One simply cannot talk about the music of the ’90s without mentioning the “Queen of power ballads”, the French Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion. The youngest of 14 children, she was already recording by the age of 13 and found success in the ’80s in her Native Canada with a spate of French language LPs and singles.

            In 1990 Dion made the switch to the English language market with the album Unison and the single “Where Does My Heart Beat Now”, but her big international breakthrough came a year later with the soundtrack duet “Beauty and the Beast”, performed with Peabo Bryson.  She was then virtually unstoppable for the rest of the decade with the LPs Falling Into You (a Grammy winner for Album of the Year) and Let’s Talk About Love, both selling more than 30 million copies. Her best loved singles include “All By Myself”, a cover of an Eric Carmen ’70s hit; 1993’s “The Power of Love”; “My Heart Will Go On”, the theme from the box-office giant Titanic; “Tell Him”, her duet with Barbra Streisand; and two versions of the “The Prayer”, one sung with Andrea Bocelli and released in 1999 and a second and even more successful version released nine years later with Josh Groban.

            Blessed with a powerful, belting voice, a distinctive pure tone, excellent pitch, the ability to modulate effectively and to sustain her notes, critics, nevertheless, have long been divided over Dion’s effectiveness as a singer able to communicate emotional nuance. Indeed, she failed to make the cut of a recent Rolling Stone magazine list of the 200 greatest singers; many fans and fellow artists were aghast as her work has been lauded by the likes of Adele, Elton John, Groban, Patti LaBelle, Streisand, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, and Lady Gaga. Indeed, some have pointed out that it is Dion, along with Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, who has been most influential on the vocal style of contemporary female singers. Sadly, Celine’s voice has been largely silent the past few years due to a rare neurological disorder known as Stiff Person Syndrome, a progressive illness that seems to strike one in a million and for which there is no known effective treatment. It is not known whether the 55-year-old Dion will ever be able to sing again, but that she has already touched millions with her voice and presence is beyond dispute.

            –Steve Williams (10/23/23) Greatest Recording Artists Blog Post #56