Celine Dion and René Angélil Marriage in Photos

One marriage in Hollywood that people either love or hate was with Celine Dion and her manager-turned-husband, the late Rene Angelil. While it was clear they were in love, their nearly 30-year age gap, and circumstances surrounding the beginning of their relationship, have made this one of the most controversial modern-day marriages in Tinseltown.

Dion and Angelil met when she was only 12 years old, and he was in his late 30s. He became her manager and worked tirelessly to catapult her into superstardom. However, right when she became an adult, their working relationship became romantic. (Yes, when she was 18, not 19 like many places originally reported).

They kept their romance a secret for years but revealed their relationship a year before their nuptials in 1994. They later welcomed three children, and Dion was with her husband throughout his health complications.

The pair were together until Angelil’s death in 2016.

In honor of her revealing new documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, which will be released on June 25 on Prime Video, let’s look at their decades-long marriage, including the rather controversial beginning of their relationship.

Below, see Dion and Angelil’s marriage in photos.

1980

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Dion met René Angélil when she was 12 years old, and he was 38. They reportedly met at this time, when Angélil became Dion’s manager. When they first met, he was allegedly brought to tears by her singing.

“While I was singing he started to cry,” she said to People back in 1980. “I knew then I had done a good job.”
1987

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While many believe they started dating at 19 years old and 45 years old, they actually started dating when she was 18 and he was 44. In her memoir, Céline Dion: My Story, My Dream, she talks about pining for him in secret. In 1988, she reportedly “threw myself into his arms. Later that night, I was seated at the head of the bed, legs folded under the covers. I was happy about being alone with the man I loved.”

Angelil told Larry King that he actually had his first kiss with her in the late 1980s in Dublin, Ireland, for the Eurovision Song Contest.
1991

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After multiple years together, René Angélil proposed to Celine Dion, but kept it secret for a few years.
1993

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Despite dating for years, and getting engaged two years prior, it wasn’t until 1993 that Céline Dion and René Angélil went public with their relationship. She revealed i in the liner notes for 1993’s The Colour of My Love. “René, for so many years I’ve kept our special dream locked away inside my heart. But now it’s too powerful to keep inside,” she wrote, per Reuters.
1994

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On Dec 17, 1994, Céline Dion and René Angélil got married at the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal. The wedding was actually broadcasted live on television in Canada for fans to see.
1998

Image Credit: Photo by Robert Hepler/Everett Collection.

Celine Dion and Rene Angelil went to their first Academy Awards in 1998.
1999

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Five years after marrying, in 1999, Céline Dion decided to take a break from music to take care of René Angélil after he was diagnosed with throat cancer. She came back to music with her 2002 album, A New Day Has Come.
2001

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In 2000, the pair announced they were expecting their first child together, and in Jan 25, 2001, they welcomed their first child, son René-Charles, following fertility treatments; and as you can see here, in July 2001, they baptized him in Montreal at a 40-minute private ceremony in front od 250 friends and family members, per People.
2005

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Despite sharing major details about their lives such as their wedding and birth of their children, they’re quite private about their lives, but made sure to go to major events throughout their time together.
2010

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On Oct 23, 2010, they welcomed twins, after several rounds of IVF, named Nelson and Eddy.
2013

Image Credit: WireImage

Celine Dion admitted how her mother felt about her marriage, saying, she didn’t approve of the romance. Allegedly, ti wasn’t because of the age gap or prior business relationship, it was because he was married two times before.

“It was very difficult for her,” Dion told Access Hollywood via Nicki Swift. “When I told her I had some really strong feelings for René she tried everything to kill him and make me snap out of it. I was very frustrated and mad at first but she tried to make me understand that this man tried marriage twice before, he has three children, he’s not responsible … I want the perfect Prince Charming for you.”
2014

Image Credit: Photo By: James Atoa/Everett Collection.

In 2014, Céline Dion took another career break to care for René Angélil after his second cancer diagnosis. (She didn’t start her music again until her 2016 album Encore un soir.)
2016

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On Jan 14, 2016, René Angélil died of throat cancer at the age of 73. Per CBC News, he received a service at the Notre-Dame Basilica, where he and Dion were married over 20 years prior. He was later buried at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.
2024

Image Credit: Christina DeOrtentiis/Everett Collection

Celine Dion revealed a lot about their marriage after he passed, including how he was the only man she ever kissed; and how she believes she’s still married eight years after his passing.

“I’m still married to René. He’s still my husband. When we have to travel to my treatments to see my doctors, I always bring pictures [of him],” she said via People. “And we have pictures, of course, all over the place in the house.”