Larry King Live! (CNN, April 5, 1998)

LK: Her emotional rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" for Titanic won that ballad an Academy Award, brought movie-goers to tears. As a pop artist, she has become an international superstar. She’s Celine Dion and she’s with us for the full hour. Just ahead on Larry King Live.

Part 1: The Road To Success, Childhood & School

LK: This should be a thrill for us but, in this particular case, the guest is thrilled. You are really a fan - it’s so nice to know that!

CD: So nice to meet you, so nice to be in the studio with you and spend some time with you. I am very thrilled to be here.

LK: And your husband?

CD: And my husband said, "Well, you know, we have accomplished so many things in your career". And he said, "There’s one thing missing." And I said, "Well, what do you mean?" He says, "Do an interview with Larry King." So right now...

LK: This is your height in thrill.

CD: I can retire.

LK: It’s a thrill for us too.

CD: Well…you’re very sweet.

LK: Do you believe all that’s happened to you?

CD: I do.

LK: You knew it would happen? You thought that you’d become...

CD: I wished. Since I was very little, I always hoped and wished that everything was going to be beautiful in life, especially in showbusiness... and it’s exactly the way I thought.

LK: Even though you knew you were entering a business where the odds were always against you?

CD: I didn’t thought that. I didn’t know that and I don’t know if I know that today.

LK: Interesting: your friend, Barbra Streisand - your new friend, Barbra Streisand...

CD: Yes.

LK: ... I interviewed her when she was just starting and she told me – and this was forty years ago: "I’m going to be a big star." She knew it. You knew it.

CD: Well, it’s not that I knew I was going to be a big star but I knew that I wanted to share the stage; that I wanted, I wanted to be spending most of my life singing, traveling the world. I didn’t have an image or a certain age in my life saying that: "Oh, at 20 years old I want to accomplish this and, at 30, I’ll be there and..." No, it was like overall type of picture, it was just beautiful, I was happy.

LK: How old were you when you knew you wanted this business?

CD: [When] I started to dream seriously about being a singer, I was 5 years old. I did my first show as 5 years old at one of my brother’s weddings.

LK: At Quebec, in Montreal?

CD: Yes, yes.

LK: You sang at your brother’s wedding?

CD: I sang at my brother’s wedding (Michel) and my first audience. And after my singing I was so concentrated that, after my singing, everybody started to applaud and I was like: "Woah, what a – woah, what a thrill." A band behind me, I’m doing what I like, I’m traveling and – because I travel – people are supporting me at the back. People are rewarding us. What a fantastic life. I wanted that.

LK: Were you therefore a poor student, because you would keep thinking of what you’d rather be doing instead of sitting at English class?

CD: Well, I hated school, I always hated school. And, even today, talking about it and hearing … and I know that it’s… school is very, very important but I don’t think school is for everyone and it was definitely not for me because I have learned so many wonderful things at home through my parents: love, affection and attention and… true values for life. And at school… and I’ve got to tell you a story because when I was going to school, I was not fighting with the other kids, I was not like when someone was like "Hey!" and they were pushing me and I was not pushing back. The teachers were looking to each other and they say, "She’s not normal," ‘cos normally when a kid pushes somebody, they push back or you get a little bit like aggressive and you don’t listen in school or you always talk when it’s not time to talk. And I was behaving very well, so they said, "Mmm-mmm, she must be disturbed, something’s happening at home". They sent a letter home, and they sent people home to make sure I was not an abused child or disturbed. And they came home. They were hearing music in the basement of the house. My mum was baking bread, she said: "Oh please, do you want something to drink?" and everything. And I was like singing and playing with my brothers and sisters. And then they said, "We’re sorry, we made a mistake. We thought that she was pretty disturbed and we understand why she cannot wait to come back home." They were kind of taking me away from my happiness. I just wanted to come home. I felt so supported.

LK: Does that still exist?

CD: Oh, it still exists and I think it exists more than ever because, today, I’m 30 years old and I know more… how important it is to be surrounded with love and affection and support. When you’re five or you’re seven, and your brothers and sisters, and your parents are there you go like "Oh, I feel good," but you don’t know that a foundation is so important. And today if I am who I am, if I can go on with my life, and if you’re 30 years old, you can say: "No matter what happens in life, everything stops." I feel wonderful. It’s not everybody who can say that and I know it comes from my background.

LK: What is the kick – of singing on stage?

CD: I got a kick. [mimicking a Broadway stage accent]

LK: What is that?

