Horner composed the basis of "My Heart Will Go On" as a motif for theTitanic soundtrack, and suggested developing it into a song. The director,James Cameron, felt a pop song would be inappropriate for the film, but agreed after hearing the demo. Horner andSimon Franglen produced the version used inTitanic, whileWalter Afanasieff produced a new version forLet's Talk About Love and the single.[1][2] The music video was directed byBille Woodruff.
"My Heart Will Go On" topped the charts in more than 25 countries and was the best-selling single of 1998.[3] 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 thebest-selling singles of all time.[4][5] It iscertified gold or higher in 18 countries, including diamond in France.
Before the release of the filmTitanic, studio executives worried that it would be a commercial failure.[7] Sony had paid $800,000 for the rights toTitanic soundtrack album and hoped it would include a theme song.[7] However, the director,James Cameron, felt that endingTitanic with a pop song would be inappropriate.[7]
James Horner, the composer of theTitanic score, initially composed "My Heart Will Go On" as an instrumental motif for the film.[7] Wanting to prepare a vocal version for the end credits, he enlisted the lyricistWill Jennings, who wrote the lyrics "from the point of view of a person of a great age looking back so many years".[8]Simon Franglen, who was working with Horner on electronic textures and synthesizers for the score, suggestedCéline Dion, with whom he had worked on many hits.[9] Dion initially did not want to record it, as she had already recorded the film songs "Beauty and the Beast" and "Because You Loved Me".[8] However, her husband and producer,René Angélil, convinced her to record a demo.[7]
Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the demo.[7] After listening several times, Cameron approved it, but worried he would be criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie". Cameron also wanted to appease the anxious studio executives and understood that a hit song would improve his chances of completing the film.[10]
The music producerWalter Afanasieff was not impressed with the demo, finding it meandering and dreary, but agreed to arrange and produce the studio version.[7] He replaced every part of Horner's demo, and was upset that Horner was given a co-producer credit.[7] According to the music executiveTommy Mottola, Dion recorded her vocal in one take, and her demo was used in the film. Dion re-recorded the song for her 1997 albumLet's Talk About Love.[7]
The Horner-Franglen "demo" version of the ballad runs a little over five minutes and has an extended ending with longer, segmented vocalizations by Dion. Franglen mixed the final film and soundtrack version, expanding on the demo and adding orchestra to the final chorus. It is this version which appears on theTitanic soundtrack album and is also played over theending credits of the film.[13]
When the single was to be released to radio, it was produced further byWalter Afanasieff who added string and electric guitar, as well as rearranged portions of the song. This version, which runs a little over four and a half minutes, appears on both the 4-track maxi single and Dion's albumLet's Talk About Love.[14] At the height of the song's popularity, some radio stations in the US and the UK played an edited version of the song, that had dramatic moments of dialogue from Jack and Rose, the lead characters in the film, inserted in between Dion's vocal lines.
The Norwegian singerSissel Kyrkjebø was scheduled to record the song for the film in 1997, but Dion's vocals were preferred due to Horner's decision to support Dion's career.[15][16][17][18] In a December 2014 interview, Horner said: "When I had completed theTitanic [film], I had to decide for Celine Dion or Sissel['s] [vocals]. Sissel I am very close, while Celine I had known since she was 18, and I had already written three film songs for [her]. But that was before Celine was known and filmmakers and marketing people had not done what they should have done for Celine and [her] songs. So I felt I owed her aTitanic chance, but I could [still] have used Sissel there".[19] Instead, Kyrkjebø completed much of the score for the soundtrack album,Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture.[15] Dion accepted to sing a demo for the film, despite being initially hesitant to record as she had already done three film songs earlier.[20][21] Years later, Horner chose Kyrkjebø to perform "My Heart Will Go On" on both world premieres ofTitanic 3D (2012) andTitanic Live (2015).[16]
The song was generally well received by music critics.AllMusic senior editorStephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the song "shines the most brilliantly" and marked it as a standout track from theLet's Talk About Love album.[22] Another AllMusic reviewer, single editor Heather Phares, who rated the single 4 out of 5 stars, wrote, "Indeed, her performances of it onVH1 Divas, the1998 Academy Awards (wearing the film's 'Heart of the Ocean' pendant, no less), and on her 1997 albumLet's Talk About Love have cemented 'My Heart Will Go On' as the quintessence of Dion's sweeping, romantic style".[23]Larry Flick fromBillboard called it a "statelyballad", noting that the song "woos with romantic lyrics and a melancholy melody that is fleshed out with a weeping flute solo". He added, "There's no denying that Dion can hit notes that shatter glass—and she does so here—but it's a pleasure to hear her build slowly and remind listeners of her ability to pack volumes of emotion in a whisper. A fine single that will add a much-needed touch of class to every station it graces".[24]
