Céline Dion Is Officially The Third Richest Singer Globally

Feb 18, 2021 by apost team

Céline Dion needs no introduction—known to audiences across the world, whose ages span a wide range, the French-Canadian singer has been enjoying global success since the 1980s. She's still going strong, having released her latest album Courage in 2019.

With immense success comes a lot of riches, with a report confirming that Dion is the third richest singer in the world with an incredible net worth! Read all the details in this article. Surprisingly, not all of her wealth is tied to her music.

Before we take a look at Céline Dion's immense wealth and success, let's take a look at how she got there in the first place, as her roots are much more humble than one might imagine. Born in Charlemagne, Quebec on March 30, 1968, the young Dion was one of 14 children. Her large family wasn't wealthy, in fact, five of them shared a bed. But despite their poverty, they shared warm family time together, much of which revolved around music. By the age of two, the future star was singing on the dining room table for her family, and by the age of five, she performed at her brother Michel's wedding after he'd asked her to. She fondly thought back on the experience and described it in an interview with CNN:

"And I remember singing for my brother, at his wedding. I sang a couple songs. When I started to feel the love and the warmth of the audience it got me. I said to myself, 'Really this is what I want to do all my life. I want to be a singer.'"

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When Dion was 12, her mother wrote her a song titled It Was Only A Dream. The demo recording of this song eventually made its way to René Angélil, who was immediately impressed with her voice and set out to become her manager and incidentally wound up being her husband later on.

According to Huffington Post Canada, Dion eventually fell in love with Angélil at around 17-18 years old. Their 26 year age gap, however, would make their love a difficult one to pursue. She revealed to the outlet that her mother was not at all happy with the couple and their emerging relationship, as most mothers would be. Dion eventually came to understand her mother's position, as she told the Huffington Post: 

"If I reversed roles—when I had my first son, RC, if I think of him and he comes [to me] with this lady who has kids and she's 45 and she thinks she knows best, [I'd be] like, 'Take your hand off of my son," she admitted.

In the meantime though, Dion's career was soaring. After becoming an international sensation in her native Canada, France, and elsewhere, the then-20-year-old sang at the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, which took place in Dublin, Ireland, and won the top prize. It was after this that Angélil began negotiations to secure Dion's first English-language album, with their eyes set on the United States. Her success only continued to grow, as she won an Academy Award and Grammy for her duet from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, all at the young age of 24. More hits followed, securing her fame in the States.

The '90s saw Dion's star continue to rise, as she released albums in English and French to great acclaim. These include The Colour of My Love and Falling Into You. And who can forget her now-signature song My Heart Will Go On, which was the love theme from the 1997 film Titanic. It topped charts all over the world and won her another Academy Award and Grammy. 

It was following this period that Dion took time to focus on her personal life too. She had gone public with her relationship with Angélil in 1993 by writing a message in the liner notes of her album The Colour of My Love. She later told CNN:

"I wrote a note behind my album. René is my love, I can't keep this secret inside of me anymore. It's getting too powerful. Let me paint a truth and show you how I feel. René, you are the color of my love."

The two got married in "a fairy-tale wedding" on December 17th, 1994, and had their first child in 2001, a son named René-Charles Angélil. Dion still released music in the 2000s, but she had a newfound passion for family life that also played a big role. After struggling to conceive a second time, the couple ended up having twins Nelson and Eddy in 2010 with the help of IVF. Their names have a particularly important meaning for Dion, with Eddy being named after her favorite songwriter, Eddy Marnay, and Nelson being named after Nelson Mandela, according to People. But their family of five sadly wouldn't stay that way for long, as Angélil was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2016.

After mourning the loss of her lifelong partner, Dion has bounced back in the spotlight in the last few years. In 2019 she released Courage, her first English-language album since 2013's Loved Me Back to Life. On it, she collaborated with many other artists including Sia, David Guetta, Sam Smith, and more. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts and was her first number one album in 17 years. 

While Dion's career has had definite peaks, there has never really been a drop, as even when she took time for her family, she was still releasing music. So considering her over-three-decade-long career, it's no surprise to learn that Dion's wealth only matches her longevity and accomplishment as a singer. As reported by Wealthy Gorilla, Dion comes in as the third richest singer in the world, with a net worth estimated to be $800 million in January 2021. She's only topped on the list by Madonna, who's second, and jazz musician Herb Alpert. Despite her earnings differing across a few platforms, Celebrity Net Worth also lists her current net worth at $800 million.

Her fortune might seem obvious as to its origins as singers make a lot of money touring and selling albums, but it's not just her musical endeavors that have helped her accrue such a sizable amount of money—Dion has stakes in a few other businesses that might even surprise you! But first, let's consider her musical income. Forbes revealed that she's sold over 220 million albums in her career, and that number is no doubt still growing. Meanwhile, her Courage World Tour, which debuted in September 2019, sold out all of its North American tour dates, amounting to 52 shows. The European leg of the tour was subsequently canceled due to the pandemic. 

Considering the stage Dion is at in her career and the fact that she's able to sell out a full tour only proves that she's still at the top of her game. Additionally, Forbes reported that the majority of her fortune comes from the various Las Vegas residencies she's held over the years. 

On top of various other deals that are common for celebrities in the spotlight, such as a partnership with cosmetics giant L'Oreal Paris and a perfume line with Coty, the most surprising revenue stream for Dion is actually in the restaurant business. And not just any restaurant, but specifically local delicatessens in her native Quebec! The World published an article in 2016 that detailed Dion's co-ownership of the historic Montreal deli, Schwartz's. Founded in 1928 by a Jewish Romanian immigrant named Reuben Schwartz, the delicatessen has been an iconic part of the city for decades. After the founder had passed away, the location was kept afloat by owners who kept changing hands until they ran into financial trouble in the early 2010s. A man by the name of Paul Nakis heard that the institution was for sale and had the genius idea of uniting two French-Canadian icons—Schwartz's and Céline Dion! The deli's general manager, Frank Silva, told The World:

“Mr. Nackis thought that was ideal, bringing Céline Dion to an institution in Montreal. She's part of Montreal, part of Quebec and Canada, so [it] only made sense."

Dion became a co-owner and the rest as they say is history. But even more surprising is the fact that it's not the musicians' first foray into the delicatessen world. The same article writes that in the early 1990s, she was one of the original founders of Nickels, a Quebecian diner chain that is well known for their smoked meat. The chain has since expanded and has various locations in both Quebec and Ontario in Canada.

So there you have it—Céline Dion is the third richest singer in the world, which, considering her success is perhaps not all that surprising when you take into account that much of her money is earned through album sales, touring, and her Las Vegas residencies. What's most unexpected is her profits in the restaurant business and her commitment to various delicatessens in her native Quebec. Perhaps that speaks the most for Dion, who although has come to be one of the wealthiest singers on the planet, still has her roots humbly where she got her start in the world.

Did you know about Céline Dion's immense fortune? What about her unexpected business ventures? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to any fans of hers you know!