Rene Angelil will always be remembered asCeline Dion’s adoring husband and manager.
Their relationship withstood the test of time, and despite all the naysayers, they made it work.
Their 26-year age difference was somewhat unusual, and Angelil had been married twice before.
Dion toldAccess Hollywood, “For my mom, he was not the prince charming the ideal prince charming.
It was very difficult.”
He was a man with various interests and talents, many of which were outside the entertainment industry.
Let’s take a deep dive into what you never knew about Rene Angelil.
The experience he gained on stage no doubt later aided him in managing artists as brilliantly as he did.
If you had no idea that Angelil had been part of the trio, well, now you know.
1 on the local charts in 1964.
But Angelil didn’t spend a lot of time crying into his pillow.
Instead, he went into the business of managing artists full time.
He was a pro at gambling
Lady luck smiled on Rene Angelil for most of his life.
He was as good at putting on a poker face as he was at managing artists.
So much so that he qualified for several poker tournaments and tours.
Angelil didn’t just gamble at the poker table.
He took some crazy chances in his career too.
The biggest gamble he took was probably in 1980 when he heard a demo of Dion singing.
His gamble paid off: A No.
She wasn’t the only artist he managed, though.
When Angelil met Dion, he had already been managing artists for20 years.
One of those artists was Ginette Reno, also from Quebec.
Angelil had a knack for finding vocal powerhouses, and Reno went on to have great success as well.
Rene Simard, who is still making music to this day, is another artist Angelil managed.
Clearly, Angelil had very good instincts when it came to managing artists.
Dion admitted that she’d been in love with him long before they shared that first kiss.
About three years later, they got engaged, and they finally tied the knot in 1994.
Their fairytale continued for more than two decades.
We have the same goals.
We respect each other."
Angelil echoed this sentiment in an interview withHello!magazine, saying, “I needed her.
And she needed someone like me.
We found each other and we never let go.”
Yun Kyeong Kwon Sung accused Angelil of fondling her in 2000.
Despite the agreement, he never admitted to any sort of wrongdoing.
As it turned out, they were knee-deep in gambling debt.
Angelil seemed thrilled to have acquired the prestigious restaurant.
His miraculous recovery is probably what made him decide to appear in a music video honoring cancer survivors.
Angelil had been cancer-free for nearly a decade at the time the video was shot.
Unfortunately, he didn’t stay in remission forever.
In 2013, his throat cancer returned.
He shared the devastating news with Celine Dion right before a show that December, as noted byABC News.
Despite his progressing illness, Angelil wanted Dion to start shows again, so she did for a while.
In the end, she decided to stay home to be there for him.
She told ABC News, “He can’t eat so I feed him.
He’s got a feeding tube.
I have to feed him three times a day.”
She recalled a moment between her and Angelil during which she said to him, “You’re scared?
Talk to me about it.”
And he replied, “I want to die in your arms.”
Unfortunately, that’s not exactly how things panned out for them.
The singer rushed to his bedside to say her last goodbyes before he was taken away.
She toldPeople, “I got on my knees and I kissed him.
It was the coldest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life, but it was amazing.
I said, ‘Promise me not to worry.
I’m fine, the kids are great, we’re gonna be okay.
It’s enough suffering.
Just go in peace.'”
Angelil’s love for Dion continued to show even after he was gone.
Dad, I promise you here that we’re all going to live up to your standards."
Tributes poured in from far and wide.
“Generous, kind, and gifted.”
That’s how Trevor Payne, the founder of the Montreal Jubilation Choir, remembers Angelil (viaCBC).
