![\"celine-dion-Issue-No31\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/celine-dion-Issue-No31.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nAfter selling more than\u00a0200 million albums and enjoying 25 years of global success, five-time Grammy Award-winning Celine Dion might be inclined to take it easy. But the powerhouse singer refuses to slow down, and while she continues her Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace, she\u2019s recorded a new album that challenges preconceptions.<\/p>\n
On Loved Me Back to Life<\/i>, the Canadian native explores a wide range of musical elements and enlists an impressive roster of contemporary hit-makers. Take for example the tunes penned by R&B artist and producer Ne-Yo\u2014including the duet \u201cIncredible\u201d\u2014or the title track, co-written by Australian singer-songwriter Sia, who\u2019s penned tunes for Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry and Rihanna. \u201cMy son could not believe it,\u201d Dion says. \u201cHe thought I was making it up when I said I was working with these people: \u2018Mom, there\u2019s no way!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Six years removed from her last English-language album, 2007\u2019s Taking Chances<\/i>, Dion is back with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. She will always reign as the queen balladeer of monster hits like \u201cMy Heart Will Go On,\u201d \u201cBecause You Loved Me,\u201d and \u201cBeauty and the Beast,\u201d but Dion is reintroducing herself with more uptempo, dance-ready material. At the same time, she\u2019s scaled back on the vocal acrobatics, supplementing her vocal stylings with a deeper, raspier tone. \u201cFor me, I don\u2019t look at it as a risk,\u201d Dion says about her creative evolution. \u201cIt\u2019s trying something new and different and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Away from the microphone, Dion, 45, enjoys the simple pleasures of home and family. She and her husband of 19 years, Ren\u00e9 Ang\u00e9lil, reside in Las Vegas with their three sons: Ren\u00e9-Charles, 12, and twin 3-year-olds Eddy and Nelson. We spoke with Dion about her new approach and how her latest album has allowed her to take a walk on the wild side.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s different about this album?<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s more modern, fresh and edgy\u2014at least edgy for me. The producers put an emphasis on changing the recipe for this album. How we recorded my voice is different. The fact that you can totally denude my voice and make it raw is quite incredible. On my previous albums, there was a lot of reverb and effect on my voice with a blending of the music from the producers. This time, if there was a crack in my voice, we left it. It\u2019s not perfect, it\u2019s not a mistake\u2014it\u2019s what we wanted. It\u2019s another kind of raw emotion, all about letting go and feeling the edge. There is perfection in the imperfection. I want to sing with passion. It doesn\u2019t have to be perfect.<\/p>\n
Was there a theme?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019m at the mercy of the songs because I don\u2019t write them. So I can\u2019t sit and tell you what I want the essence of the album to be. I have to hear a lot of songs and find the ones that are right. I feel very fortunate to have so many songs to choose from. I was given some amazing new material. After all these years, it\u2019s great to still have these writers want you to record their songs. At first we were planning to have half of the album with covers I perform in the show and half with original songs\u2014but there were so many great songs that we had to record them.<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s the architect of the new sound?<\/b><\/p>\n
It was a team effort. All these new people who I\u2019ve been working with are really inspiring. And I thought that I had done it all in my career. Of course, Stevie Wonder, Babyface, Ne-Yo and Sia were such a pleasure to work with.<\/p>\n
What inspires your song selection?<\/b><\/p>\n
I choose all of the songs on my albums. I\u2019m the one who must sing them every night, and I\u2019ll be singing them for the rest of my career. I have to sing with passion and convince people to reach within. I have to believe in what I\u2019m singing.<\/p>\n
Why did you choose to include \u201cAt Seventeen\u201d on the new record?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cAt Seventeen\u201d was a discovery for me. Singing it allowed me to really know the song. It\u2019s exquisite and extraordinary.\u00a0[TV producer] Ken Ehrlich called me to pay tribute to Janis Ian [for 2008\u2019s Grammy televised nominations special]. At the time I wasn\u2019t very familiar with the song. The success of that song is remarkable.<\/p>\n
Why has that song endured?<\/b><\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t a lot of songs like that now. During this time of being a teenager it gets to be awkward for all people. It was a soothing experience for me to be able to sing that song every night. These years in Las Vegas I have been singing for my own pleasure. But then I began realizing every night how the people were responding\u2014holding hands and in tears. When we stop, reach out, and talk about these things, we truly listen to what we have all gone through. It\u2019s like traveling through time to perform that song.<\/p>\n
Feel the need to record new songs?<\/b><\/p>\n
Now I can go out there with my old repertoire for the rest of my career, but there are new songs to add to my show. I\u2019m not expecting anything. If the fans respond well to the music, then I\u2019ll be more than proud. If not, I will still have the older songs to perform. I\u2019m looking forward to feeling the response from the fans.<\/p>\n
How do you care for your voice?<\/b><\/p>\n
Some people can go out and scream and dance at the club at night, then take their guitar the next morning and sing in this sexy, soulful voice with a raw edginess. I wouldn\u2019t be able to do that. In a way, I\u2019m borrowing a bit from the life I never had. I\u2019m borrowing from the characters in my songs. It\u2019s very different. The characters might smoke and drink and have a good time\u2014not that I want to smoke and drink\u2014but I\u2019m living through them.<\/p>\n
Has less touring affected your voice?<\/b><\/p>\n
The singing is not as tense. There was a time when I felt like I had to prove myself in the industry. I\u2019m more relaxed now. It\u2019s the best of myself. I have to be the best of me. There\u2019s been a transition, and I have more maturity. I\u2019m sounding much better. I\u2019m grounded and going with the flow.<\/p>\n
What keeps you motivated?<\/b><\/p>\n
My children are the reason for everything. My singing is important to me, and I\u2019ve had a wonderful career. I feel like I\u2019m a child again. I have a beautiful family and a great husband, and I don\u2019t need the career. I don\u2019t benefit from show business anymore. But all artists love the spotlight, the attention, and love to perform. I love to express myself\u00a0through music.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the highlight of your career?<\/b><\/p>\n
A lot of very important things have happened. Starting with the songs that my mother wrote for me in French when I was just 12. It\u2019s like when you roll a little snowball and it gets bigger and bigger. Having success is just a combination of events, the momentum of things. The release of my first album was incredible. It was a big thing to do Jay Leno and Johnny Carson, and to perform in the Olympics and at the Oscars. Working with David Foster was a special moment, and then there was\u00a0Beauty and the Beast<\/i> and Titanic<\/i>. It\u2019s hard to\u00a0pick just one moment.<\/p>\n
\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CELINE DION\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Her latest showcases an earthy approach to recording her inimitable vocals \u00a0\u00a0 After selling more than\u00a0200 million albums and enjoying 25 years of global success, five-time Grammy Award-winning Celine Dion might be inclined to take it easy. But the powerhouse singer refuses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[7337,7328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11776,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11774\/revisions\/11776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}