''Miracle'' is the twenty-first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and ninth English-language album by Canadian singer

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

, released by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

on 11 October 2004. It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

credited to Dion and Australian photographer Anne Geddes. The songs were produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

. ''Miracle'' topped the chart in Canada and

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

(Belgium) and reached top five in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. It was certified Platinum in the US and Canada, and Gold in various countries.

Content and release

''Miracle'' is a part of a CD-and-book multimedia collection, with Dion's music providing the soundtrack to Geddes's pictorial book celebrating the joy of babies. The songs were produced by

, who had not worked with Dion since 1999. Among tracks on the album are cover versions of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

's " Beautiful Boy",

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

's "

What a Wonderful World "What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong on August 16, 1967. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed p ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

's "

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his third wife. At that time, MacColl was still married to his second wife, Jean Newlove. ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

's " Brahms' Lullaby", Nancy Wilson's "If I Could",

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigen ...

's "Le loup, la biche et le chevalier (une chanson douce)", and Carol Welsman's "Baby Close Your Eyes". All other tracks are original songs such as the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

, which was written in 2001 for '' A New Day Has Come'' to celebrate the birth of Dion's son René-Charles, but the song was never published on that album. Some tracks were previously released on Dion's albums, including "Brahms's Lullaby" on '' These Are Special Times'' and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" on '' All the Way... A Decade of Song''. Live performances of "If I Could" and "What a Wonderful World" were available on '' A New Day... Live in Las Vegas''. "A Mother's Prayer" is a solo version of " The Prayer", a duet with

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

from ''These Are Special Times''. "Le loup, la biche et le chevalier (une chanson douce)" was performed live by Dion and Henri Salvador in October 2003, during the taping of '' 1 fille & 4 types'' TV special. However, this duet version was not included on any album. ''Miracle'' was released in three different formats: CD; CD/DVD plus 60-page booklet; and 180-page hardcover book plus CD/DVD. " Je lui dirai", available previously on ''1 fille & 4 types'', was included as a bonus track in Francophone countries.

Singles

" Beautiful Boy" was released as the first single in North America and some parts of Europe. It was followed by " In Some Small Way" in the United States and Canada. " Je lui dirai" was released as a single in Francophone countries, while the

was issued as a single in the United Kingdom and parts of Asia. All these songs were released as radio singles without accompanying music videos.

Critical reception

''Miracle'' was met with mixed reviews.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that "it's the quietest record Dion has recorded in a while, an unabashed adult contemporary album that keeps its gentle mood from start to finish, as if it were a prolonged lullaby. Dion tempers her vocal histrionics considerably — she still soars to the high notes, but there are no pyrotechnics, no showboating here — which serves this collection of standards and new songs quite well".

Commercial performance

''Miracle'' debuted inside top 10 in many countries, reaching number one in Canada, Belgium Wallonia. It debuted at number four in the United States with 107,000 copies sold. It also debuted in the fourth position in France and the Netherlands, number five in the United Kingdom, number six in Switzerland and number 9 in Greece. ''Miracle'' set a record in the United States, spending 18 consecutive weeks at the top position on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top Kid Audio chart. It was certified Platinum in the United States and Canada, and Gold in the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. Three months after its release, the ''Miracle'' CD has sold more than two million copies worldwide. The book/CD/DVD package has also been successful, reaching 500,000 copies sold.

Accolades

At the Juno Awards of 2005, ''Miracle'' was nominated in two categories, including Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. Dion was also nominated for the Juno Award for Artist of the Year. ''Miracle'' was also nominated for the Félix Award in category Anglophone Album of the Year.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

, except "Je lui dirai" by

Erick Benzi Erick Benzi (born 1 March 1959) is a French musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer from Marseille. He was previously part of the duo Die Form, with Gildas Arzel, and the group Canada (with Arzel, Jacques Veneruso, and Gwenn Arzel) ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2004 albums Albums produced by David Foster Celine Dion albums 2000s concept albums