Immortality (Celine Dion song)

The Bee Gees wrote "Immortality" in 1996 for the Saturday Night Fever stage musical. Their 1996 demo, in which Barry Gibb sings in falsetto, was released in November 2001 on the Bee Gees' album, Their Greatest Hits: The Record. The musical opened in London's Palladium theatre in May 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/96.html|title=Gibb Songs: 1996|publisher=columbia.edu|access-date=4 November 2018}}

Dion recorded the song in June 1997, and the Bee Gees added backing vocals on 18 August 1997.{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/97.html|title=Gibb Songs: 1997|publisher=columbia.edu|access-date=4 November 2018}} Dion attended their session, which was recorded for the music video. "Immortality" was produced by Walter Afanasieff and included on Dion's fifth English-language studio album, Let's Talk About Love in November 1997. She released it as a single in June 1998, outside the United States. Dion's "Immortality" single as released in Europe and Australia included primarily remixes of her previous hit, "My Heart Will Go On".

The Saturday Night Fever: Original Cast Recording album, released in June 1999, features the song performed by Adam Garcia.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Saturday-Night-Fever-Original-London/dp/B00000GAZM|title=Saturday Night Fever 1998 Original London Cast|website=Amazon |access-date=4 November 2018}} In Brazil, "Immortality" served as a theme song to the primetime telenovela, Torre de Babel. The promotional single released in Brazil included remixes of "Immortality" by DJ Cuca.

Pip Ellwood-Hughes from Entertainment Focus described the song as a "power ballad", adding that Dion and Bee Gee's voices together on the song "works well".{{cite web|author=Ellwood-Hughes, Pip|url=https://www.entertainment-focus.com/music-section/music-reviews/vinyl/celine-dion-lets-talk-about-love-vinyl-review/|title=Celine Dion – Let's Talk About Love vinyl review|publisher=Entertainment Focus|date=7 October 2018|access-date=14 April 2020}} Entertainment Weekly editor David Browne called it "banal" and said that it is "flimsy concoction that droops under the weight of its arrangement".{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1997/11/21/celine-dion-and-michael-bolton-yawn/|title=Celine Dion and Michael Bolton: yawn|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|author=David Browne|author-link=David Browne (journalist)|date=21 November 1997|access-date=7 April 2014|archive-date=19 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319221118/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,290337,00.html|url-status=live}} The New York Observer editor Jonathan Bernstein called this collaboration "dispiriting".{{cite web|url=http://observer.com/1997/12/celine-dion-is-she-cool-someday-maybe-but-not-now/|title=Celine Dion: Is She Cool? Someday, Maybe, but Not Now|work=The New York Observer|author=Jonathan Bernstein|date=8 December 1997|access-date=7 April 2014}} Øyvin Søraa from Oppland Arbeiderblad called it "one of the most striking" songs of the Let's Talk About Love album.{{cite news|first= Øyvin |last= Søraa |title= Takk, vi er forsynt |work= Oppland Arbeiderblad |date= 27 November 1997 |page= 55 |access-date= 8 May 2020 |url= https://www.nb.no/items/6d8a68cab2e6b67def6f62d730b9f174|language= no}} Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In noted that it celebrates love and "its ability to inspire eternal romantic devotion".{{cite web|first= Bob |last= Waliszewski |title= Let's Talk About Love |work= Plugged In |publisher= Focus on the Family |access-date= 27 March 2020 |url= https://www.pluggedin.com/album-reviews/celinedion-letstalkaboutlove/}} Christopher Smith from TalkAboutPopMusic described the song as a "smoothie", adding that "it has all the epic flare and charm of a Celine ballad but with added Bee-Gee high notes in the background".{{cite web|author=Smith, Christopher|url=https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/11/09/review-lets-talk-about-love-celine-dion/|title=REVIEW: 'LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE' – CELINE DION|publisher=TalkAboutPopMusic|date=9 November 2019|access-date=14 April 2020}}

"Immortality" was commercially successful in Europe, reaching number two in Germany and Austria, number five in the United Kingdom, number eight in Switzerland and Iceland, number eleven in Ireland, number twelve in Sweden, number fifteen in France and Belgium, and number twenty-eight in the Netherlands. On the European Hot 100 Singles, "Immortality" peaked at number four. It was certified Platinum in Germany, and Gold in Canada, Sweden, France and the UK. In Australia, the song reached number thirty-eight. In Canada, "Immortality" was released as a promotional single and topped the Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks. It also reached number twenty-eight on the Canadian Top Singles chart, based on airplay.

