# The Prayer (Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli song)
"The Prayer" is a bilingual operatic pop song recorded as a duet by Canadian singer [Celine Dion](https://www.edgepedia.org/celine-dion) and Italian tenor [Andrea Bocelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrea-bocelli), written by [David Foster](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-foster) and Carole Bayer Sager with Italian lyrics adapted by Alberto Testa and Tony Renis for the 1998 Warner Bros. animated film *Quest for Camelot*.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999/S) • [2](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lyrics/the-prayer-celine-dion-andrea-bocelli/) It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 71st Academy Awards, and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.[3](https://www.bocelli.de/en/chronicle1999.htm) • [1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999/S) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/artists/andrea-bocelli/4129/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers | David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager; Italian lyrics adapted by Alberto Testa and Tony Renis[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999/S) |
| Original form | Two solo versions for *Quest for Camelot* (1998): Dion in English, Bocelli in Italian[2](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lyrics/the-prayer-celine-dion-andrea-bocelli/) |
| Duet release | Promotional single, March 1999, on Columbia/Epic; length 4:29; appeared on *These Are Special Times* (1998) and *Sogno* (1999)[5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component) |
| Awards | Golden Globe for Best Original Song (1999); Academy Award nomination (71st); Grammy nomination, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (42nd Annual Grammy Awards)[3](https://www.bocelli.de/en/chronicle1999.htm) • [1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999/S) • [4](https://www.grammy.com/artists/andrea-bocelli/4129/) |
| Chart debut | Bocelli's R&R Adult Contemporary chart debut with Dion at No. 28 (March 5, 1999)[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1999/RR-1999-04-02.pdf) |
| US peak | No. 22 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart[5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component) |
## Origins and recording
The song was written for *Quest for Camelot*, the first animated feature Warner Bros. produced after the Disney renaissance of the late 1980s, whose soundtrack contained 14 songs written by David Foster and [Carole Bayer Sager](https://www.edgepedia.org/carole-bayer-sager).[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/quest-for-camelot-original-soundtrack--mw0000598676) It was originally recorded not as a duet but as two separate solo versions: Dion sang the English version and Bocelli the Italian version, both appearing on the film's soundtrack released in May 1998.[2](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lyrics/the-prayer-celine-dion-andrea-bocelli/) • [5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component)
**From solo versions to duet.** Dion called Foster in late summer 1998 to say she wanted to record "The Prayer" with Bocelli for her holiday album. Co-writer Carole Bayer Sager recalled the process: "We took Andrea's track, and Celine sang to the existing end-credit... It was suddenly the way it was always supposed to be. We later went back in with Andrea, touched up a few things, and added a little more English to his part."[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1999/RR-1999-04-02.pdf) The duet was recorded in 1998 at Chartmarker, Sony Sound Stage, and Criteria Recording, produced by Foster with Sager and Renis as co-producers; Foster also played keyboards and piano, William Ross contributed the orchestral arrangements, and Humberto Gatica handled engineering and mixing.[5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component) The duet appeared on Dion's holiday album *These Are Special Times* (1998) and on Bocelli's album *Sogno* (1999), and was issued as a promotional single in March 1999.[5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component)
Sager noted the song's unlikely awards path: "In the course of a year, there are easily 250 songs written for motion pictures. That this one, which didn't have the momentum of even a medium-sized movie behind it, found its way to the Oscars is extremely rewarding."[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1999/RR-1999-04-02.pdf)
