Last month, while the American media and the musically-inclined public was focused on new titles being made available from the likes of Jason Aldean, Bastille and Mac Miller, one of the best-selling artists of all time managed to top charts all around the world, all without most of the U.S. even noticing.
While it might not have made much of a splash here in America, Celine Dion’s new album Encore un soir was a global smash from the minute it was released, and it continues to perform well in many places even after several weeks of availability. Encore un soir debuted at No. 1 on charts all around the world, especially in those territories where there is a large population of French speakers. The album made it to the top of the most popular album tallies in Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland, and it broke into the top 10 in many other markets, including some rather surprising ones like the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and even South Korea.
The album has been especially successful in France, where Dion’s many releases in the country’s native tongue have made her something of a hero, despite the fact that she is actually from Canada (where she is also beloved). Encore un soir now holds the record for the largest first-week sales total for a female singer of all time, as well as the second-largest opening frame for any title this year. In fact, despite the fact that the population of France is only about one-fifth that of the United States, Celine’s album sold well over 200,000 copies in its first frame, which is much larger than most of the first-week figures connected to a majority of the No. 1 albums in this country thus far in 2016. That number would be enough to give Dion the fourth-largest opening week for any album this year in America, with only Drake’s Views, Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Frank Ocean’s Blonde besting it.
In her home country of Canada, Encore un soir also enjoyed a massive debut. The album, which was her 15th to make it to the top, was snapped up primarily by people living in the French-speaking province of Quebec, which also has its own charts aside from the general Canadian tallies. According to the Quebecois media, Dion’s new record sold three times as many copies as the other 99 titles in the top 100 combined in its opening week. The album ended up ruling for three consecutive weeks in Canada, and while it stepped aside to allow Drake’s Views to regain control (which also happened here in the U.S.), it will surely be a powerful force in Quebec for some time to come.
The album is her first French-language effort to even be granted an American release in over a decade. During that time, she has produced some very worthwhile French material, but it wasn’t properly released in the United States, as there isn’t usually a large enough market to warrant the cost. This time around, Encore un soir was made available, though sadly it didn’t make much of an impact charting-wise. Despite some promotional appearances and performances made by the singer herself, the record missed the all-encompassing Billboard 200, though it did make it onto a few of the more specific rankings, including the U.S. World Albums chart, where it debuted at No. 1.
Celine’s latest is just one of many albums that go on to sell massively well around the world, but which are almost entirely ignored by the U.S. because of language. While American entertainment does spread like wildfire across the globe, it is worth keeping in mind that at any one time, whatever title may be on top here in the States might not necessarily be what the rest of the world is listening to, and that there is a lot of great music that is lost on Americans.
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