Before Titanic, before D'eux, there was The Power of Love. It was this cover of a Jennifer Rush song that transformed Celine Dion from a Canadian star into a global phenomenon.
Jennifer Rush's original
The Power of Love was composed in 1984 by Gunther Mende and Candy DeRouge for Jennifer Rush. The track was enormously successful in Europe, particularly in the UK where it spent five weeks at number 1. But in the United States, the song went relatively unnoticed, reaching only number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The version that changed everything
In 1993, Celine recorded her version for The Colour of My Love album. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90 and methodically climbed over ten weeks to number 1. It stayed there for four consecutive weeks, becoming Celine Dion's first American number 1.
Celine's interpretation was so powerful that it eventually eclipsed the original in collective memory. Today, when people mention The Power of Love, it's Celine's version that comes to mind, not Jennifer Rush's.
A career turning point
This success permanently opened the doors of the American market to Celine. The Colour of My Love sold over 20 million copies worldwide. The trajectory was set: within three years, Celine would go from this first number 1 to global consecration with Falling into You and then Titanic.
The Power of Love has accumulated 343 million streams on Spotify. It's an essential part of her concerts, often placed in the first half of the set as a statement of intent: Celine's vocal power, unadorned.