Celine Dion’s 1997 ballad “My Heart Will Go On” served as the theme song to one of the highest-grossing films in the history of cinema, and that same “Titanic” hit became her own career-high single.
But the superstar singer just revealed that, if she’d had her way at the time, none of that would have ever happened.
During Dion’s recent visit to “Watch What Happens Live," she confessed that it was the “one song that I didn’t want to record, and I’m glad that they did not listen to me.”
“They” were the song’s writers, James Horner and Will Jennings, and her late husband and manager, René Angélil.
“It is true,” she told show host Andy Cohen. “I don’t know. It didn’t appeal to me. I was probably very tired that day. And my husband said, ‘Let’s hold on,’ to the writers; he said, ‘Let’s try to make it a little demo.’”
So that’s all she committed to do — a demo. But as it turned, that’s all she needed to do.
“I sang the song once, and they built the orchestra around it,” she explained of the iconic track. “I never re-sang it for the recording, so the demo is the actual recording.”
Of course, now she adores the song, and she’s more than made up for that early lack of enthusiasm.
“I’ve sang it about three gazillion times (since then),” she added.
And she can’t be blamed for failing to recognize the song for the massive hit it would become one day. After all, she wasn’t the only one to make that mistake.
Powerhouse producer David Foster visited TODAY Tuesday morning and explained that he passed up the chance to produce it.
“I said, ‘I don’t like the song. I don’t want to do it,’” he recalled, while wife Katharine McPhee Foster listened on. “I passed on it. Yeah. I don’t know why. It’s just (didn’t have that thing) for me.”
He said, “I couldn’t have made a bigger mistake.”
His new bride agreed, adding with laugh, “Not a smart move, Dave.”
Considering that the single sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, there’s just no denying it.