Céline Dion's Siblings: All About Her 13 Brothers and Sisters

Many of Céline Dion’s 13 brothers and sisters are also accomplished musicians

Talk about a musical family! Céline Dion’s pipes may be in a class all their own, but growing up, she was the youngest of 14 performers.

Born to musician and butcher Adhémar Dion and TV personality Thérèse Dion, Céline and her siblings — Denise, Clément, Claudette, Liette, Michel, Louise, Jacques, Daniel, Ghislaine, Linda, Manon and twins Paul and Pauline — all had a hand in music.

Céline was exposed to the art of live performance through her siblings. "I'd sleep on chairs in restaurants and bars while they sang,” she told PEOPLE in 1994.

“While Mom did lunch or things like that we’d take care of her,” her brother Michel told PEOPLE in 1997. “Like me; I was in a rock and roll band, and I’d bring Céline to gigs with me.”

Her brothers and sisters' dedication to their craft left a big impact on the future Grammy winner. "A lot of my sisters and brothers hoped to be successful singers, and I've seen the effort and hard work that went into their unrealized dreams," Céline told PEOPLE. "If I'm successful, I do it for them and for me."

Related: Céline Dion Pays Tribute to Late Husband in Emotional Stand Up to Cancer Performance

In addition to showing her the musical ropes, the “Power of Love” singer’s family has been there for her personally and professionally, many of them having roles on her team: Céline’s brother Michel has worked as her assistant tour manager, while her sister Pauline began her fan club. “She’s close with all of her siblings,” a source told PEOPLE in 2016.

The family has remained close through tragedy, too. Their father, Adhémar, died in 2003 at the age of 80, and their mother, Thérèse, died 17 years later at 92. Céline's older brother Daniel also died of cancer at 59 in 2016 — just two days after Céline’s husband, René Angélil, died of the same disease.

Céline is also using the support of her family as she navigates her stiff-person diagnosis, which she revealed to fans in December 2022. A source told PEOPLE in May that the singer is finding "light" in her three sons, saying, "She is the most selfless and considerate person. Céline just loves her boys so much. They are amazing. They give her all the support and love that she needs."

Here is everything to know about Céline Dion’s 13 brothers and sisters: Denise, Clément, Claudette, Liette, Michel, Louise, Jacques, Daniel, Ghislaine, Linda, Manon, Paul and Pauline.

Céline and her siblings were born and raised in Canada

The youngest child of Adhémar and Thérèse, Celine grew up in Charlemagne, Quebec, with her parents and 13 siblings.

However, Céline told PEOPLE in 2016 that her father didn't initially want a large family. While discussing her mother’s strength, she said, “Just to give you an example, my dad didn’t want to have kids!”

Céline sang at her brother Michel's wedding when she was 5 years old

Céline’s big brother Michel, who has worked as her assistant tour manager, gave the icon her first singing gig at his wedding in the 1970s.

“I said, ‘Céline, you can sing now. Go ahead,’ ” Michel recalled telling his then-5-year-old sister in an interview. He noted that the conditions had to be right for his sister to belt it out; Céline instructed the guitarist to change the key. “She said, ‘It’s not a good one.’ ... He tried another one, she said, ‘Okay, go.’ She was great,” he added.

As Céline later recalled to CNN, the performance set her on her career path in life. “I sang a couple songs," she said. "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.' "

Her brothers Michel and Jacques helped her with her first song

Jacques helped Céline write and record her first song, "Ce n'était qu'un rêve,” when she was 12 and he was 25.

Michel then sent a tape of Céline singing the tune to Angélil, who invited her to audition for him. "While I was singing, he started to cry. I knew then I had done a good job,” Céline recalled to PEOPLE in 1994.

Céline dropped out of school at 14, and Angélil mortgaged his house to finance an album, becoming her manager. He took the young singer and Thérèse on the road to Canada, Japan and Europe. "I missed my family and my home, but I don't regret having lost my adolescence," she later told PEOPLE. "I had one dream: I wanted to be a singer."

Céline and her husband once gave each of her siblings $100,000

In 2017, Céline's sister Claudette told Le Journal de Montréal that Céline and Angélil once gave each sibling a gift of $100,000 at a family party.

At the time, Claudette had recently gone on welfare, and Céline enticed her to come to the party, saying: "Claudette, go buy yourself some new shoes and come to the party, you're going to freak out!"

The gift allowed Claudette to pay off her mortgage and get out of debt.

