This morning, singer Celine Dion made the heartbreaking announcement that her husband of almost two decades, Rene Angelil, was dying from throat cancer. “I didn’t want to be here at first, I don’t need it. Don’t get me wrong, I love singing for people, but I have priorities”, Dion, 47, tells USA Today. “All my grieving, it was during this past year. But they say they don’t know”.
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Rene was diagnosed with throat cancer for a second time in 2013, and is now being cared for at their Las Vegas home.
Recalling their conversation, she said: “I’ll say, ‘You’re scared?”
“And René says to me, ‘I want to die in your arms.’ OK, fine, I’ll be there, you’ll die in my arms”.
Dion returns to the stage August. 27 at Caesars Palace and admits it will be tough at first. “There will be moments”.
And, as she continues to care for Angelil, Dion says she’s determined to stay strong for her husband until the end. “But that’s the point of coming back – otherwise, I just release an album”.
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Dion said that her eldest son with Angelil, who she met at the age of 12 and married in 1994, has a hard time seeing his father in his ill state. The “My Heart Will Go On” singer opened up in a new interview about her husband’s final wish, and how she assured him that when his time comes, he will die in her arms. She previously revealed her husband must be fed through a tube, and told USA Today he is living at their Las Vegas home following several procedures in Boston. They have three children together; Rene-Charles, 14 and twins Nelson and Eddy, 4. I got it. I’m here. “Sometimes he just wants me to enter into a different place with him”, she shared. “René really gave me a gift”, she told the outlet. Her husband insisted that she return to the stage. “Afterwards, sure. But not yet”.
