Maps of Music

Courage (2019)

Where the lyrics of Courage take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title came from a song that arrived during its making, and the album gave Dion her first US number-one album in 17 years.

Key places

Recording "Flying on My Own" in Las Vegas (2019)

Recording site Studio at the Palms — Dion recorded the song "Flying on My Own" at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas in December 2017. The track was written by Jörgen Elofsson, Anton Mårtenson, and Liz Rodrigues. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Courage: the twenty-seventh studio album and twelfth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion
• Released 15 November 2019 by Columbia Records
• Made with a diverse group of writers and producers
• Writers and producers include Sia, Sam Smith, David Guetta, Lauv, LP, Greg Kurstin, StarGate, Jimmy Napes, Jörgen Elofsson, Stephan Moccio, Eg White, and Liz Rodrigues of The New Royales
• Standard edition has 16 tracks; the deluxe edition adds four more
• Marks Dion's return to the studio after her Las Vegas residency Celine ended in June 2019

Background

• Previous English-language studio album: Loved Me Back to Life, released November 2013
• Husband René Angélil diagnosed with throat cancer in December 2013 and underwent surgery
• Angélil stepped down as Dion's manager in June 2014 to focus on his health
• Dion postponed her show business activities in August 2014 as his condition worsened
• Angélil died on 14 January 2016
• Dion announced the album and the Courage World Tour on 3 April 2019; the tour began in Quebec City on 18 September 2019
• Dion explained the title by saying she went through a lot and that life gave her the tools to find courage and keep going
• The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200, her first US number one in 17 years

Recording

• Dion revealed in April 2019 that she had received 48 potential songs and needed to choose 12
• Sessions included work with Diane Warren in October 2016 after the release of the Pink-written song "Recovering"
• Dion recorded new material with Stephan Moccio and Maty Noyes, revealed in December 2017
• "Flying on My Own" was recorded in December 2017 at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas
• The album's title track was recorded before the tour announcement and released in November 2019
• Three songs premiered on 18 September 2019: "Lying Down", "Courage", and "Imperfections"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born 30 March 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, the youngest of 14 children.
• Discovered by future manager and husband René Angélil after her brother sent him a demo recording of her first song "Ce n'était qu'un rêve".
• Angélil mortgaged his home in 1981 to fund her first record, La voix du bon Dieu, which became a No. 1 hit in Quebec.
• Won the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo in 1982.
• Won the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 for Switzerland with "Ne partez pas sans moi".

Career

• Debuted in the Anglophone market with Unison (1990), followed by Celine Dion (1992).
• Breakthrough with "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) with Peabo Bryson, winning her first Grammy.
• The Colour of My Love (1993) and Falling into You (1996) became major international successes.
• "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (1997) became her signature song and one of the best-selling singles.
• D'eux (1995) became the best-selling French-language album.
• Held the A New Day... residency at Caesars Palace (2003–2007), the highest-grossing concert residency; the Los Angeles Times ranked her the top-earning artist of the 2000s.
• Announced in 2022 a diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, cancelling tours; returned to performing at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

Members

• Solo artist; manager and husband René Angélil (died 2016) guided her career.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the album generally positive reviews
• Mike Wass of Idolator gave 4.5 out of 5 stars and called it one of Dion's most eclectic works
• Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic gave 4 out of 5 stars and called it a transformative and cathartic release
• Nick Smith of MusicOMH gave 4 out of 5 stars and called it an impressive return
• Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone praised the dance-pop tracks and ballads
• Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said Courage is even more vital than Loved Me Back to Life
• A. D. Amorosi of Variety gave a more mixed review and criticised several tracks, including "Flying on My Own"

Reappraisal

• Billboard ranked Courage 50th best album of 2019
• Idolator placed it at No. 20 on its list of the best pop albums of 2019
• AllMusic included it among its Favorite Pop Albums of 2019
• Billboard's fan-favourite songs of 2019 list included "Imperfections" at No. 1 and "Courage" at No. 4

Records

• US Billboard 200: debut at number one with 113,000 album-equivalent units, Dion's first US number one in 17 years
• UK: debut at number two with 18,946 copies, silver certified on 27 December 2019
• France: certified gold on 6 December 2019 and platinum in December 2022
• Canada: debut at number one with 55,000 album-equivalent units; best-selling album of 2019 in Canada
• Worldwide: 600,000 units according to the IFPI, 20th best-selling album of 2019
• Two Juno Award nominations at the Juno Awards of 2021

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Flying on My Own" was released as a gift to fans shortly after Dion's Las Vegas residency ended.
• Dion's three new songs premiered on 18 September 2019 at the start of the Courage World Tour.
• The album's title came from the song "Courage", which Dion said arrived after the team decided on the album's name.
• The album's Japanese bonus track "Soul" later became available worldwide on streaming platforms.
• "Change My Mind" was released as the third promotional single in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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