Celine Dion's Star Rose As A Teenager — But Her Singing Career Started Even Earlier

Céline Dion might have become a recording artist at the tender age of 12, but she got her first taste of a singing career many years before that. The music icon was only 5 when she performed on stage for the first time, and she's credited the experience with kickstarting her passion. 

As fans will know, Céline grew up with a whopping 13 siblings, all of whom were very musical. In fact, she even used to tag along when some of them performed and her parents needed someone to watch her. With that in mind, perhaps it shouldn't be all that surprising that when her brother Michel Dion asked her to sing at his wedding when she was 5, she had a pretty intricate knowledge of live music — and big expectations. Michel once recalled Céline requesting the guitarist to adjust the key for her. "She said, 'It's not a good one.' ... He tried another one, she said, 'Okay, go,'" he recalled (via People). Naturally, that worked a charm, and Michel added that once the guitarist was in the right key for her, "She was great." Céline herself has cited that performance as the moment she realized she was destined to become a performer. Speaking to CNN in 2002, she shared, "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."

Well, she certainly went on to do just that, and while many teen idols completely vanish from the spotlight after a few years in it, Céline has really spent most of her life doing exactly what her 5-year-old self decided to do. Talk about making that inner child proud!

Céline Dion got her first recording contract at the age of 12 and went on to become a big star in France and Quebec. However, that was still a world away from the kind of fame she aspired to, and in a 1983 interview with CBC, the then-15-year-old declared, "My dream is to be [an] international star." She doubled down on the dream she'd had 10 years prior as well, adding that she also wanted to "be able to sing all my life."

Again, that's exactly what happened, though it was only after Dion became an adult that she really gained international fame in the English-speaking world. As recounted to CNN, her manager (later husband), René Angélil, organized a makeover for her, including English lessons, so that she'd re-emerge as the perfect candidate for international stardom, and sure enough, the world took note. 

Céline did once say in a 1998 interview with CNN that she planned to retire once her tour at the time wrapped up, but of course she didn't. Even after she had to take some time away from her career after facing serious health issues, she was determined to get back on stage, and her return with her Céline Dion Paris residency smashed records for the sheer number of people who attended each night. In an Instagram video commemorating the end of the first batch of shows, the singer acknowledged her own concerns that she might not be able to perform anymore because of her diagnosis with stiff person syndrome but told her fans that she wanted more than anything to continue. Even with all her experiences over the years, she said, "This is my first career." A lifelong love, to be sure, and we're just grateful to have witnessed it.