Four months after the passing of Rene Angelil, Celine Dion is speaking publicly about the devastating loss, and how her husband gave her the strength to move on after his death from cancer.
In her first English-language TV interview since his death, the superstar singer spoke to ABC News about the loss of her husband and manager. Angelil, who battled throat cancer for years before succumbing to the illness, died in January at 73.
In the interview, part of which aired on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, Dion described Angelil’s passing in the early-morning hours of Jan. 14.
“I started to talk to him, and I said, ‘You know what? I want you to just go in peace,’” Dion said she told Angelil. “‘I want you to not worry. You were worrying for my career, you were worrying for the children, you were worrying for everything. It’s enough. I promise you, we’re going to be OK.’”
Dion said one of the biggest challenges was explaining Angelil’s death to the couple’s youngest sons, five-year-old twin boys Nelson and Eddie, who are now adjusting to life without their father.
“Before I talked to them about how their dad was not there, I talked to them about how everybody gets sick,” Dion said, adding that she used the animated film “Up” to explain to the children what had happened.
“I said: ‘Today, you know, papa went up,’” Dion said.
The boys still say goodnight to “papa” every night before going to bed, she said.
Two days after Angelil’s death, Dion was hit with another loss: Her brother Daniel died.
“My brother, who passed away of pretty much the same cancer as (Angelil), died on Rene’s birthday,” Dion said. “And I said to myself, ‘For his birthday, my husband came and got my brother, because my brother was too weak to fly on his own.”
Dion first met Angelil as a young girl and aspiring Quebec singer. He became her manager and soon after, Dion skyrocketed to international fame, becoming one of the most recognizable singers in the world. They were married in a lavish wedding in Montreal in 1994.
Dion said after Angelil’s death she would constantly wonder how her husband, who managed her career for 30 years, would handle certain situations, such as selecting songs for shows.
“But after a while, am I going to have signs all the time, or do I have to make decisions as a woman, as a mother, as an artist?” Dion said.
Dion said it was painful to watch Angelil “suffer,” as he became more ill, but now she has found peace.
“Today, for me, it’s like I don’t live with him physically, but I live with him inside of me,” she said.
Dion is set to attend the Billboard Music Awards next week, where she will receive the Icon Award. According to reports, Dion is set to release a new French-language single next week, titled “Encore un soir.”
