This Day In Music – This Movie Soundtrack Theme Hit #1

This day in 1998 – Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”  went to number 1 on the charts.

Actually, the song topped the charts in more than 25 countries and was the best-selling single of 1998. With worldwide sales estimated at more than 18 million, it is the second-best-selling single by a woman in music history and one of the best-selling singles of all time.

“My Heart Will Go On,”  was featured in the movie.  The movie had been number one at the box office since December 21, 1997 and the soundtrack number one since January 24, 1998.

The music for the movie was composed by James Horner, who wrote the song with Will Jennings, who after hearing the story of the film, thought about an artist he knew who was very similar in character to “Rose” the character played by Kate Winslet.

James, who had worked with Celine in the very early days of her career, convinced her to record the song and then convinced director James Cameron to put it in the movie, which had gone way over budget, taking much longer to finish than anyone expected. James Cameron was hesitant to add the song, thinking it was inappropriate to add a pop song to the final scene.

The song goes on to become her signature song, often the last one she plays at concerts.

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan