CÉLINE DION

1999 INDUCTEE

Pop superstar Céline Dion was born in Charlemagne, Que., a rural town located nearly 50 kilometres from Montréal. She is the youngest of 14 children. She began performing at the very young age of five with her siblings at her parents' piano bar, entertaining the local area patrons on weekends. When she was just 12 years old, Céline composed a song with the aid of her brother and mother. The demo she made of it was noticed by René Angélil, now Céline's manager-husband. René was so convinced of Céline's abilities he actually mortgaged his house in order to record her debut album.

In 1982 she was awarded the Gold Medal and the Musician's Award for top performer at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo. Her first albums, recorded in French, gained her wide acclaim, and in 1983 she was the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France. While her albums turned platinum, she received multiple Felix Awards. Then in 1988, Céline took the Eurovision Song Contest by storm in Dublin, Ireland.

Her international breakthrough came when she recorded the title track for Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", a song that went to No. 1 and won both an Academy Award and a Grammy. Her 1996 album, "Falling Into You", topped the charts in 11 countries and was a double-Grammy winner. "Let's Talk About Love" and "Titanic" followed it; the former selling 27 million worldwide, the latter even more! She sang, "My Heart Will Go On" live at the 70th Annual Oscars, where the song won for best original song.

Following the birth of her son René-Charles Angélil, and a two year hiatus, Céline has returned to performing. She signed a three-year contract with The Coliseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas to perform five nights a week in an unprecedented variety show in a stadium custom-built for her show.

Dion is a spokeswoman of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a position she took in memory of a niece who died of the disease.