What Happened to Celine Dion’s Husband Rene Angelil? Inside Legacy He Left Behind After His Death

Céline Dion was left heartbroken after the death of her husband, René Angélil, on January 14, 2016. The singer continues to honor her husband’s legacy through her career and with her children.

Who Was Rene Angelil?

René began his career as a singer in Canada in the ‘60s before transitioning to managing artists. He began working with Céline when she was 12 years old in 1980. The Grammy winner recalled performing for René in person for the first time.

“While I was singing, he started to cry,” she told People. “I knew then I had done a good job.”

When she was 19, the pair officially began dating. They had a 26-year age difference between them.

“We kind of kept it cool because of my career. I was living that love secretly,” the songstress told People in 2016. “When I was at the age to be able to say to people … It was like bang! Love! Love always wins.”

When Did Celine Dion Marry Rene Angelil?

Céline and René got engaged in 1991 after more than a decade of working together. Three years later, they got married in a ceremony at Montréal’s Notre-Dame Basilica.

What Happened to Rene Angelil?

In 1998, René was diagnosed with throat cancer. He took a step back from his career to prioritize his health. In 2000, the Canadian talent manager was declared cancer-free. In 2001, the couple welcomed their first child together, son René-Charles Angelil.

Céline and René welcomed twin boys Nelson and Eddy in 2010. By 2013, René’s cancer had returned, with Céline pausing her career to take care of her husband.

“He can’t eat so I feed him,” she said during an interview with ABC News in March 2015. “He’s got a feeding tube. I have to feed him three times a day.”

The mom of three also opened up about telling her children of their father’s diagnosis at the time.

“I really believe that children know it all,” she said. “We are afraid of explaining because we’re scared, because we’re worried.”

René died at age 73 in January 2016, two days before his 74th birthday.

“René Angelil, 73, passed away this morning at his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer,” a rep for the couple said in a statement to People at the time. “The family requests that their privacy be respected at the moment.”

Celine Dion Opened Up About Grief After Her Husband’s Death

Three years after her husband’s death, Céline opened up about the lessons she learned regarding managing her grief.

“You cannot stop living,” she said during a Good Morning America segment in April 2019. “Go forward. And today’s the first day of the beginning of my life, because I know that, I don’t have to worry.”

On the fifth anniversary of René’s death, the “To Love You More” singer penned a tribute to her late husband on Instagram.

“René, it’s been 5 years already … There’s not one day that we don’t think about you,” she wrote in January 2021. “We’re reaching out to you now more than ever, to guide us, protect us, and continue to watch over us. And we pray that you’ll shine your love on the entire world, to all those at this very moment, who are facing incredibly difficult times.”

After revealing to the world that she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome in 2022, Céline shared the impact her diagnosis had on her kids.

“I barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much living. My kids started to notice. I was like, ‘OK, they already lost a parent. I don’t want them to be scared,'” she told People. “I let them know, ‘You lost your dad, [but] mom has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with.”