Filmed on 18 August 1997 and directed by Scott Lochmus, the first music video shows Dion and Bee Gees in the recording studio. In 1999, it was included on the Au cœur du stade DVD, as part of the bonus features, showing the recording process of Let's Talk About Love. The second music video was directed by Randee St. Nicholas, and was filmed in July 1998 before being released on 6 August of the same year.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdYaGt_sm3Q|title=Céline Dion - Immortality (Video) ft. Bee Gees|date=24 October 2009 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=4 November 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/immortality/265675607|title=Immortality by Céline Dion on Apple Music|publisher=Apple Music|access-date=5 November 2018}} This more elaborate video, which deals with themes of love, loss and reincarnation,{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7630476/|title=Céline Dion feat. The Bee Gees: Immortality (1998)|publisher=IMDb|access-date=4 November 2018}} opens with Dion walking through a graveyard, sitting in front of one of the graves as she sings the first lines. It then switches to a mansion where she and the Bee Gees appear as ghosts. In one scene during the mansion sequence, Dion meets a man, presumably her lover. During the final pre-chorus until the coda, Dion and the Bee Gees appear at a club, where the former performs as a singer and the latter act as patrons. The video then ends in the graveyard where Dion walks away.

On 14 November 1997, Dion performed "Immortality" with the Bee Gees at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. It was included on their live album and DVD, One Night Only, released in September 1998. In the first week of June 1998, Dion and the Bee Gees taped the performances of "Immortality" on three television shows: Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, Hit Machine in France and Geld oder Liebe in Germany, for a later broadcast. Dion also performed the song during the Let's Talk About Love World Tour in 1998 and 1999, and in her residency show, Celine, between 2015 and 2017. On 16 April 2017, CBS aired Stayin’ Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees, taped two months earlier, which included Dion performing "Immortality" as a tribute to the Bee Gees.{{cite web|url=https://www.axs.com/celine-dion-talks-new-significance-of-immortality-in-upcoming-grammy-s-116701|title=Celine Dion talks new significance of 'Immortality' in upcoming Grammy salute to the Bee Gees|publisher=AXS|author=Lori Melton|date=29 March 2017|access-date=5 November 2018}}

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• Australian cassette and CD single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "To Love You More" – 5:20
3. "My Heart Will Go On" (Richie Jones mix) – 4:15
4. "My Heart Will Go On" (Tony Moran mix) – 4:21

• European CD single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "My Heart Will Go On" (Tony Moran mix) – 4:21

• European CD maxi-single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "My Heart Will Go On" – 4:40
3. "My Heart Will Go On" (Tony Moran's anthem vocal) – 9:41
4. "My Heart Will Go On" (Soul Solution percappella) – 4:16

• European 12-inch single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "My Heart Will Go On" (Tony Moran mix) – 4:15
3. "My Heart Will Go On" (Tony Moran's anthem vocal) – 9:41
4. "My Heart Will Go On" (Matt & Vito's unsinkable epic mix) – 9:51

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• Japanese CD single

1. "Immortality" – 4:12
2. "Where Is the Love" – 4:56

• UK cassette single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "My Heart Will Go On" (Soul Solution mix) – 4:18

• UK CD single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "To Love You More" – 5:28
3. "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" – 3:41

• UK remixes CD single

1. "Immortality" – 4:11
2. "My Heart Will Go On" (Tony Moran mix) – 4:20
3. "My Heart Will Go On" (Richie Jones mix) – 4:16

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|title=Immortality|artist=Celine Dion|award=Gold|certyear=2024|relyear=1998|access-date=10 December 2024|refname="MC"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|type=single|title=Immortality|artist=Celine Dion|award=Gold|source=http://snepmusique.com/les-certifications/?categorie=Singles&interprete=Céline%20Dion&titre=Imm|certyear=1998|relyear=1998|access-date=31 December 2022}}

{{certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|title=Immortality|artist=Celine Dion|award=Platinum|certyear=1998|relyear=1998|access-date=11 October 2014|refname=gercert}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|title=Immortality|artist=Celine Dion and the Bee Gees|award=Gold|relyear=1998|certyear=2024|source=radioscope|access-date=21 December 2024}}

{{certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|type=single|title=Immortality|artist=Celine DionGees|relyear=1998|award=Gold|certyear=1998|access-date=11 October 2014|refname=swecert}}

{{certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|title=Immortality|artist=Celine Dion and the Bee Gees|award=Gold|relyear=1998|certyear=2025|access-date=21 February 2025|refname=ukcert|id=3261-3394-1}}

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• List of UK top 10 singles in 1998

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{{Celine Dion songs}}

{{Bee Gees singles}}

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Category:1997 songs

Category:1998 singles

Category:1990s ballads

Category:Bee Gees songs

Category:Celine Dion songs

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Epic Records singles

Category:Music videos directed by Randee St. Nicholas

Category:Pop ballads

Category:Song recordings produced by Walter Afanasieff

Category:Songs written by Barry Gibb

Category:Songs written by Maurice Gibb

Category:Songs written by Robin Gibb