Music Week named it "Single of the Week" and gave it five out of five, writing that "Dion delivers another stunning vocal on an Irish-style production".[25] The magazine's Alan Jones felt the Celtic stylings "help the record build from quiet beginnings into a most powerful, stirring ballad, with Dion's voice adapting to whatever is required, from gentle breathiness to full throttle".[26]People Magazine stated that "the dramatics are fitting when she sings "My Heart Will Go On" as a survivor mourning the lover she lost when the big ship went down".[27]Yahoo.com described it as an "emotionalpower ballad that perfectly captured [Titanic's] romantic yearning".[8]Vulture said that it is a powerful song and has "one of the most glorious key changes in recorded music history", and that "its legacy is eclipsed only byWhitney Houston's (admittedly far superior) song "I Will Always Love You"".[28] TheWashington Post appreciated how the song was not just tagged on the end of the three-hour film, but has a lyrical motif that was already placed throughout the key moments of the film's love story in order to create a musical narrative.[29]
The song has also received some criticism. In 2011,Rolling Stone readers ranked it the seventh worst song of the 1990s, with the magazine writing, "Celine Dion's song and the movie have aged very poorly...Now [the song] probably just makes you cringe".[30]The Atlantic attributed the song's decline in popularity to its overexposure and added that over the years there have been many jokes that parody the song's lyrics by claiming "My Heart Will Go On" goes "on and on and on".[31]Vulture reasoned that it has become fashionable to dislike the song because it "encapsulates most everything that once-enthusiastic moviegoers now dislike aboutTitanic: it's outdated, cheesy, and overly dramatic".[28]Maxim deemed it "the second most tragic event ever to result from that fabled ocean liner".[31]Titanic starKate Winslet revealed in 2012 that she dislikes the song, and hearing it makes her "[feel] like throwing up".[32]
The song won a Japanese Gold Disc Award, for Song of the Year,[48] as well as aBillboard Music Award for Soundtrack Single of the Year.[36][49] Moreover, it also won atMTV Asia Awards for International Song of the Year in 1999.[44]
It has been named one of theSongs of the Century.[50] It is one of thebest-selling singles ever in the United Kingdom,[51] the second single released by Dion to sell over a million copies there. This made Dion one of only two female artists to date to have released two million-selling singles in Britain.[52] In December 2007, the song was placed on number 21 onVH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90's".[53] In April 2010, the UK radio stationMagic 105.4 voted the single the "top movie song of all time" after listeners's votes.[54] It was ranked at number 14 onAFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, celebrating the 100 greatest songs in American film history.[55]
The song became "imprinted on the movie's legacy", and every listen prompts a reminder of the blockbuster and the hype surrounding it.[31]USA Today agreed that the song will be forever tied toTitanic.[56]The Washington Post has argued that it is the marriage of music and image that make both the song and film greater than the sum of their parts.[29]
TheLos Angeles Times stated that "My Heart Will Go On helped make 1998 an amazing year for big pop ballads".[57]The Atlantic stated that its popularity did not stem from being played at events such as high school proms, weddings, and funerals, but by being indelibly placed into pop culture through numerous plays on the radio station, speakers, and passing cars.[31] Anne T. Donahue fromTrackRecord called it "The Greatest Movie Ballad Of All Time" stating: "It changed the game for movie ballads altogether, and the impact was felt immediately".[58]MTV listed "My Heart Will Go On" as the sixth biggest song of the '90s.[59]
In New Zealand, "My Heart Will Go On", along with Dion's rendition of "The Power of Love", are favorites ofsiren kings, aPasifika youth subculture originating inSouth Auckland who stage modified vehiclepublic address system loudspeaker competitions. The song is a staple of the competitions, due to the purity and clarity of Dion's voice suiting the audio range for public address systems.[60][61] The song is played at full volume through speakers attached to cars in the small hours of the morning, in a contest by siren kings to produce the loudest sound.[62][63]
In the late 2010s, a pop culture trend emerged on platforms such as YouTube in which the song's iconic key change would be edited in as the soundtrack to a dramatic moment from a sporting match, such as a winning shot.[64][65] During theCOVID-19 pandemic,Barcelona pianist Alberto Gestoso performed "My Heart Will Go On" for his quarantined neighbors.[66] In 2021, the DJ at theJanuary 6 Trump rally inWashington, D.C. played "My Heart Will Go On" to the crowd.[67]
In 2024, then-presidential candidateDonald Trump used "My Heart Will Go On" at rallies. Dion released a statement saying she did not endorse its use and expressed surprise at the choice.Variety said that the song "evokes the tragedy of theTitanic and, in the film, Leonardo DiCaprio’s dying character sinking to the bottom of the sea".[71]
