By the time Canadian songstress Céline Dion was born in Quebec on March 30, 1968, her parents Thérèse and Adhémar already had 13 children.
With so many mouths to feed, it is not surprising that money was tight, but Céline remembers a happy home, and one where her earliest musical talents were encouraged.
Both her parents were musical, and this love of music was passed down to all of their children – Denise, Clément, Claudette, Liette, Michel, Louise, Jacques, Daniel, Ghislaine, Linda, Manon and twins Paul and Pauline. Many had their own careers as performers in bands such as La Famille Dion.
COMPETITION: Win a $15,000 cruise holiday to see the Northern Lights
READ MORE: Heartbreaking truth about Matchbox Twenty singer’s 25-year marriage
Céline told People in 1994 she was exposed to live performances through her siblings.
“I’d sleep on chairs in restaurants and bars while they sang,” she said.
She once said any success she enjoyed was in part, for her family.
“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 unrealised dreams. If I’m successful, I do it for them, and for me.”
Dion’s 13 siblings have gone on to support her throughout her life, and most recently, following the 2016 death of her husband, René Angelil, and during her battle with stiff person syndrome.
READ MORE: How Céline Dion’s children with late husband are helping her with tough health battle
Michel
Of all her siblings, it was brother Michel who was most instrumental in kick starting her career.
He told People in 1997 that he and his siblings would take turns looking after their little sister if their mother was busy. “I was in a rock and roll band, and I’d bring Céline to gigs with me.”
Michel, who once worked as her assistant tour manager, was responsible for her first live performance. When she was just five, he invited her to sing at his wedding.
“I said, ‘Céline, you can sing now. Go ahead’,” he recalled during an interview, noting she told the guitarist to change key.
She later told CNN, the performance was life altering. “I sang a couple songs. 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’.”
In recent years, he has continued to support his sister. In 2015, he escorted her on stage to perform at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace when she resumed her residency one year after she stopped performing to take care for her ailing husband.
Jacques
When she was 12, Céline’s brother Jacques helped her write and record her first song, Ce n’était qu’un rêve, before Michel sent the tape to René Angélil, a former performer turned talent manager.
He invited Céline to audition for him, with the star saying she knew she had done a good job when he started to cry.
Two years later, Céline dropped out of school and Angélil mortgaged his house to finance her first album before taking the singer and her mother on a tour of Canada, Japan and Europe.
Claudette
When success finally came, Céline made good on her promise to share it with her family, with Claudette telling a news outlet that her sister once gifted each sibling $100,000 (approx. A$113,000) during a family party.
According to the story, Claudette was struggling financially and had just gone on welfare when her sister insisted she come to the party, asking her to “go buy yourself some new shoes” as she was “going to freak out!”
Claudette, who appeared on a French reality TV show, is now the chief executive and spokesperson of the Fondation Maman Dion, a charity in honour of the siblings’ mother.
It was Claudette who last December shared a sad health update about her sister’s battle with the incurable neurological disease, stiff person syndrome.
Claudette told 7 Jours her sister “doesn’t have control over her muscles” and lamented she didn’t know how she would be able to perform again.
READ MORE: Why ’80s icon Tracy Chapman prefers to keep her love life private
Clément
Little is known about Dion’s brother Clément (pictured above with Claudette), who is now 76 and thought to still reside in Quebec.
In 2011, he was among family members who accompanied Céline on a visit to the La Maison Adhémar Dion palliative care centre in Quebec the family opened in 2010 in memory of their father.
Jacques
Jacques had been one-half of a singing duo with his wife Geneviève Garceau, but the pair stepped away from the limelight in 2003 to focus on their son, Jimmy, who was partially paralysed in a skiing accident.
After working from home as a music agent for years, the couple returned to the stage in 2017 at the urging of their son.
Céline was there to cheer them on at their first performance, and later described the “pure joy” of seeing them on stage again.
Louise
Louise Dion, now 70, has kept out of the spotlight, although she has been pictured at family events, such as the launch of her mother’s autobiography (above).
Denise
Denise, born on August 16, 1946, was the oldest of the siblings and would now be 77.
While little is known about her life, she does attend Dion family events, such as her mother’s 90th birthday celebration.
Paul and Pauline
The siblings closest in age to Céline are Paul and Pauline, who are twins. Paul is an entrepreneur who is also involved with Fondation Maman Dion.
Pauline reportedly founded her sister’s fan club, Fan Club Céline Dion, in the ’80s. It was later renamed Céline Dion International Fan Club before Sony Music took it over and changed the name again to Team Céline.
READ MORE: The truth about Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s split
Manon
Another sister, Manon, appears to have supported Céline behind the scenes during her show business career.
She has credits as her personal assistant on two live albums and also as her hairdresser on a 14-country world tour.
Linda
Sister Linda stepped in to help the star after her twins, Nelson and Eddy, were born in 2010.
Rolling Stone reported Linda and their mother helped the star with housework. In return, Linda was asked to be godmother to the twins. She is also godmother to Céline’s older son, René-Charles.
More recently, it has been reported that Linda has moved into her sister’s Las Vegas home to help care for her while she undergoes treatment for stiff person syndrome.
Ghislaine
In 2007, Ghislaine, along with brother Daniel and sister Claudette, released an album, Le Dion Show.
Her daughter, Audrey, was a flower girl at her aunt Céline’s wedding to René.
When it came time for René’s funeral, Audrey led the procession, alongside her cousin Jimmy, who carried the same pillow he used when he acted as ring bearer at the couple’s wedding.
Liette
Liette Dion, now 74, was a member of La Famille Dion, along with Claudette Dion, Daniel Dion, Gyslaine Dion, Manon Dion, Paul Dion and Paulette Dion.
In 1993, Liette’s daughter Karine Ménard died of cystic fibrosis at the age of 16.
Céline told PEOPLE in 1997 that she was holding her niece in her arms when she took her last breath. “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.”
Céline has invested in cystic fibrosis research since Karine was a child and is an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. In 1995, she dedicated the song Vole, to her niece.
Daniel
There was more heartbreak for the family when Céline’s brother Daniel died in 2016, just two days after her husband died of cancer.
Daniel, who was 59 when he died, reportedly suffered from brain, throat and tongue cancer and passed away in the palliative care centre the family opened in honour of their father.
Céline told People in 2016, the timing was ‘perfect’ and she believed her husband had escorted her brother to the afterlife. “He took him under his wings and he said, ‘You know, I’ll take good care of him’.”