Celine Dion sat down with Abc News’ Deborah Roberts for her first television interview since husband René Angélil died in January 2016. Angélil suffered multiple medical conditions and most recently, the progression of throat cancer.
Dion spoke about the final words to her husband, “I started to tell him, ‘You know what? I want you to just go in peace. 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. Do you trust me? Please do. Trust me. The kids are fine. I’m fine. I promise you we’re gonna be okay. Please leave in peace. I don’t want you to worry.”
After his passing, she needed to gather the strength and tell their three children. She explained, “I talked about when we, everybody, gets sick. Then I said, ‘Do you remember the movie ‘Up?’ It’s one of our favorite. ‘Oh,’ they said. ‘Yes, Ellie went up. You know, she, with the balloons.’ I said, ‘Well, yeah… You know, today Papa went up.’… The only thing I wanted is for them to say ‘up.’ Up is a good thing. Up is uplifting.”
Dion will perform at the Billboard Music Awards soon and recently sat down for an interview with People. She revealed to the magazine, “René always insisted the show must go on. You know what? I’m 48 years old and I lost the love of my life. I miss him a lot from when he was great but not when he was suffering. I cannot be selfish. You have to let people go. I feel at peace.”