The accompanying music video for "My Heart Will Go On" was directed byBille Woodruff and shows Dion singing at the bow of the ship while scenes from the film are inter-cut in between.[72] It was filmed in front of a green screen inLos Angeles. Titanic computer artists filled in the background. On set, Celine provided one special effect, it required her to sing a high speed version of the signature song.[73] In January 2018 the director's cut of the music video appeared on YouTube.[74] It contains unseen footage of Celine including her walking to the bow and a segment which puts her right into the movie.[75]
On March 23, 2023, a new music video was released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Dion's performance of the song at the70th Academy Awards. The video features alternate never-before-seen footage from the video shoot and was restored from its original35mm elements to4K resolution.[76][77]
"My Heart Will Go On" is one of the biggest radio hits andbest-selling singles in history, having sold more than 18 million copies worldwide.[79] It was also the best selling single of 1998 worldwide.[80] As of March 2023, "My Heart Will Go On" has drawn 5 billion in cumulativeairplayaudience and over 728 million official streams in theUnited States.[81] Streams increased following theTitan submersible implosion, which renewed interest inTitanic.[82][83] TMZ suggested that the song was streamed 500,000 more times, though this is disputed by other sources.[84]
In the United States, the song was given a limited number of copies – 658,000. Regardless, it debuted at number one on theBillboard Hot 100, with sales of 360,000 copies,[85] where it stayed for two weeks. In addition, the song spent ten weeks at number-one on theBillboard Hot 100 Airplay, and was number one for two weeks on theHot 100 Singles Sales. As a testament to the popularity of the song on the radio, the song broke the record for the then-largest radio audience ever, garnering 117 million listeners in February 1998.[86] The single was eventually certified gold in the United States.[87]Billboard reported that the digital copy of the single has sold 1,133,000 units since being available bringing total sales to 1,791,000 copies sold in the US.[88] In 2011 alone, Dion has sold 956,000 digital tracks in the US, with "My Heart Will Go On" being her biggest digital tracks (163,000 downloads).[89] In an article published byBillboard in November 2019, "My Heart Will Go On" has 588.2 million on-demand streams in the US, making it her most streamed song in the country.[90]
In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number one with first week sales of 234,000 copies.[91] As of February 2022, the song has already sold in excess of 2,100,000 units,[92] becoming Dion's second million-selling single in Britain, following "Think Twice" in 1995, and Britain's second-best-selling single of 1998, behindCher's "Believe".[93] This made her the first solo female artist to have multiple million-selling singles in Britain.[94]
In Germany, "My Heart Will Go On" was certified 4× platinum for selling over two million copies,[95] and was ranked as one of the most popular singles ever released there.[96] It sold over 1.2 million copies in France, being certified Diamond. Additionally, the song was certified 3× Platinum in Belgium, 2× Platinum in Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, Platinum in Greece, and Gold in Austria. "My Heart Will Go On" was released twice in Japan. The regular edition from January 1998 sold 205,300 and was certified 2× Platinum, for 200,000 copies sold. The remixed edition released in June 1998 sold 111,920 copies and was certified Gold for 100,000 copies sold, because maxi-singles are treated as an album.
Internationally, the song was phenomenally successful, spending many weeks at the top position in various countries, including 17 weeks on theEurochart Hot 100 Singles, 15 weeks in Switzerland, 13 weeks in France and Germany, 11 weeks in the Netherlands and Sweden, 10 weeks in Wallonia, Denmark, Italy, and Norway, seven weeks in Flanders, six weeks in Ireland and Canada, four weeks in Australia and Austria, two weeks in Spain and the United Kingdom, and one week in Finland.
It was included later on theBack to Titanic second soundtrack album, but it does not appear on the 20th anniversary edition. In France, "My Heart Will Go On" was released as a double A-side single with "The Reason". In theLet's Talk about Love album booklet, the lyrics of the song contain an additional line between a second chorus and the final verse. The words "There is some love that will not go away" are not performed by Dion in any available version of the song, however, they are still included on Dion's official site.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Jones, Alan (February 14, 1998)."Talking Music"(PDF).Music Week. p. 16.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 31, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2023.
^ab"1998 Billboard Music Awards".infoplease.com online almanac. Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 2007.Archived from the original on May 22, 2009. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2010.
^マイ・ハート・ウィル・ゴー・オン 98.6.20 (SME)(PDF) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on December 28, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 29, 2014.
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