Celine Dion is in top shape.
Reached in Las Vegas to discuss this Friday’s 3D theatrical re-release of the 1991 Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, the Canadian singer discussed the impact the title song had on her career.
The 1991 song Beauty and the Beast, which she sang in collaboration with Peabo Bryson and released on her 1992 album, Celine Dion, gained her a fan following in the United States.
“I think that this song gave me a name,” Dion said. “I had already released my first album in English (Unison). People knew my song Where Does My Heart Beat Now but didn’t know the singer. When I did Beauty and the Beast, people not only knew the song, but also knew who sang it. So I think that Beauty and the Beast put me on the map.”
When she thinks back on the song that got her on stage at the Oscars for the first time two decades ago, Dion said she feels privileged to have been able to contribute to a project with such long-term success.
“I am very aware that I am part of a classic,” she said. “Today, more than 20 years after its release, we are re-releasing the film in 3D. It’s as if the film has new life. It’s incredible.”
Dion, who resumed performing in Vegas on Dec. 28, said she is continually humbled by life. Her three children and husband Rene Angelil are all “great,” she said.
“Rene-Charles started back at school. These days, I’m playing golf. The weather is perfect for it. Between golf and my son’s studies, everything is going well. I can do five shows per week and be with my family. And, I have my mom here.”
Dion, also mom to 14-month-old twins Nelson and Eddy, said she is fortunate to have the support of family and friends. Even though she now only breastfeeds one of the twins, Nelson (after Eddy went on the bottle at nine-and-a-half months), Dion has to be well organized.
“I still nurse Nelson twice per day, before I leave for the show and when he wakes up at night. The nights still aren’t perfect, but it’s almost over.
“You have to know how to organize yourself. But I have amazing people around me, that ensure that the show is perfect, that the schedule is realistic and that the kids are well and everyone is happy. I have to have people around me so I can easily be in mom mode, but in singer mode too.”
Between the moments devoted to family and her concerts at Caesars Palace, Dion finds the time, and energy, to record songs that will end up on her future albums, one in French due out in October, and one in English to be released in April.
“We are always listening,” she said. “We have kept several songs. I’ve started recordings. I’ll get back to it in a few weeks. After Vegas, I will go back to Florida, so I will get back to it. When I’ve got a break from the concerts, I don’t stop recording.”
