Titanic
Celine Dion‘s team is criticizing Donald Trump for his unauthorized use of her Titanic classic at a recent campaign rally.
On Saturday (Aug. 10), Dion’s management team and record label released a statement on social media slamming the former president for including her 1997 hit “My Heart Will Go On” in a playlist during his rally in Bozeman, Mont., on Friday. Attendee-captured videos from the event also show a video of Dion singing the famous track.
“Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana,” the statement on X (formerly Twitter) began. “In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use. …And really, THAT song?”
“My Heart Will Go On,” which spend two week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1998, closed out the Oscar-winning film about the 1912 shipwreck. The ballad was co-written by Titanic composer James Horner with Will Jennings.
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Some social media users poked fun at Trump’s ironic use of the song during his rally. “Perfect – because when your campaign’s headed for an iceberg, you might as well set it to music,” one person wrote on X.
Another X user observed, “Is Trump’s campaign being trolled from within? Someone on his staff decided to play Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from Titanic at his Montana rally. Many consider Titanic a metaphor for Trump’s sinking campaign.”
Trump will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming 2024 presidential election after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race. The two candidates will face off in a debate schedule for Sept. 10 on ABC.
Dozens of top artists and songwriters have objected to Trump’s use of their songs at political rallies since he first ran for president in 2015, including The Rolling Stones, Adele, Rihanna, Sinead O’Connor’s estate and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
See Dion’s post on X below.
Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing “My Heart Will Go On” at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign… pic.twitter.com/28CYLFvgER— Celine Dion (@celinedion) August 10, 2024
“I decided that the only thing that could culminate this film was something that [brings together] all the emotions,” Titanic composer James Horner told then-Billboard radio editor Chuck Taylor in 1998.
“I wanted to write a song that would allow a contemporary legitimacy, so that it wouldn’t be just a period piece,” Horner mused.
On the Billboard Hot 100 dated Feb. 28, 1998, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” which Horner completed writing with Will Jennings to close the 1912 (and 1997)-set Titanic, crowned the Hot 100. It debuted at No. 1 as it spent its fifth week atop the Radio Songs chart and arrived as the week’s best-selling song, newly released as a limited-edition stand-alone single.
On the Billboard 200, the Titanic soundtrack, featuring the ballad, scored its sixth week at No. 1, of 16 total weeks on top.
Notably, James Cameron, who solely wrote and directed Titanic, had originally forbidden that the film’s end-credits song include vocals. Horner, however, ultimately decided that he wanted a song to contrast the movie’s orchestral arrangements. As for the vocalist, “I needed an opera singer more than pop singer to bring all the emotional qualities I wanted,” Horner told Billboard. “For me, the only person that could do that was Celine. It was casting more than it was trying to find a superstar to sing it.”
Taylor’s story (which ran the week that “Heart” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100) continued tracing the steps that the song took to its lasting legacy: Horner surreptitiously met with Dion and her husband René Angélil, as he had long known the couple, and played a demo. Impressed, Dion likewise fell for Titanic following a private screening, taken by the film’s love story.
Five weeks later, she recorded it. “It was just electrifying,” Horner recalled. “She was singing like her life depended on it.”
Horner finally took the song to Cameron. “I was waiting for an especially good mood,” Horner said. “On one occasion, he was really excited about a special effect that had just been completed. I was sweating, but I played it.” Cameron’s reaction? “He couldn’t believe it. He said, ‘Aren’t those your themes?’ This is Celine Dion. How did you do this?’ He did love it.”
How did the rest of the Hot 100’s top 10 stack up the week that Dion hit No. 1 on the Feb. 28, 1998, chart? Count down the tally’s top tier that week below, along with a look at more honors that “Heart” has since achieved.
“Been Around the World,” Puff Daddy & The Family (feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & Mase)
Image Credit: Marvin Joseph/The The Washington Post via GI
The all-star song spent its 12th and last week in the Hot 100’s top 10 on the Feb. 28, 1998-dated chart, down 5-10 after peaking at No. 2 for three weeks. From Puff Daddy & The Family’s introductory album No Way Out, it also brought two prior hits back to the chart’s upper reaches, as it samples David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and interpolates Lisa Stansfield’s “All Around the World.” The former led for a week in 1983 and the latter hit No. 3 in 1990.
“No, No, No,” Destiny’s Child
Image Credit: Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/GI
The first Hot 100 hit for Destiny’s Child – then comprising Beyoncé, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland – retreated 8-9 on the Feb. 28-dated list but rebounded to reach No. 3 a month later. The song marked the act’s first of 10 top 10s and helped set Beyoncé on the path to solo superstardom: She has since scored 21 solo top 10s, becoming the first woman with at least 20 solo top 10s and 10 as a member of a group. Overall, only Paul McCartney/The Beatles and Michael Jackson/the Jacksons are also in the exclusive club.
“A Song for Mama,” Boyz II Men
Image Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Boyz II Men boasted the most Hot 100 top 10s among groups, or any male act, during the ’90s, with 10. This song marked their 10th, and most recent, descending to No. 8 from its No. 7 best on the Feb. 28 chart. Half of their top 10s hit No. 1, from “End of the Road” in 1992 through “4 Seasons of Loneliness” in 1997, and their 50 total weeks on top are fifth-best all-time, after only Mariah Carey (91), Rihanna (60), The Beatles (59) and Drake (54).
“I Don’t Ever Want To See You Again,” Uncle Sam
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