las Vegas

From this unbeatable achievement, Dion’s career declined, although never to catastrophic levels or anything of the sort, as all of his dishes continued to occupy very high positions in the sales charts.

He also had the luxury of revitalizing musicians’ residences in Las Vegas, with the help of a contract with Caesar’s Palace worth over one hundred million dollars in 2007.

“Since Dion’s debut, hundreds of artists have attempted residencies in Las Vegas, including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Usher, Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Rod Stewart and Sting.

Previously considered “the retirement of artists past their prime, Residency shows in Las Vegas today are big business generating millions in sales” the magazine said Scoreboard a couple of years ago, and there are U2 at the Sphere and their forty recitals to revive their album Achtung Baby today to confirm it.

Celine Dion must have had other moments of deep sadness. On January 14, 2016, Angélil, her husband, died, and two days after her brother Daniel. Which made her think about quitting singing.

The release of your album Courage (2019) brought a modernization of sound, led by guests like David Guetta and Sia. Her “courage” was because she was able to sing and record after her husband’s death.

A world tour was first hindered by the Coronavirus and then, after a short stay in Las Vegas, the diagnosis of his illness frustrated every live performance, until the news that everyone knows.

First, in 2020, a few days after the fourth anniversary of her husband’s death, Céline Dion had to go through a new and painful moment. The death of her mother.

The latest data only makes us hope that the twilight of his life will be as traumatic as possible, and hope for a miracle. Hope is the last thing you lose.