Celine Dion has been entertaining audiences
since she was 12 years old, but there's a lot you probably don't know about the French-Canadian
star. Here's the truth about megastar Celine Dion. The youngest of 14 children, Dion didn't always
have an easy life when she was growing up. With so many kids in the family, their house
in Quebec was overcrowded. She told CBS News, "We were three, four in the same bed. I did not have a bedroom. Up the stairs, before going in the bedrooms,
there was a little ramp. And my bed was there. So everybody went up, they saw me, and I could
wave goodbye and goodnight." Despite the lack of money, Dion insists that
her family wasn't poor where it really mattered. She told Vanity Fair, "We were given love and affection and support. What else did we need?" Sounds like the superstar has her priorities
straight. Dion was just 12 years old when she met the
love of her life, although she didn't know it at the time. It would take another five years for her to
fall for her manager, Rene Angelil, in spite of their 26-year age difference. Dion's mother did not approve of the relationship
at first, but she eventually came around. Dion told Access Hollywood, "She had no choice. Love won." Angélil passed away from cancer in 2016,
and Dion is still grieving his death. She told Digital Spy in 2017, "I will probably grieve for the rest of my
life." The singer told CBS News that she doesn't
see herself falling in love again, adding, "I'm still in love with him. And I have the love of my children. I have the love of my fans. I love the people that I work with. So my life is not empty of love...But there's
a song from Sia, 'I go to sleep and imagine that you're there with me.' And I go to bed with him. And I come on stage with him. And so I'm still married to him." Dion struggled for years to have a child,
according to the Daily Mail. Her battle with infertility made having children
difficult, but she finally had three children who were all conceived through in vitro fertilization. After giving birth to her first child, she
went through another six rounds of IVF before conceiving her twins, Nelson and Eddy. "We tried four times to have a child. We're still trying. We're on the fifth try and I tell you, if
five is my lucky number, this fifth try has gotta come in! Right?" Dion was determined to have another child,
even if it cost her the career she had worked so hard for. She had signed a contract with Caesars Palace
but postponed her shows in order to undergo treatments. She told the Daily Mail, "People stop because it's very expensive but
I kept on going. I was not going to stop just because I had
a contract for singing. I would have hated every song for the rest
of my life, so I said try to postpone the Caesars Palace shows because it wasn't a good
enough reason for me not to try for a baby. A life or a contract? I couldn't live with that." In spite of growing up famous, Dion didn't
go through the rebellious phase that so many child stars do. Instead, she has always seemed quite focused
and down to earth. While she's a household name at this point
of her career, she still doesn't care very much for fame. The singer prefers to focus on the important
things in life, like her three kids, who she told Magnifissance are what she is "most proud
of" and are her "biggest success." This, she said, is what defines her life,
rather than her fame and her awards. The fact that Dion has managed to stay grounded
in spite of her estimated $800 million fortune is impressive enough, but she also wants to
help other women recognize their own worth beyond financial and professional success. As the global spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris,
Dion told Elle that she connects with the brand's "I'm Worth It" tagline. She said, "Telling other women that they, too, have
self-worth, that they are strong, is obviously really important." Believe it or not, Dion doesn't watch reality
singing competitions on television. Without a doubt she would have been a hit
on a show like American Idol, but it turns out that TV shows aren't her style. She told Woman's Weekly that she's happy that
she was born before the heyday of reality TV, saying, "If I was starting my career now I doubt that
I would have had any other option than to enter one of those shows. But I'm glad that I didn't start my career
now. I don't watch TV and so I can't say that I'm
a fan to be honest." Dion explained that these days, everything
is about her kids, adding, "I'm not part of the music industry and what's
going on these days, I just perform and then go back to my family." Clearly family comes before work, and TV time. Dion isn't your typical celebrity. In spite of the glitz and glamour of her life,
she would rather kick up her feet at home than go out to nightclubs or walk red carpets. And her rejection of the nightlife scene isn't
because she's become tired of partying over the years, either. Dion has never considered herself to be "a
party girl," as she told W magazine in 2007. Even back then, she preferred staying at home
to going out, saying that one of the perks of having an older husband, who was 65 at
the time, was that he didn't want to go out multiple times a week. Dion revealed that not only would she have
disliked going out regularly, she insisted, "I would go crazy." In 2018, Dion told The Sun that, after the
death of her husband, hanging out at home consisted of a lot of family-bonding time
with her kids, adding, "I'm discovering Disney." It should come as no surprise that Dion calls
the shots. After launching her handbag and accessory
