Celine Dion Has More Siblings Than You Might Realize
Céline Dion might be a world-famous superstar, but she's never forgotten the value of family and credits them for powering her success. According to Good Morning America, Dion's late husband, René Angélil, her brother, her stepson, and her sister, have all been involved in her career to varying degrees. "It is a family affair and it makes it possible for me. Because if you spend — since you're 12 years old — if you decide to spend all your life doing your work, it's amazing to be able to surround yourself with people that make you feel at your best," the songbird gushed in 2012.
Dion and her siblings have also bonded through tragedy, remaining close after their father died in 2003 and their mother followed suit in 2020. That year, Dion told fans how her mother's death brought her and her siblings together, the Daily Mail noted. Explaining that her mother had been sick for a while, Dion said, "I joined my brothers and sisters in Montreal, and I spent the evening at her bedside. We told stories. We sang songs. We hugged each other and we said our goodbyes." She added, "We are pretty sure that Mom waited for us to be all together one more time."
Many A-listers are known for coming from tight-knit families, but Dion's bond with her siblings is special because there are so many of them. It's rare for a family of her size to be so close.
Céline Dion's siblings helped make her dreams come true
Céline Dion told People that her dad didn't want kids. But Thérèse Dion convinced her husband otherwise, and she and Adhémar Dion went on to have 14 children together. Céline is the baby of the family, which is to her benefit as her older siblings invested in her success. It was Céline's brother, Michael Dion, who gave the icon her first chance to sing publicly when she was age 5. This experience ultimately set Céline on the path to stardom. "I sang a couple of songs," she recalled to CNN in 2002. "When I started to feel the love and the warmth of the audience it got to me. I said to myself, 'Really, this is what I want to do all my life. I want to be a singer.'"
Like Michael, other members of Céline's family helped her achieve her dreams. CBC reports that Céline's mother and brother Jacques Dion assisted her in writing and recording her first song, "Ce n'était qu'un rêve," a song so instrumental — pun intended — that René Angélil mortgaged his own house to land her a record deal after hearing it.
Because Celine's siblings positively impacted her career, the songbird paid it forward by gifting each of her brothers and sisters $100,000 at a family party. In 2017, her sister Claudette Dion told Le Journal de Montréal that the gift changed her life.
Twins run in the Dion family gene pool
Because there are so many children in the Dion family, fans might be wondering whether any of them are twins or triplets. Paul and Pauline, the twelfth and thirteenth children, are fraternal twins born on April 3, 1962, according to Showbiz Corner. Per his LinkedIn page, Paul is the CEO of Fondation Maman Dion, a non-profit honoring his late mother. On a fan forum, people remembered Pauline for starting her sister Céline Dion's fan club, which is today called Team Céline.
The FSH gene associated with twins runs in the gene pool, so it makes sense that Céline ended up having twins of her own. According to CBC, the Grammy winner turned to in vitro fertilization to become pregnant and shares three children with her late husband: son René-Charles Angélil and twins Eddy and Nelson Angélil. Eddy and Nelson are fraternal twins, like Paul and Pauline, and are named for Eddy Marnay and Nelson Mandela. Though Céline warned fellow icon Beyonce that twins can be "hectic," Eddy and Nelson have been two of the great joys of her life. In 2020, she posted a sweet Instagram photo honoring her two youngest boys. "You make me, your big brother and your Dad, who is for sure watching over you, so very proud," Céline wrote. It's fitting that she is passing down the familial values she grew up with to her own children.