Céline Dion has marked the milestone of what would have been her 30th wedding anniversary with René Angélil in a heartfelt tribute to the late music mogul. Angélil passed away from throat cancer on January 14, 2016, just two days shy of his 74th birthday, leaving a void in Dion’s life and the lives of their three children.
The 56-year-old singer shared a deeply emotional message on Instagram, accompanied by a photo from their wedding day in 1994. The stunning black-and-white image shows a young Dion in her bridal veil, gazing lovingly into Angélil’s eyes while he tenderly holds her. “You still fill our hearts, every day. You are everything for us. We miss you so much. Happy 30th anniversary, mon amour,” she wrote in the caption, signing it from herself and their three children: René-Charles, 23, and 14-year-old twins, Nelson and Eddy.
The connection between Céline Dion and René Angélil was fated to be, with their paths first crossing in 1980 when a 12-year-old Dion auditioned for him. From that moment on, Angélil became her manager, and they spent the next seven years working side by side before their romantic relationship blossomed in 1987. Dion, then 19, was initially reluctant to reveal the romance, fearing public judgment.
“I was afraid of what people would think,” she confessed in an interview with *People* in 1994. However, once she embraced her love for Angélil, she was eager to shout it from the rooftops. “When you’re in love, you want to scream it to the world,” Dion explained.
After two years of engagement, the couple made their relationship public. “When I was at the age to be able to say to people [we were together] … It was like bang! Love! Love always wins,” Dion later reflected in her memoir.
The couple’s wedding on December 17, 1994, was a spectacle, held at Montréal’s Notre-Dame Basilica and broadcast live across Canada. Reflecting on the event years later, Dion fondly reminisced about the grand affair, telling *Vogue* in April 2024, “This is a moment that will be with me for the rest of my life. The dress couldn’t have been big enough. I could’ve had three times the size on my head. I could’ve had six different dresses that night because he [Angélil] was, and still is, such a wonderful human being. He brought [out] the best in me. He really did.”
Just four years after their wedding, René Angélil was diagnosed with throat cancer. In 2000, the couple joyously shared the news that Angélil had been declared cancer-free, celebrating their renewed love with a vow renewal ceremony in Las Vegas. However, tragedy struck again in 2014 when Angélil’s cancer returned, and he eventually passed away in 2016.
In the years that followed, Dion faced her own health struggles, including her diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome in 2022. Yet, she has remained steadfast in her love for Angélil, keeping his memory alive. In June, she shared with *People* that she always brings pictures of him during her treatments, and their home is filled with images of him.
“I’m still married to René. He’s still my husband,” she said, reaffirming that he will always hold a special place in her heart. “He will always be.”
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