“You were my greatest champion”: Céline Dion pays tribute to her husband René Angélil, nine years after his death

He is always by her side. Canadian singer Céline Dion paid tribute to her husband René Angélil this Wednesday, January 15, 9 years after his death in January 2016, victim of throat cancer at the age of 73.

In a message published on her social networks, the interpreter of “So that you still love me” testifies with her children of the love she had for him and the lack that his absence generates. “We can’t believe it’s already been nine years since you left. Not a day goes by without feeling your presence, René-Charles, Eddy, Nelson and me,” writes the 56-year-old star.

She also shares a photo in which we see her surrounded by her three sons: René-Charles, the eldest, 23 years old, as well as the twins Eddy and Nelson, aged 14. “You have been my greatest champion, my partner and the one who always saw the best in me. I honor you and we miss you forever my love… We love you”, concludes the one who dazzled the world by performing “The Hymn to Love” during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games .

A test for Celine Dion

René Angélil and Céline Dion, a couple since 1988, were married in December 1994 during a grandiose ceremony broadcast on Quebec television. The impresario had accompanied his wife’s entire career, despite throat cancer diagnosed in 1999. After remission, he suffered again from a cancerous tumor in 2013 to which he ended up succumbing three years later. Quebec Prime Minister Philippe Couillard announced that he would be entitled to a national funeral at the Notre-Dame basilica in Montreal.

His death was a real ordeal for Celine Dion. She released five months later, in May 2016, the title “Encore un soir”, written by Jean-Jacques Goldman and a real letter to her late husband. An album of the same name was then released in August, the second best-selling album of the year in France.