CD: The kick?

LK: Sinatra once told me that "phew", you get that "boomph". What is that?

CD: You know you feel... I’ve been on stage sick – headaches, stomach pain, whatever...

LK: Cold?

CD: ...fever, cold, whatever. And before a show you can barely talk and when you go on... everyone that are there, they give you a little piece of them and it’s like... the adrenaline, there’s something magic – the stage is magic. You feel all the parties that came... went there before you. I don't know, it’s very difficult to explain. But, when you are born to be a performer and you’re on stage, you get something. You feel something very special.

LK: Our guest, Celine Dion, her new album "Let’s Talk About Love" has already sold 20 million copies in about an hour and a half. We’ll be right back.

[Cut to music video of "My Heart Will Go On" (1997)]

Part 2: Streisand & Religion

[Cut to music video of "Tell Him" (1997)]

LK: How did that happen?

CD: Uh… like a fairytale. You know I’ve been singing with Barbra. She’s my favourite singer and I’ve been singing along with her, listening to her records.

LK: When you were a kid, you played all her records?

CD: Yeah, I was singing along when I was a kid listening to her music and...

LK: People... [Larry starts singing]

CD: People, people who need people [Celine takes the cue and begins singing]

LK: Take it, Barbra...

CD: Yeah, right!

LK: So...

CD: Leave it to Barbra. What happened is... last year at the Oscars... I was going, I was performing...

LK: ...The ’97 Oscars.

CD: Exactly, exactly. I was performing my song, Because You Loved Me, and to make a long story short, what happened [is] Natalie Cole was supposed to sing The Mirror Has Two Faces.

LK: From the movie?

CD: Correct.

LK: Barbra’s movie.

CD: Exactly... I Finally Found Someone - the title of the song. And um she got sick, and Barbra didn’t want to perform the song. She was not meant to attend this evening so they asked me the night before if I could perform this song.

LK: And you did too?

CD: And I did Barbra’s song and my song. And, I mean, of course, when you love to sing and here you are with a beautiful orchestra. I said to them, "You know, I cannot learn the song by heart because I don’t know all the words. But if I have like a stand-mike – you know for the lyric of the song – no problem, I’ll do it." And I was very thrilled. I did my best and I had a wonderful time so what happened is... I met her that night.

LK: She came?

CD: Yeah, she was there and everybody said, "You know, you’re going to perform Barbra Streisand – you know she’s here". [I replied] "No, she’s not here." [They said] "Oh, we just saw her." I was like, I couldn’t believe that but anyway I saw her, and we talked and she uh she was very, very sweet to me. And she sent me flowers the next day, and she wrote me a wonderful note and she said, "Let’s do one together." So my husband read the note and he took this very seriously so he called Barbra’s manager and he said, "You know that’s great, they have to sing together." Finally, they called David Foster and Walter Afanasieff. They wrote a song specially for Barbra and I.

LK: What is it like – to sing with an idol?

CD: A dream come true. Another one, another dream come true.

LK: Were you inhibited at all by it?

CD: I didn’t want to let my being so impressed to the point that I’m going to forget everything and I will not remember because when you’re so impressed, you kind of... you don’t see nothing. I just wanted to make sure that… you know, you’re going to have Barbra near you – make sure you get the best out of it. I sang with her, I took pictures with her. She invited us to her home, we have dinner – best chicken I’ve ever had in my life.

LK: Yeah, she makes great chicken. You’ve got to admit that.

CD: Oh, it was so incredible.

LK: Did you have the sweet potato too?

CD: Yeah.

LK: Oh! A Streisand sweet potato should be marketed.

CD: I’m telling you. And you know what? I was... you know, during the dinner, I was looking at her… eating, at every gesture and then I cut myself looking like, looking at her so much; I was groupie. And then I said, "Celine, calm down ‘cos she’s gonna just say, "Would you please leave because it’s like I have a groupie in my kitchen." I’m a… I’m in great admiration of her singing, her beauty, her strength...

LK: Her chutzpah.

CD: Absolutely.

LK: Did you – did the voices blend? Because that necessarily don’t have to blend well. Did it blend well? Did the arranger have any difficulty arranging the vocals?

CD: You know, I love Barbra so much that when I heard her singing... before I sang, she sang her part. And when I heard her voice, I was like, "This thing was meant to be," because I felt like she was completing me. Like I was going to... I was just ready to hit the microphone and say: "You know, let me just go and breathe with her and close my eyes and just follow her." And everywhere she was stopping and breathing and putting emotion in the back of it. I was following like it did happen before.

