Celine Dion to receive 2016 Billboard Icon Award

Celine Dion will receive the Icon Award and perform Queen’s ‘The Show Must Go On’ at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards (BMAs).

The 48-year-old singer will be recognized for her 36-year career at the upcoming ceremony by becoming just the fifth person to receive the prestigious accolade, following in the footsteps of Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder, the late Prince and Jennifer Lopez.

Celine – whose beloved husband René Angelil and brother Daniel Dion both died of cancer earlier this year – also personally chose the Queen song to perform on May 22 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and BMA Executive Producer Mark Bracco thinks the song is a fitting choice.

Mark said in a statement on Wednesday (05.04.16): "Celine Dion has a huge repertoire of monster hits and she personally chose to perform ‘The Show Must Go On’ as her Icon performance on the Billboard Music Awards. I think at this moment in her life, the song has many meanings and it’s an amazing choice."

The Icon award will join Celine’s many other career accomplishments, including another 10 Billboard awards and five Grammies, while she has also sold a staggering

250 million albums worldwide.

Celine was just 12 years old when she began her writing and recording music but her career really took off in the 90s when she moved away from her native French and began releasing records in English.

And things escalated in the latter part of the decade, largely thanks to recording ‘My Heart Will Go On’, the theme from hit 1997 movie ‘Titanic’, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as doomed lovers aboard the ill-fated ship.

Celine – who married René, her manager, in 1994 – has had a residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino for the last five years, but took a break in August 2014 to support her husband through his cancer battle, and also called off a number of shows at the beginning of the year following her spouse’s death, before returning to the stage on February 23 for the first time.

However, the ‘Think Twice’ singer – who had sons Rene-Charles, 15, and five-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy with her husband – is currently on a break from the run of shows and will return on May 17.

Meanwhile, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber and Pink will all perform at the BMAs and more artists are to be announced in the coming weeks.

Rapper Ludacris and R ‘n’ B star Ciara will host the annual awards show on Sunday, May 22 at 8 pm.