## Awards and live performances
On January 25, 1999, Dion and Bocelli sang "The Prayer" at the 56th [Golden Globe Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-globe-awards) in Los Angeles and won the award for Best Song in a Movie.[3](https://www.bocelli.de/en/chronicle1999.htm) The song was then nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Original Song](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-original-song) at the 71st Academy Awards, credited to music by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster with lyrics by Sager, Foster, Tony Renis, and Alberto Testa; the Oscar went to "[When You Believe](https://www.edgepedia.org/when-you-believe)" from *The Prince of Egypt*.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999/S) • [3](https://www.bocelli.de/en/chronicle1999.htm)
The pair performed the duet at three major ceremonies within two months. At the [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards) on February 24, 1999, where Bocelli was also one of five nominees for Best New Artist, they sang "The Prayer" and received a standing ovation; at the Oscars on March 21, Bocelli sang the nominated song before a television audience the Bocelli chronicle puts at more than 2 billion viewers.[3](https://www.bocelli.de/en/chronicle1999.htm) The recording itself earned a nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards (2000).[4](https://www.grammy.com/artists/andrea-bocelli/4129/)
**The Groban rehearsal.** During rehearsals for the Grammys performance, Bocelli could not attend, and Foster called an unknown teenage singer to step in at the last minute: 17-year-old [Josh Groban](https://www.edgepedia.org/josh-groban), who sang alongside Dion and, in Classic FM's telling, changed the trajectory of his career that day.[2](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lyrics/the-prayer-celine-dion-andrea-bocelli/) Dion and Groban later released a live version of the song as a single on February 12, 2008.[5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component)
## Chart performance
Because the duet was issued only as a promotional single, its chart reach came through airplay. In early April 1999, Radio & Records reported that Bocelli had made his R&R Adult Contemporary chart debut with Dion at No. 28 on "The Prayer."[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1999/RR-1999-04-02.pdf) The song reached No. 22 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and No. 8 on the Canadian BDS Adult Contemporary chart.[5](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component)
## Meaning and later life
Classic FM describes the lyrics as a spiritual call for peace, guidance, and kindness, asking the song's subject to "watch us where we go" and "help us to be wise," which has made the song a common choice for memorial services and a staple for choirs, cover artists, and talent-show contestants, including [Jonathan and Charlotte](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-and-charlotte)'s 2012 audition on *Britain's Got Talent*.[2](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lyrics/the-prayer-celine-dion-andrea-bocelli/)
The duet has remained central to Bocelli's catalog. In a 2024 Associated Press interview marking his 30th career anniversary and the compilation album *Duets*, he placed it first in his line of collaborations: "From the first, 'The Prayer' with Celine Dion, until the last, like 'Perfect' with Ed Sheeran and many, many others."[8](https://apnews.com/article/5eef51238ac234a9ad96cd09d7e8a728) Setlist data show the song has been performed hundreds of times across artists, with Celine Dion herself accounting for 110 documented performances and Bocelli 65.[9](https://www.setlist.fm/song/celine-dion/the-prayer-2bd79cd6.html)
## References
1. [71st Academy Awards (1999) Winners & Nominees, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999/S)
2. [What are the lyrics to 'The Prayer' sung by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion?, Classic FM](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/lyrics/the-prayer-celine-dion-andrea-bocelli/)
3. [Andrea Bocelli Chronicle 1999, bocelli.de](https://www.bocelli.de/en/chronicle1999.htm)
4. [Andrea Bocelli Grammy Awards and Nominations, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/artists/andrea-bocelli/4129/)
5. [The Prayer (1999), Celine Dion fan site (celinedion.nl)](https://www.celinedion.nl/cdip/index.php/one-heart/item/261-the-prayer-1999?print=1&tmpl=component)
6. [Adult Contemporary column, R&R, April 2, 1999, WorldRadioHistory](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1999/RR-1999-04-02.pdf)
7. [Quest for Camelot [Original Soundtrack], AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/quest-for-camelot-original-soundtrack--mw0000598676)
8. [Andrea Bocelli on his new album, film and 30 years of making music, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/5eef51238ac234a9ad96cd09d7e8a728)
9. [The Prayer by Céline Dion song statistics, setlist.fm](https://www.setlist.fm/song/celine-dion/the-prayer-2bd79cd6.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Musical-theater, film, television, and game songs › Film songs and themes › Animated and family film songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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