LK: Now the video shows you both together, you recorded that separately and then did that video together.

CD: Correct, exactly. We sing it together after – for the pleasure, the fun, for the thrill – for my pleasure.

LK: Is it weird singing when the other person isn’t there?

CD: Yes, but at the same time, when you love a person so much and you admire the person so much, maybe it’s better that she’s not there at the moment.

LK: Maybe they’ll have you sing at their wedding?

CD: Hey!

LK: Why not? Barbra watches us all the time.

CD: You never know, you never know.

LK: Who else could sing? Sing the chorus or something.

CD: Why not?

LK: Uh, yours was a very – is it a very religious family?

CD: Catholic.

LK: Do you pray every day?

CD: No

LK: Are you a mass attendee?

CD: No, no. We grew up Catholic. I remember my mum used to tell me a story because with a big family like this, we were constantly going to church – for a newborn, for a marriage, for... we were always there. And, many years ago, where we grew up in the province of Quebec and I think it was like this... you know, we grew up in this like, little house on the prairie. You know very small town and the priests were kind of controlling everyone and, one day, the priest came home and he said to my mother because it was 2-3 kids and uh... she was not pregnant for a couple of months. So he came home, he said, "When are you going to expect another one?" And my mum freaked out, and she said, "I am sorry, but I’m going to have kids whenever I decide to have children," and then he said to my mom, "You’re going to be banished from the house of God," and everything. She said, "I don’t care! I don’t care!" And, we stuck – but we grew up Catholic, we believe in God.

LK: You’re Catholic in your heart, but you disagreed with what the priests did

CD: I think that they went too far, yes.

LK: We’ll take a break, we’ll be back with Celine Dion [and] this song she’ll talk about. A great star – she’s got the fastest-selling album in history, "Let’s Talk About Love". Don’t go away.

[Cut to music video of "Because You Loved Me" (1996)]

Part 3: Money, How It Started & Romance

LK: We’re back an hour with Celine Dion tonight on Larry King Live who, in 2 years, sold 45 million albums worldwide. That is the biggest record selling artist of all time, and that includes Streisand, Presley, Sinatra. Doesn’t that flip you? You sell more albums than anybody who ever recorded. Doesn’t that just... blow your mind?

CD: It doesn’t blow my mind but it touches my heart a lot because... everything I do, everything I want to do is with love, emotion and feeling and like sincerity. And, when I do my music and it touches the heart of a lot of people, it says to me: "Keep doing it, kid."

LK: So it’s not the money?

CD: … You know, its never been the money. You know, when you have money, it’s even less the money.

LK: As they say, people who have money always say, "It’s not the money." [laughs]

CD: No, but don’t get me wrong... when we started, Rene and I, in showbusiness and the way we grew up, neither of us had money. We were never poor but we never had money. And I was not less happy for that.

LK: How did you meet Rene?

CD: Actually, he said that he discovered me but it’s not true, I discovered him. What happened is, he was a manager, he was a singer himself many years ago.

LK: In Montreal?

CD: In Montreal. And... one of my favourite singer in the province of Quebec was Ginette Reno – she’s a wonderful singer – and he was managing Ginette and every single day I was telling my mum, "Mum, I want to sing, you know." And my parents, at that time, had a bar, like a little piano bar, and at the weekends sometimes a lot of people were drinking. I was singing and my mom – it bothered her a lot – she said, "You know, I want you to sing, kid, I don’t want you to do it that way, I want you to do it professionally." Out of nowhere, she pushed the cooking on the side and my mum, who didn’t go to school, she writes the way she hears like my both parents. She wrote me my first song. She said, "You’ll do it right." She wrote my first song.

LK: Which was?

CD: "Ce N’Etait Qu’un Reve" – "It Was Only A Dream"... and that’s my... the most important song to me in my life.

LK: And how did that lead to Rene?

CD: What happened is uh... one of my brother and me did a music, the demo at home. We did a very cheap demo and my mum looked behind the album of Ginette Reno, one of my favourite singer in the family. And it was written: "Managed and produced by Rene Angelil." The address, phone number, etc. She sent the tape to him. Waited, waited, waited. No answers, nothing. So my brother, who wrote the music with me, picked up the phone and he said, "Mr. Angelil, I know you have received a tape and a red ribbon and... you didn’t listen to it because you would have called us right away." So, kinda pushy.

