Celine Dion's Album Falls Off Charts As Backup Dancer Pal 'Ousts' Others On Team
Dec. 8 2019, Updated 11:46 p.m. ET
Celine Dion's latest album quickly falling off the charts has alarmed those around her as sources say there's concern about her friendship with backup dancer and creative director Pepe Munoz, Page Six has reported. Dion's "Courage" album debuted at number one but then made bad history by falling out of the top 100 — the biggest fall off the charts after a number one debut, according to Chart Data.
“She’s upset. All hell has broken loose. The only reason she sold 100,000 was because of the whole bundle thing that labels do, but she only sold around 3,000 the second week,” a source told Page Six. According to the publication, those close to the beloved "My Heart Will Go On" singer say that her relationship with her best pal Munoz, has caused concern. Multiple sources have claimed to Page Six that Munoz helped oust some of her senior team and has isolated her.
A rep for Dion did not comment on the new report. But those claims that first surfaced about Munoz in July have been previously denied by Dion's management and marketing team. They have said, “These ‘sources’ have nothing better to do than to spread untrue gossip.” However, one insider told Page Six that without 51-year-old Dion's husband/manager, the late Renee Angelil around, “no one knows what they’re doing. She is being controlled by a person who has told her that René was an old guy and she should live like she’s in her 20s. That’s her state of mind.” Dion was devastated when Angelil, who discovered her, died at age 73 in January 2016. Recently she's shocked onlookers with her scary skinny appearance.
Rumors flew that Munoz, 34, was actually Dion's boyfriend, but she has denied that. The star told Extra in 2018, "Pepe is gay. At first, I think some people did not know that. The thing is that he's my best friend and we dance together and he did so much for me and even just holding my hand… it's something that I haven't had for a long time. He did so much for me, for my mental health, my spirituality, my strength ― my inner strength." Over the summer, Dion bid a fond farewell to Las Vegas after 16 years of performing there.
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She ended her last incredible Sin City residency show in June in front of sobbing fans while debuting a new song called "Flying On My Own." But Dion then ramped up her incredibly successful career, launching the North American leg of her world tour on Sept. 18. It’s already earned a mind-boggling $33.2 million from her first 19 shows, Billboard Boxscore has reported.
Another insider told Page Six, “She is having so much success, and it’s just mean to rehash these Pepe stories. She is living her best life. She had a horrible thing happen to her in her life, and she is out here doing her best. Her tour is doing great. She’s looking great and she is doing great. All the rest is bulls–t.” Indeed, on Thursday night, Dec. 5, Dion thrilled concertgoers at Buffalo, New York's Key Bank Center by belting out her backlog of greatest hits.
As The Buffalo News noted, for fans there "seeing Celine Dion live was the thrill of a lifetime. A beloved icon, in the flesh…. People dressed for the occasion. It was an event." Dion was backed by a 17-person band, with strings and horns and backup singers as she gave it her all with such songs as “I’m Alive” and “That’s the Way It Is.”
The reviewer wrote, "She looks like she feels good, and is dressed to the nines." Dion has said she still gets strength from Angelil, with whom she had three kids. "Even after he's gone, I still talk to him," Celine revealed in an emotional interview with Stellar magazine. However, an insider told RadarOnline.com that Dion lost a lot of weight after her husband's tragic death from throat cancer.