No, Not My Heart Will Go On: This Was Celine Dion's Longest-Charting Hit

1997's "My Heart Will Go On," recorded for the "Titanic" soundtrack, may be Celine Dion's most famous song, but it's not her longest chart-topping hit. It's understandable that you'd assume the opposite, given the impressive stats attached to the ballad. It sold ten million copies in the U.S. and racked up a few prestigious awards, too. Specifically, it won four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for best original song. However, it claimed the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for only two weeks. Dion's longest charting song(s) lasted six.

Yes, Dion actually has two songs that topped the charts longer than the rest of her catalog — including "My Heart Will Go On." The first is 1996's "Because You Loved Me," penned by legendary songwriter Diane Warren. The heartfelt ballad, which was released as the leading song on the "Up Close & Personal" soundtrack, spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — six weeks at number one, according to Billboard.

Dion's other longest chart-topping track is "I'm Your Angel," her sole duet with R. Kelly. In addition to spending six of its 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number one, it also achieved platinum status after merely eight weeks. Released in November 1998, roughly a year after "My Heart Will Go On" took over the world, it probably benefited from the wind beneath Dion's sails at the time. Ultimately, however, it's a reminder that metrics can't always predict staying power, which is something "I'm Your Angel" didn't have.

Although Celine Dion had been a force in music since the '80s, "My Heart Will Go On" helped cement her as an international icon. It also helped to pad the millions of dollars Dion already had in the bank. Of course, the song's enduring popularity means that she's also had to sing it countless times for televised performances and at concerts, too. And while fans are delighted whenever she belts out the track's emotional lyrics, we can't help but wonder if Dion is one of the pop stars who hate their own songs? Fortunately, the answer is a resounding no! However, that doesn't mean she doesn't have complicated feelings about it.

One thing you may not know about Dion is that she wasn't all that excited to record "My Heart Will Go On" in the beginning. "It didn't appeal to me. I was probably very tired that day — very tired," she shared on "Watch What Happens Live" about the first time she'd heard the song. "My husband [the late René Angélil] said, 'Let's hold on.' He talked to the writer and he said, 'Let's try to make it, like, a little demo.'" Although the songstress eventually took her husband's advice, she rushed through the process. "I sang the song once and they built the orchestra around it," she continued, adding, "I never re-sang it for the recording. So the demo is the actual recording. But after that, I've sang it about three gazillion times." 

Can someone say iconic?