LK:

CD: Yeah. He said, "Let me listen to it, I’ll call you back." He called back and apparently he was very interested of meeting me. I was twelve.

LK: Twelve and he was…what? He was 26 years old, right?

CD: Correct, exactly. And I went with my mum at the office. And he said, "Could you – can you sing in front of me?" I said, "Yeah, of course. I’m used to singing with a microphone, but..." He said, "You know, I give you my pen, just pretend it’s a microphone. And pretend that you are on stage right now with balconies and people." I said, "Alright, I love that." And he treat me... not like a child [like] "Can you sing a song for me?" No, he really treat me with respect and my mom and... I took the mike, my pen, and I started to sing my mum’s song. And then I looked at him and he had a tear and I said... I was proud of me.

LK: But you were a kid obviously and he became your manager?

CD: He became my manager. He believed in me a lot.

LK: When did this become... romantic?

CD: I can never forget that. My first kiss... real kiss – not on the cheek – on the lips, it was in Dublin, it was at the Eurovision song contest in Europe, I was representing Switzerland in Dublin and it was 1988. And I will always remember because um...

LK: How old were you?

CD: I was... twenty... twenty years old. So it’s uh...

LK: So [what] you’re saying tonight is... Rene has been the only man in your life?

CD: I have… it’s the only man in my life but I have [had] like boyfriends.

LK: Yeah, but only real man in your life?

CD: But me, a real... love? Yeah.

LK: We’ll be back with more of Celine Dion. We’ve got lots to talk about, including golf. Don’t go away.

[Cut to music video of "Beauty & The Beast" (1993)]

Part 4: Maturity, Quebec Independence & Event Singing

LK: We’re back with Celine Dion. How [do you] go from going from 12 knowing someone to falling in love. Did that even surprise you?

CD: No. You know, I think – without sounding pretentious – I think I do have a quality in life that is very important, I think. I feel people in life. I sense who’s wrong, who’s right, what’s for me, what’s not for me.

LK: What about when you make a mistake?

CD: I deal with it, and I have a lot of people surrounding me, helping me. But Rene, I always loved Rene and he always loved me. But, of course, it was different, so...

LK: Do you think you’re older than your years?

CD: Older than what?

LK: Your years – do you think you’re older than 30?

CD: Oh yes, definitely.

LK: You’re like another lifetime, right?

CD: I think I have three lives already.

LK: You are awfully mature.

CD: When I was 12, I was not acting like a 12 year old, but I think being 30 – I’m so proud to be 30 years old.

LK: You were a big hit in Quebec before the rest of the world knew you, right?

CD: Yes.

LK: Singing French songs?

CD: Correct, I couldn’t speak English. I went to school about twelve years ago, because I wanted to have an international career, and I wanted to speak in English. I wanted to travel and be able, you know, to speak another language and that was a very important language. So twelve years ago, I went to Berlitz school everyday for two months and I learned English.

LK: And it worked

CD: Thank you.

LK: Think Quebec should separate?

CD: [Long pause, Celine sighs heavily…] You know, it’s uh... It’s a very – it’s a very delicate question. There’s one thing I have to tell you is, first of all, I hate politics and...

LK: Like school?

CD: I do, yeah, maybe more! But, I do have an opinion and I think everybody has an opinion and I respect everybody’s opinion but... I think politics has no feeling and it destroys a lot of things.

LK: You have an opinion but you’re not going to share it? Is that –

CD: If you don’t mind?

LK: – No, of course not.

CD: Thank you.

LK: Hey, this isn’t a trial. But, you do have an opinion on it?

CD: Oh, I do.

LK: You vote that opinion?

CD: Oh, I do.

LK: But politics turns you off?

CD: Completely.

LK: Have you sung at the Whitehouse yet?

CD: Yes, I’ve sang for the inauguration of Bill Clinton and it was a thrill.

LK: What was that like?

CD: It was a thrill. I was, you know… When you ask me to sing, it’s like, "Of course", but especially when somebody ask you to – [and] you’re not even from the United States and they ask you to come and join the family of the United States, the American people, to share a moment – a very important moment. It’s like Switzerland, when they asked me to represent Switzerland. It’s special. It’s a big honour.

LK: And you love what you do.

CD: I do.

LK: We’ll come back with more of Celine Dion. We’ll talk about golf and a lot of other things, including how all this hit for her – how all this happened that we all know her. Don’t go away.

