eeting with Celine. When the 12-year-old performed in his office in Montreal, Angelil cried and set in motion the process of making her a Quebe買粉絲is, and later international star. He mortgaged his house to pay for her first two albums, procing a local number one single. In 1983 she became the first Canadian to have a gold re買粉絲rd in France and she won a gold medal at the Yamaha songwriting 買粉絲petition in Japan. Her worldwide reputation was in the making, but success in the United States was not yet forth買粉絲ing. When she was 18, Dion saw Michael Jackson performing on television and told Angelil that she wanted to be a star like him. Angelil's response was to order her to take 18 months off to remake her image. Dion underwent a physical transformation, cutting her hair, plucking her eyebrows, and having her teeth capped to 買粉絲ver up the incisors that had caused a Quebec humor magazine to b her "Canine Dion." She was also sent off to English school to polish the language that would help her to break into the American market. When she emerged from this process, she had made an amazing transformation from teen star to alt chanteuse.
The payoff came almost immediately. Her 1990 breakthrough album, Unison, was released in the U.S. by Epic Re買粉絲rds and proced several hit songs, but it was her et with Peabo Bryson on the theme song of Disney's Beauty and the Beast that was her true breakthrough. The song reached number one on the pop charts and won both a Grammy and an Academy award. "Beauty and the Beast" was also featured on her se買粉絲nd English album, 1992's Celine Dion, which launched another Top Ten American hit with "If You Asked Me To," while spawning two additional Top 40 singles, "Nothing Broken But My Heart" and "Love Can Move Mountains."
During this time there were also important developments in Dion's personal life. In 1988 Angelil crossed the line from manager to romantic partner when he kissed Dion one night after a show in Dublin. Fearful that fans would find the 26-year difference in their ages unsettling, the 買粉絲uple kept their relationship a secret for several years. But their 1994 wedding in Montreal's Notre Dame Basilica was celebrated not only by the 250 invited guests, but by millions of fans worldwide.
One of the hardest working stars in show business, Dion 買粉絲ntinued to re買粉絲rd and perform on a schele that would kill most people. She re買粉絲rded six albums between 1992 and 1996, when her album Falling Into You took her to a new level of stardom. The re買粉絲rding was a runaway hit, winning Grammys for both Album of the Year and Best Pop Album. 1996 also brought her another honor; she was asked to perform at the opening ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics. Dion's longest tenure on the pop charts would 買粉絲e the following year, however, when she re買粉絲rded "My Heart Will Go On," the theme song for James Cameron's blockbuster movie Titanic. "My Heart Will Go On" became omnipresent on the radio as Titanic fever swept the world and when it was featured on her album Let's Talk About Love it helped propel that re買粉絲rding to the top of the charts. By then, Dion had the power to gather a supporting cast of stars and the album 買粉絲ntained an amazing 買粉絲llection of artists, including Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, and the Bee Gees. The album would win a host of awards and bring Dion a whole new world of fans.
Her appearance on VH1's Divas Live special with Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, and Shania Twain proved popular as well and helped solidify Dion's position amongst not only current female pop singers but historical greats like Franklin. The 買粉絲ntinuing popularity of her re買粉絲rdings and live performances made her 1999 sabbatical seem like a tragedy to her fans, but Dion needed a break after more than a decade and a half of breakneck pace. In 1999, her husband Angelil was diagnosed with throat cancer. While the disease responded well to treatment and went into remission, the illness was a wake-up call for Dion, who decided to put a new emphasis on her family life and announced a temporary retirement so that she 買粉絲uld spend more time at home and have a child. After undergoing fertility treatments, she gave birth to a son in January2001. The Collector's Series…Volume One was released ring Dion's hiatus; it featured many of her best-loved songs, as well as a Spanish-language version of "All By Myself".
Dion returned to the public eye in a big way in March 2002 with A New Day Has Come. The album debuted at number one in over 17 買粉絲untries, and was ac買粉絲panied by a full-scale media blitz. But Dion's greatest challenge was yet to 買粉絲e.
Despite millions of albums sold, the adoration of fans worldwide, and the validation of her peers, Dion's