The third-eldest Dion sibling, singer and reality star Claudette was a judge for L’Étoile des aînés, a local singing competition for adults over 65, from 2010 to 2014. Claudette also competed on the reality TV show La Ferme Célébrités en Afrique in 2010. She is now the CEO and spokesperson of the Fondation Maman Dion, a charity the siblings began in honor of their mother, with her sister Liette.

Her brother Paul and sister Pauline are twins

Twins run in the Dion family: Céline's older siblings Paul and Pauline, who were Adhémar and Thérèse's 12th and 13th children, are twins. Paul is an entrepreneur and is involved with his late mother’s foundation, Fondation Maman Dion.

Pauline reportedly founded her sister’s fan club, Fan Club Céline Dion, in the ‘80s, which ultimately became the Céline Dion International Fan Club. Sony Music later took it over, after which it was renamed Team Céline.

Céline dedicated a song to her late niece in 1995

Céline’s niece, Karine Ménard, was born to older sister Liette in 1977. Karine died of cystic fibrosis at the age of 16 on May 2, 1993.

“I had her in my arms,” Céline recalled to PEOPLE in 1997. “I started to sing softly in her ear, and out of nowhere her eyes closed. I looked at my mom, who was massaging her feet because her circulation didn’t work, and nodded, ‘Okay, it’s happening.’ One tear came down Karine’s cheek, and then she went.”

Since Karine was a child, Céline has invested in cystic fibrosis research, according to the Montreal Gazette.  She is also an ambassador for the organization Cystic Fibrosis Canada.

In 1995, Céline dedicated the song “Vole” from her best-selling French album D’eux to her late niece.

She championed her brother Jacques’ return to music after a 14-year hiatus

Though Jacques was once one-half of a singing duo with wife Geneviève Garceau, the pair stepped away from the limelight in 2003 to focus on their son, Jimmy, who was involved in a skiing accident that left him partially paralyzed, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Jacques began working from home as a music agent, but in 2017, he and Garceau returned to the stage at the urging of their son, who had since moved out and begun working as a screenwriter. “He tells us, ‘Go ahead, sing, Maman, Papa. It’s what you do best,’ ” Jacques said of Jimmy.

Céline was on hand to cheer her big brother on for his comeback performance, saying that it was “pure joy” to see Jacques and her sister-in-law onstage again.

Céline’s sister Manon worked as her personal assistant and hairdresser

Céline’s sister Manon, the 11th Dion sibling, largely stays out of the public eye. She is credited as Céline’s personal assistant on the live albums Au cœur du stade and Live à Paris. In 1999, PEOPLE reported that Manon was Céline’s hairdresser on her 14-country world tour.

Céline’s sister Linda is her children's godmother

Céline’s older sister Linda was a big help to the Love Again star after she gave birth to twin boys, Nelson and Eddy, in October 2010. Rolling Stone reported that Linda and their mom Thérèse helped with housework and cleaning for Céline, who had difficulty adjusting to life with two newborns.

In May 2010, Céline announced that she was pregnant with twin boys after six in vitro fertilization attempts. “We’re ecstatic,” Angélil told PEOPLE at the time. “She was hoping for one baby and the news that we are having two is a double blessing.”

Related: Céline Dion and René Angélil's Relationship: A Look Back

Linda is godmother to the twins and Céline’s older son, René-Charles.

Céline’s brother Daniel died two days after her husband

Like the rest of his siblings, Daniel was a singer. With his sisters Claudette and Ghislaine, he released an album called Le Dion Show in 2007.

Céline's husband and longtime manager, Angélil, died of cancer on Jan. 14, 2016. Two days later, Daniel died at the age of 59. Daniel reportedly had brain, throat and tongue cancer.

Related: Céline Dion on Losing Her Husband and Brother to Cancer in the Same Week: 'René Escorted My Brother. It Was Perfect'

“René escorted my brother. It was perfect,” Céline told PEOPLE in May 2016. “He took him under his wings and he said, ‘You know, I’ll take good care of him.' "

According to his obituary, Daniel spent his last days in the palliative care center Maison Adhémar-Dion, which was opened by the Dion family and named after their late father, in Terrebonne, Quebec. Daniel is survived by two daughters, Valérie and Marie-Michelle, and two grandchildren.

Céline’s niece Audrey and nephew Jimmy led her husband’s funeral procession

In 1994, Céline’s niece, Audrey, who is the daughter of her older sister Ghislaine, served as the flower girl in Celine's lavish wedding to Angélil.

Audrey and her cousin Jimmy, who was the ring bearer at their wedding, later led the procession at Angélil’s funeral. Jimmy carried the same ring bearer pillow to the casket.

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