[Cut to music video of "It’s All Coming Back To Me Now" (1996)]

Part 5: The Big Break , Beauty & The Beast, Acting Career & My Heart Will Go On

LK: We’re back with Celine Dion. We saw the Beauty & The Beast clip, was that your break?

CD: Hmm, it’s definitely one of my breaks because Beauty & The Beast opened up a lot of doors for me. But I’ve had a lot of breaks in my life.

LK: What was the biggest in the point of view of reaching the English-speaking world?

CD: Well, I remember – like I said there’s a lot of things – but I remember one thing particularly: there was a Sony music convention.

LK: In Canada?

CD: In Canada. They were all coming to Canada and… I was – I think I was 15 years old – yes, I was, you know, 15 and I was recording… I did record my first English-speaking recording and it was not being played in the United States. It was just coming out and it was like a new thing and everybody from the world: business people, most important people, influential people came to Canada, and it was a business thing. No performers were going to perform that day. It’s just like Tommy Motolla and Paul Berger – who was the president of Sony Canada at that time who gave me a big break, actually (Paul). And then Paul said, "You know, we have this 15 year old kid na-na-na-na." – he presented me. The thing I remember the most is I had to sing Where Does My Heart Beat Now, my first song in English that was released, at ten in the morning.

LK: That a bad time to sing?

CD: Oh, the worst. I mean, me morning – I’m a night bird. I’m like…

LK: You record late at night?

CD: I love… you know, why do we perform at night? Show’s on [at] eight o’clock, eight-thirty, nine o’clock. Ten o’clock in the morning. It’s like vampires – like, you go to bed.

LK: Why did you have to record at that time?

CD: I had to – to perform at that time.

LK: You had no say in it.

CD: For them to give me a break, because I wanted to have an international career and somebody gave me a chance to perform for them that morning and I did. And the week after, Rene was in the office that morning, everywhere traveling the world, signing everything, and for my record to come out in the United States.

LK: How did you get Beauty & The Beast?

CD: Because Where Does My Heart Beat Now, my first English song, was played on the radio and people heard my song.

LK: Disney people heard?

CD: Disney people heard it and they were interested. They called Sony, got to us and loved the song. And I knew Peabo as an artist. They said, "You can sing a duet with Peabo". We loved the song, we went to see the movie, we fell in love with it. It was like... a very important door that we were opening for my career.

LK: What is it like? Two of the biggest things you’ve hit on are two of the most successful movies ever made – one, the most successful? Do you think you might wanna do a movie yourself?

CD: Definitely. My next step is to be able to play in a movie. To be a singer, you have to be an actress; I know I’m an actress. I know I can do it. I’m ready to work so hard and I do want to do a movie as an actress. I don’t want to do a movie as a singer. Well, maybe, you know, I will sing in my movies, you know, but I don’t want to say like, "She’s a singer who’s trying to act?" No. I want to work so hard, I want to be … I want to be a good actress.

LK: Want to be a Broadway star too? Want to do a show? Would you do a show?

CD: Theatre is not … I don’t think I would like that. I’ve never done it but…

LK: You don’t want to be in Sound of Music?

CD: That’s great though, huh? Let me think about it.

LK: Tell me, if you like to act, that’s the combination.

CD: I’d love to act – I would like to do movies or a stage performance as a singer – one or the other.

LK: What’s it like to hear yourself in a movie theatre?

CD: Well…

LK: As you sit at Beauty & The Beast or Titanic, we don’t see you.

CD: When you see... when you go to a premiere and you are very moved by the whole movie... and you hear the song who reminds you exactly of everything that happened for 3 hours, 2 hours and 15 or whatever, it’s... I’m very proud of that. And you know what? Why I’m so proud? It’s not necessarily for me, I’m not like that: "Oh my god, I did that – I’m so happy for me". No, it’s... I’m happy for my parents. My parents are 75 years old. My mum is 71, my dad is 75, and they have worked so hard with nothing. They had nothing. And today, I can share many wonderful things with them, I can spoil them and when everyone goes to say: "Oh, Madame Dion, you must be so proud of your daughter" and my dad is like, "Oh, she’s my daughter", and he’s like my fan #1. They have wonderful years and I’m proud that I can share this with them.

LK: Did you know that song was going to win an Academy Award? I mean… you must done.

CD: No.

LK: Come on.

CD: No, I’m not that smart.

LK: Who doubted it?

CD: No, I think I’m okay, but I’m not that smart.

LK: So you were surprised?

