Celine Dion is ‘honored and humbled’ to be awarded honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music

Celine Dion is ‘honored and humbled’ to be awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music for her four-decade-long singing career

The prestigious Berklee College of Music announced earlier this week that Céline Dion would be among its newest recipients of an honorary doctorate at its May 8 graduation ceremony.

And the 52-year-old legendary singer shared her gratitude for the degree Friday with a gushing Instagram Stories post. 

‘I’m honored and humbled to be receiving an honorary doctorate from the highly esteemed @BerkleeCollege School of Music,’ she wrote. 

Honored: Céline Dion was announced as one of the recipients of an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Berklee College of Music earlier this week; seen in 2019 in Paris

‘I feel privileged to be considered in the same company as the incredibly talented Artists who have also received this distinction over the years.’

Céline included a lovely black-and-white photo of herself featured in college’s announcement.

The It’s All Coming Back To Me Now singer is in good company, as Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes and saxophonist Donald Harrison will also received honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the college.

Actress, singer and dancer Chita Rivera and pianist Andre Watts will also receive honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from the related Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

In good company: Dion wrote that she was 'honored and humbled' to receive the honor, while praising her fellows recipients, including Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes

In good company: Dion wrote that she was ‘honored and humbled’ to receive the honor, while praising her fellows recipients, including Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes

Berklee College of Music has previously honored a broad array of musicians from all genres, including John Legend and Sheila E. in 2020 and Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake and Imogen Heap in 2019.

Dion began her career in the early ’80s as a teenage singer who became a star in Quebec with French-language albums.

But with the help of her manager (and future husband) René Angélil, she updated her image and learned English to appeal to an American market.

Starting in the 1990s, she released a string of English-language albums that became international successes, culminating with her chart-topping back-to-back successes, 1996’s Falling Into You and 1997’s Let’s Talk About Love. 

French¿Canadian chanteuse: Dion began her career in the early '80s as a teenage singer who became a star in Quebec with French-language albums; seen in 2019

French–Canadian chanteuse: Dion began her career in the early ’80s as a teenage singer who became a star in Quebec with French-language albums; seen in 2019

New audience: But with the help of her manager (and future husband) René Angélil, she updated her image and learned English to appeal to an American market; seen in 2019

New audience: But with the help of her manager (and future husband) René Angélil, she updated her image and learned English to appeal to an American market; seen in 2019

Chart topper: Starting in the 1990s, she released a string of English-language albums that became international successes, culminating with her back-to-back successes, 1996's Falling Into You and 1997's Let's Talk About Love

Chart topper: Starting in the 1990s, she released a string of English-language albums that became international successes, culminating with her back-to-back successes, 1996’s Falling Into You and 1997’s Let’s Talk About Love

Back in January, Dion paid tribute to her late husband René on the fifth anniversary of his death.

The My Heart Will Go On singer posted a closeup photo of herself and Angelil holding hands to her Instagram to mark the occasion.

‘René, it’s been 5 years already…’ she wrote. ‘There’s not one day that we don’t think about you.’

She and her manager were married from 1994 to his death from cancer at the age of 73, though they had dated going back to 1988.

The couple had three sons together: René-Charles, 19, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 10. 

Missing him: Back in January, Dion paid tribute to her late husbandRené Angélil on the fifth anniversary of his death; pictured together in 2012 in Dusseldorf, Germany

Missing him: Back in January, Dion paid tribute to her late husbandRené Angélil on the fifth anniversary of his death; pictured together in 2012 in Dusseldorf, Germany

Tribute: 'René, it's been 5 years already¿ There's not one day that we don't think about you,' Dion wrote alongside a closeup photo of herself and Angelil holding hands

Tribute: ‘René, it’s been 5 years already… There’s not one day that we don’t think about you,’ Dion wrote alongside a closeup photo of herself and Angelil holding hands