Celine Dion’s Power Of Love

Celine Dion has hit number 1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart four times.  Exactly 20 years ago, the first of her chart-topping singles, “The Power Of Love,” was in the middle of its second week of a four-week run at the top.

The song also represents a pattern from Dion’s career of turning remakes into hits.  “The Power Of Love” originally charted for Air Supply in 1985 and then for Jennifer Rush in 1986, though neither version hit the Top 40.  In late 1987, Laura Branigan hit the Top 40 with a version of the song, ultimately peaking at number 26 in January 1988.  Celine Dion, though, outperformed them all by taking her version to the top.

Dion had similar results with other songs.  Her 1992 Top 5 hit “If You Asked Me To” originally charted for Patti LaBelle in 1989, though it stalled out at number 79.  Her 1997 version of Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself” also hit the Top 5, though in that case Carmen’s original outperformed Dion’s remake, as Carmen took the song to number 2 in 1976.  Even Dion’s number 2 hit from 1996, “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now,” was a remake, having appeared on the 1989 album Original Sin by the band Pandora’s Box.

Notably, though, two of Dion’s most significant hits were not remakes.  Dion was the original artist for her first Top 40 hit, “Where Does My Heart Beat Now,” and for her biggest hit (at least in terms of sales and impact, though not in terms of weeks at number 1), “My Heart Will Go On” from the film Titanic.