CD: You know, you always know that if it’s good for you or not. You know, when they played that song to me – when James Horner came and played the song to me, not to talk again [but] it was just singing, but it was not that great. He couldn’t, you know, he was nervous probably and everything, you know. And, James Cameron didn’t want any singing song in his movie and so Rene said, "You know, why don’t we just do a demo with the song? We’ll see right away if it’s good; if you want it, you’ll present it to James Cameron the right way." And you know right away if it’s a good song.

LK: You knew?

CD: But how much it’s going to touch the people, how far it’s going to go – this you don’t know.

LK: We’ll be back with more. Next topic: golf. Don’t go away.

[Cut to music video of "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" (1990)]

Part 6: Divas & Golf

LK: We’re back with Celine Dion. By the way, on April 14th, she will join Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain and Mariah Carey in "Divas Live" – an honors concert for VH1 - Save The Music, a concert designed to restore music education to America’s public schools.

CD: Don’t miss that.

LK: How’d they get you in this?

CD: Don’t miss that. They just asked and I wanted to. I wanted to share the stage with great voices and have a wonderful time with them, like I said before on the show already, loving to sing and when you share what you love the most with other people who love to sing as much as you, you should see the ambience on stage. Woah, and you know what?

LK: It’s not a competition?

CD: It’s not. And you know what? I don’t care if people believe who, what I say. I’m very honored.

LK: You’re having a hoot?

CD: What does that mean?

LK: You’re having… a great time.

CD: I’m having a great… I’m having a wonderful time. I’m in competition, yes, but with me.

LK: What’s with golf?

CD: You know, I’ve been looking to this microphone for about … more than half an hour now. It looks exactly like my biggest "Big Bertha". I’d love to take the microphone and go through a wall. I started this...

LK: It is a sickness.

CD: I am completely hooked for the last... you know, I started eight months ago and I’m so glad I did because after being in the studios – recording studios – recording, fighting like an animal, to beat my last performance, my last record and... I need... I need a balance, a balance. If you want to keep your head on your shoulder and you keep your feet on the ground.

LK: Why, though, do you choose as a balance what Jackie Gleason told me once is the great humbler: "If you think you’ve got an ego, go out and play golf – it’ll reduce you in a minute." It causes anger; Sylvester Stallone bangs clubs, breaks them against trees; James Woods has given up his love life for this. What do you need that kind of ...?... for?

CD: Well –

LK: Which seems to me to be emotionally straining.

CD: Well, first of all, my husband has been playing for 25 years.

LK: He introduced you to it?

CD: He introduced me, in a way, to it and he wanted me to play. But I said to Rene: "Don’t tell me go try and hit a few balls – give me a time off, give me some time off, give me a month." He gives me a month off.

LK: Alright, what is it about?

CD: The game, to me, is... focus. And in showbusiness you need to be very focused. So golf is the same thing and... concentration, focus and, at the same time, it’s like you are in control. You are, also like in showbusiness, you are in...?...

LK: You’re not golfing against the other golfers?

CD: Absolutely not, you want to beat your last game. It’s like you hit the ball and every game, every hole, it’s a new game.

LK: What do you do with bad days? Every golfer has bad days.

CD: Well, I’m just a beginner. I started eight months ago and I think I’ve been having wonderful days. You know, for me to walk in nature and have five hours for me... it’s a thrill.

LK: But when you triple bogey?

CD: Well, that’s okay because I can’t wait till tomorrow for it to be a double bogey and then bogey and then birdie. It’s like you’re looking forward to your next game to be better.

LK: How often – do you hit golf balls a lot?

CD: When I started to uh… with my courses to play, to rehearse, I was hitting about 400 balls a day.

LK: And do you try to play every day?

CD: I do or I don’t do it, it’s like...

LK: Are you like a fanatic now, though? In other words, if you have a Saturday off, will you golf?

CD: Oh, definitely. Right now, you know, I’m fixing my schedule for my tour around golf.

LK: Around golf?

CD: Yeah, we’re touring for a year and a half. Let’s say this winter so we’re going to where it’s Summer.

LK: You’re not gonna be in Minnesota in December.

CD: You’ll be Minnesota, it’ll be Summer

LK:

CD: We will, we will try our best to not be where

LK: Since you’re goal-oriented, you knew you were going to make it Do you think you could be a golfer golfer? Do you think you could join the ladies tour soon?

CD: Hey, why not?

LK: I wouldn’t bet against you.

CD: Well, you know what? I definitely wouldn’t want to do it professionally, because...