line and parting ways with her former manager, she made it clear that she's in charge. According to the Montreal Gazette, she told
journalists at the launch of her line, "Let me be clear. I am the boss." In the wake of her husband's death, Dion found
new strength. She said, "I went through a lot and I'm not the only
one. People have gone through a lot, and so they
probably understand what I'm saying right now. Sometimes when you go through a lot, whether
it's disappointment or a loss, there is a force that takes over when you believe." Dion's driven personality has no doubt played
a huge role in her incredible success. She puts in long hours to make sure that her
music is flawless. Diane Warren, who has written some of Dion's
most iconic songs, told Billboard what's impressive about working with the singer, saying, "I went to her show, and it's almost two hours. She's not lip-synching. She's singing songs that aren't easy to sing. Then we went in the studio at 11:30 at night
and she stayed until, like, 4 a.m. and would not leave until it was perfect." Warren noted that this was just all proof
that Dion would always be successful. According to her, Dion's dedication is a rarity
in the music industry. She explained, "A lot of times you work with singers and
they're like, 'Aw, I'll finish next time.'" Dion, however, always gives it her all. There are so many reasons to admire Dion,
but one of the biggest reasons she's a role model is because she is so unabashedly herself. With Dion, what you see is what you get. She told The Guardian in 2007, "For me, being cool is to feel happy and stable
and sure of myself. I think when you become a parent you become
more involved in life. I take every decision more carefully." Dion is living life on her own terms. She noted that she felt the need to "prove"
herself in the music world when she was starting out her career, but those days are long gone. She explained, "Not any more. I'm doing this for fun." While some celebrities share few personal
details with the public, Dion has always worn her heart on her sleeve. Dion believes that her realness and authenticity
are why she is so beloved by her many fans. She told V Magazine in 2012, "I've been an open book all my life." Dion admitted that she has been criticized
for being so honest with the world, but said that she had no intention of putting on a
persona for the public. She said, "I'm like this in my real life." Being an open book isn't just about allowing
her fans to see into her real life, though. To Dion, the phrase also conveys her belief
that she is the author of her own story. In 2016, she told Elle France that she doesn't
have her future mapped out, but that she's excited for the journey ahead of her. She explained, "I like to think that my life is an open book
and there are still plenty of pages to write." Dion has experienced phenomenal triumphs in
her life, but she's also dealt with a lot of grief. Instead of allowing her heartbreak to overcome
her, though, she's channeled her pain into her music. The singer explained to People that music
is a source of healing for her. In fact, her album Courage, the first English-language
album she released after her husband passed away, helped Dion heal from losing the love
of her life. She told CBS This Morning that she poured
herself not just into the production of the album but also into planning the tour that
accompanied it. This was a big change from how she previously
recorded albums, saying that she hadn't wanted to be involved in any meetings, preferring
to leave all of the leg work to her husband. She admitted, "I just wanted to sing the best way that I
could and that's it." Dion didn't just find working on the album
cathartic, but contributing to its production also helped her realize that she's in fact,
quote, "not just a singer." While Dion previously said that she could
not see herself falling in love with anyone but her late husband, she began to open her
heart to the possibility of falling in love again a few years after his death. In 2019, more than three years after his passing,
she told CBS This Morning that, while her husband will always be with her, the pain
of losing him has subsided. Dion made it clear that she wasn't exactly
ready to jump into the dating pool, but was open to the possibility of finding someone
new in the future, saying, "Say yes for love maybe one day, I don't know." For now, though, Dion is just going with the
flow and seeing what the future holds. "If I do, that would be great, if I don't
that would be great because I'm still in love." Adding that she's enjoying her life and career,
she explained, "I'm not stressed at all. I feel like I can do anything I want." Dion is living her best life, and it's pretty
inspiring. As she's gotten older, she's learned not to
care what other people think of her and has a newfound sense of independence. She said that her life basically started over
at 50, describing herself to Elle in 2019 as: "A woman assuming her own destiny." She explained that, for years, her life was
centered on her voice and that she was always practicing singing. Now, though, she's learned: "It's never too late to start. At 51, I have the sense that I am at my pinnacle!" In an interview with Entertainment Tonight,
Dion revealed that she feels as if she's getting younger now, and she loves dancing and shopping. She credits her friends with her new view
on life, saying, "To go out with them, I feel like I'm younger." Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about your favorite
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