One of the highlights of Céline Dion’s early career was a performance in front of Pope John Paul II and 65,000 at the Olympic Stadium in September 1984.
It was one of the first signs that Céline Dion was going to be more than just another Québécois pop vedette. She had already had quite a bit of local chart success by the age of 16, but the Dion story started showing its first sign of epic over-the-topness when she performed for Pope John Paul II and 65,000 of his closest friends at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal on Sept. 10, 1984.
She had already performed at the Big O, singing the national anthems at an Expos game, but this was obviously a much more prestigious event. She sang Une colombe, from her album Mélanie, released earlier that year, and it turned out to be one of the biggest hits in Canada. It also went on to win two Félix Awards at the ADISQ Gala that fall, as bestselling single and pop song of the year.