LK: Oh, but, do you think you could?

CD: Well, oh yes – oh yes, I can and I don’t wanna hear most people come to me and say: "You know, there’s not a lot of people who can play under 100." No, that’s not what I want, that’s not what I want to hear. I’ve broken 100 three times already. And everybody says, "That’s fantastic!" I’m happy and I want to break 90, and I do want to break 80 too. I do want to break 80.

LK: You’re going to do it.

CD: I give myself five years.

LK: I give you less.

CD: [smiles and looks directly into the camera]

LK: Uh, we’ll talk about the Bee Gees, Pavarotti, Carole King. Don’t go away.

[Cut to music video of "The Power of Love" (1993)]

Part 7: Karine, Pavarotti, Music Styles & Negative Press

LK: We’re back with Celine Dion – boy, time goes fast. Your involvement with Cystic Fibrosis is [that] you lost a family member?

CD: We’ve lost uh... one of my niece in the family who passed away... three years ago, four years ago – no, three years ago – and... she passed away in my arms. And, it was like... the whole family was there...

LK: How old was she?

CD: Sixteen. Yeah... it was, you know, it’s a difficult moment of course, especially for Karine, the one who passed away; and especially for my sister, the mother. But, at the same time, it’s... when a person, you know, is looking for every breath that she takes and it’s like she’s suffering all the time.

LK: Better off?

CD: It’s kind of… you know I was so proud that she kin

d of asked me – chosen me in a way – to escort her to death, to escort her to paradise – Heaven. It was a one gave me a lot of strength, a lot.

LK: Um, what was it like with Pavarotti?

CD: [thinks carefully] Loud!… wonderful.

LK: [laughs in response] Loud?

CD: Well, it’s incredible because I don’t know a lot about classical music, but I do have so much respect for it. ... When an opera singer, he had a very special talent to sing opera and when you sing opera music and, especially with Pavarotti, it’s so nice, it’s so beautiful, everything vibrates. You look, you feel like a little bird.

LK: I can’t do that

CD: Uh this... uh no, absolutely, absolutely.

LK: But, everything else, you can do, right?

CD: No, I’m not saying that I can do anything. No...

LK: Thinking about jazz?

CD: But if I choose... I can... maybe hit a song or two.

LK: Like...?

CD: I can try, work on it and for fun, for my own pleasure. When I do something, when I do a cover song, jazz, pop music or blues, I’m not trying to do like the original or...

LK: You’re you.

CD: ...It’s like you have... It’s wonderful, I love ...?

LK: How about Celine does country?

CD: Why not?

LK: Yeah, you’d do great in any yellow...

CD: You think so? I think I would... If I choose to sing, if I’m choosing like a country song or blues song, I would work till it sounds like I can do that.

LK: Were you bugged when the tabloids said that you had this rivalry with Streisand and that she was annoyed that you... does that bother you or not?

CD: Well, when sometimes when...

LK: Not that it bothers you.

CD: … they say a lot of things that can touch you... especially your close friends and your family that you don’t see a lot and you say, "Maybe they think it’s right, maybe they think it’s true, maybe…" But you know… I care about what people think about me but, at the same time, I don’t read that because I know who I am. I know what I do, what I can do. I’m not going to read and see if I did a good show or not. They say, "You were great" – then, I know I can I do better. So if they say to me that...

LK: You know, are you self-critical?

CD: Very much so.

LK: Are there nights – I’ve been told by great musical artists – when they think they’re the worst, they get the best applause, the audience goes crazy. But, in their heart, they know they weren’t...

CD: I have noticed with the years that... when I give a very... for me... good technical performance – effortless, beautiful, clear – they like it, but when they feel that it’s a little hard for you and you try to reach those notes. And it’s a little harder for you that night and you look back the emotion is even more there. There’s strength coming with it, there’s like something like fighting that they feel. For them, it’s stronger. So, it’s not perfectly perfect but they like that better.

LK: Do you have bad nights? Do you ever have bad nights?

CD: Performing? Oh, yeah. It did happen, it’s happening and it will happen always. It’s okay, you think about those and you wanna get better.

LK: We’ll be back with our remaining moments with the brilliantly talented Celine Dion.

Part 8: Bee Gees, World Tour, Song Selection, Parenthood & Quebec

[Cut to music video of "Immortality" (1997)]

LK: What was that like with the Bee Gees?

CD: Fantastic. You know, I cannot remember any parties or birthdays or Christmas without the Bee Gees. You know, I’m always ready to "make the move" but...

