Céline Dion was always known as a charitable and loving person, and her true colors showed when she decided to intervene after various global catastrophes and help out citizens. Céline Dion dedicated a special Mother’s Day performance of her famous and highly successful Las Vegas show titled “A New Day…” and made sure to send all the proceeds to help victims of the Asian Tsunami in late 2014. “Like everyone else in the world, I’ve been devastated by the loss and suffering of so many in South Asia,” said Céline. “As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that they are experiencing. We can all see that it’s going to take a long time for those people to rebuild their lives, and they will need our help for years to come.”
She later donated another $1 million to the American Red Cross for the purpose of helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which hit Florida and Louisiana, causing massive damage and more than 1,200 deaths. She later went on to criticize the United States government for what she perceived as a lack of interest on its part to save citizens while sending troops in the thousands during the Iraq War.
Huge Career Breakthroughs
Céline Dion went from a successful singer to a cultural phenomenon when she released the classic ballad "My Heart Will Go On". The song was written and composed by James Horner and Will Jennings, and ended up becoming the theme song for the iconic 1997 blockbuster Titanic, which featured Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The song became her signature song and got her two Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and the Record of the Year.
Since then, almost everything Céline Dion has done worked out amazingly well, as many of her next albums and singles reached number one in the United States charts. She also had some of the most successful live tours compared to any singer, and all these made for one amazingly successful singing career. Unfortunately, despite being at the top of her career, her husband René was diagnosed with cancer, a fact which she discovered between one of her performance tours. Céline did not let this deter her from performing and doing what she loves, although she did spend a lot more time with her husband until his eventual passing on January 14, 2016, two days before reaching the age of 74.
She Named Her Children After Two People She Admires
Dion and René had relatively low chances of being able to conceive children due to her being 30 at the time and her husband, René being 58 years old. The couple decided to use in-vitro fertilization, a process where an egg is fertilized outside of the body before being inserted back into the womb in. Their first son, who was born in 2001, was called René-Charles Angélil after his father's name.
Her next pregnancy was in 2010 when she was 40 after a few attempts of using in-vitro fertilization. Dion was pregnant with twins and gave birth to the two at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida via cesarean section. The twins were named Eddy, after her favorite French songwriter, Eddy Marnay, who had a big part in launching her career, and Nelson, who was named after former South African President and well-known revolutionary, Nelson Mandela. The mother appeared with her newborn twin sons in the December 9, 2010 cover of the Canadian 'Hello!' Magazine. Their father René passed away on January 14, 2016, due to throat cancer, just six years after the twins were born.
Céline’s Father Was a Huge Part of Her Life
While Céline Dion's mother, Thérèse Dion, was known by many and even launched her media career using the attention she received from helping her daughter, Céline's father, Adhémar-Charles Dion, wasn't nearly as known. Adhemar Dion died at 80 years old after being sick for a long time. Dion and her family were present in the funeral as many fans shouted words of support at her and brought hundreds of flower bouquets. Her father helped provide for the family of 14 children when they were still in a bad financial situation.
Adhémar Dion worked a variety of jobs from forestry to general labor. Some say that he was one of the singer's greatest fans, as described by Michel Jasmin, a popular TV host in Quebec: "He was transformed when Céline stepped on the stage," Jasmin said. "He went from her father to a fan. It was incredible to watch. I saw it time and again." Céline also spoke highly of her father often. She said in an interview on the day of his passing: “My dad was and is still my number one fan since I was a very little girl. I know that my dad would want me to be here tonight on stage with everyone I love, doing what we love.” Her first son’s middle name is the same as her father’s.
She Helped Prepare Her Kids For Their Father’s Eventual Death
When Céline and René became lovers and decided to get married, they already knew that the age gap would likely result in René passing years before his loving wife. She was just 20 when they got married, while he was 47 at the time. Their first child came when he was 57, and the twins arrived when he was already 67 years old with a history of physical illnesses. It's no surprise that René passed away just 6 years later, but their older son and twins will always remember their loving father.
After René passed away from throat cancer in 2016, Céline explained how she prepared her children for their father's eventual early death: “I’m proud of the way I prepared my boys for their dad’s death. In life, you never know what’s going to happen, so you should never wait for tomorrow to do what can be done today, to say I love you, or send a thank-you note…The future is now.” Nowadays the twins are teens, with her oldest son in his twenties. Céline herself is currently in her fifties and healthy, so it looks like she’s going to be spending many more years of her life with her beloved family, and perhaps even get to see a few grandkids along the way.