Celine Dion is a national treasure — seriously though, she should be on the $5 bill. Her career took off as a pre-teen in her native Québec and the rest is enshrined in pop-music history — we’re talking 20 Junos, five Grammys, seven Billboard Music Awards, and two Golden Globes. (And she does it all while killing the latest runway looks.) But just how much is Celine Dion worth? It’s hard to say exactly what the singer and entrepreneur’s nest egg is, but in 2019 Forbes estimated Celine Dion was worth $450 million USD, while Celebrity Net Worth has ballparked that figure at $800 million USD. Let’s see how that all stacks up.
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Dion was born in Charlemagne, Québec on March 30, 1968, the youngest of 14 children. Her mother, Thérèse Tanguay-Dion, who recently died at the age of 92, sent a cassette of her daughter singing to Québec artist manager René Angélil. "I couldn't believe this voice coming from a 12-year-old," he later told Katie Couric. "And when she started singing [in front of me] it was even better than the tape. She made me cry." He became her manager on the spot, even mortgaging his house to finance her first album. The two later married and had three kids together, René-Charles (now 19), and twins Nelson and Eddy Angélil, now nine.
By the time she was 18, Dion had recorded nine French albums and won four Félix Awards, which recognize the best in Québécois music (she’s won 45 to date, nbd.) She signed with Epic Records and got her big international break when she recorded the theme song for Disney’s 1991 hit Beauty and the Beast alongside Peabo Bryson. The song was number one on the global charts and earned her a Grammy and the song's writers an Academy Award. Her global success was solidified when she performed “The Power of the Dream” at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Shortly after, in 1997, “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme song for a small indie film you might have heard of, was released and later won an Oscar for Best Original Song. The track also appeared on her 18th studio album Let’s Talk About Love and was a part of what would become the best-selling soundtrack in music history with a total of 60 million copies sold.
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Dion loves to perform and currently holds the record for the highest-grossing Las Vegas residences of all time, beating other superstars such as Elton John, Rod Stewart, and Mariah Carey. According to Billboard, her on-and-off 16-year run — A New Day (714 shows from 2003-07) and Celine (2011-2019) — brought in $681 million USD in ticket sales. That’s 4,555,752 tickets sold. She's brought in an additional $174.5 million USD while on tour in Europe, Asia, and Australia. In November 2019, she made $33.2 million USD from her Courage World Tour (and that was only the first 19 shows.) All in all, her concert career has grossed over $1 billion USD, one of only eight singers to cross the billion-dollar mark in music history. Phew.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Canada's queen of pop has made millions from other business ventures as well. She co-owned an artist management company called Les Productions Feeling Inc. with her late husband and owned Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace alongside other celebs. She also cut a nice cheque from her deal with Coty Inc. for Celine Dion Parfums, which have retail sales of $850 million USD. In 2019, she inked another beauty contract, becoming a L’Oréal Paris global spokesperson. Oh, and if you were flying Air Canada in 2004, you may have recognized her voice on the airline's promotional campaign tune "You and I."
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When she’s not collecting cheques, the singer owns a Monopoly board's worth of real estate. Because she was spending most of her time in Vegas, she cashed out on two of her previously owned mansions for a cool $65 million USD. The first property was a château located on a private island near Laval, Québec that sold for $25.5 million USD in 2016; the second was her 5.5-acre Jupiter Island, Fla. mansion that sold for $38.5 million USD in 2017. It boasted a four-bedroom guesthouse, simulated golf range, pool house and three different pools. Basically, it’s a resort.
In recent years, the megastar has had a mega fashion renaissance, thanks in a large part to stylist Law Roach. (Needless to say we can’t wait to see what she wears to the 2020 Met Gala.) Dion lives and breathes fashion — she owns 10,000 pairs of shoes that she keeps in a Vegas warehouse. She also launched a handbag line in 2017 with Canadian company Bugatti. The bags range from $50 - $470 CAD and you can cop them at The Shopping Channel.
Despite Dion’s wealth and fame, she’s committed to advocating for causes close to her heart. Her niece, Karine Ménard, had Cystic Fibrosis and passed away at the age of 16, and Dion has been an ambassador for the Cystic Fibrosis Canada association for over 30 years. She also founded The Foundation Céline Dion with her late husband. The foundation has raised nearly $11 million to various charities over the years.
Safe to say that her wealth will go on and on.