LK: grew up with, right?

CD: I grew up… there were a lot of people who I grew up with that – I was not even born when they were there – but, because I had such a big family everybody’s older than me. So I grew up [with] the Credos, the Doogie Brothers, the Beatles and Janice Joplin and Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder and the Beatles and… you know, my brothers and sisters were hot on radio – so I grew up with that.

LK: World tour in August, right?

CD: I can’t wait. I cannot wait because it’s... a new stage, wonderful lighting, new clothes, new songs, everything is going to be... I think it’s going to be the tour of my life.

LK: Selection of material – is that the toughest part of this?

CD: It’s a good problem to have. When you have so many wonderful… you know, I don’t write my songs.

LK: Uh-huh.

CD: And when people send me a thousand songs a year, because they want me to sing their song. It’s like they have this newborn and they want to be the mother. Woah.

LK: What’s your judgment factor when there are a thousand babies, though?

CD: You know my… the hardest thing for me is I have to choose twelve, fourteen... I want to take them, I wanna choose them all because… they all have something – some are weak, some are strong, some are small, some are tall, some are beautiful, some are timeless – but they all have something, like all children are important and wonderful like all the songs But, I have to be a good girl and [say] "Okay, I’m only going to choose twelve".

LK: Now, how about family of your own?

CD: Well, we are working on it for three years. It’s been uh... great. [laughs]

LK: The work is great. I mean, you want to be a mother.

CD: I would love to be a mother and...

LK: Would you adopt if it didn’t work out biologically?

CD: I haven’t thought of it. I haven’t thought of that. We have like 35 nieces and nephews. I know that a lot of kids out there are looking for parents [so] maybe, but I’d like to give a try and take time because I think right now it’s just [that] I have too many things to do and my body’s not… cannot be at two places at the same time. My baby needs all the energy. I need to give my baby some time. And, right now, it’s like, I think performer, I think stage, I think tour. Mmm-mm, it’s not fair. When I’m going to stop, it’s going to work.

LK: Are you able to give the audience 100% every night?

CD: I do. Sometimes I have 80% of capacity vocal, but the 80% is all there so it means the 100 is always there, every night, all the time.

LK: And you can sing above certain things, right? You can sing above a cold?

CD: I’m trying to. I remember once, many years ago, I lost my voice on stage. I did.

LK: Lost it? Lost it?

CD: Completely. I went backstage, and heard the guitar (solo guitar) and uh... I didn’t come back and people do notice it because... it was in the province of Quebec which is why I have a lot respect for people from the province of Quebec because this is where I grew up and they were the first people who applauded me, supported me and understood me. So when I… when Rene came on stage and he said, "You know what? You have noticed that Celine has no voice tonight and we can uh… pay you back or we can come back and do the show again." And everybody began to sing the end of the song. And I was in my dressing room crying and I said, "You know, that’s my people", and I will always be thankful for the first people who applauded

LK: Knowing fathers and daughters, your father must be...

CD: You know my father and my mother...

LK: …beyond excitement.

CD: – they’re my everything. My mum is my idol. She has the soul of an artist, she’s a musician, she’s a wonderful cook, a wonderful mum who left her dreams to realize… to raise 14 children between four walls with nothing. Her dreams? Forget her dreams. She gave herself to us. My dad was working… like a dog every day to bring some bread and... it was wonderful. It’s wonderful because when my parents come to see the show. My dad, every song, gives me a standing ovation and my mum pulls his jacket like, "Come on, dad, sit down". [He says] "You know it’s my daughter, it’s my daughter." He’s so proud. Like I said before, I’m glad they could be there.

LK: In our remaining moments, what do you do with sadness, down moments? Because you seem to be so up.

CD: [Celine sighs heavily]

LK: What do you do with life’s pitfalls?

CD: Mmm-hmm. I cry, ... I cry and... I perform; I cry through my songs, I laugh through my songs, through my music. When there’s music in your life, there’s happiness – it means sadness also.

LK: You are totally happy on stage?

CD: I am the strongest on stage but I need something else now. When I was 15, my life was to be a singer. Right now, at 30, my life is to be happy and [to] share my happiness.

LK: Thank you.

CD: Love you, Larry.

LK: Love you, Celine.

CD: Thanks for having me.

LK: Celine Dion…

[segues into final notes of "My Heart Will Go On"]

TRIBUTE TO CELINE DION - WWW.ANGELFIRE.COM/POP/DIVACELINEDION

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