The Power of Love: Céline Dion's life after loss
By Kaye Foley
Eight months after the passing of her beloved husband and manager, René Angelil, and her brother, Daniel, to cancer, Céline Dion is—as the title of her newest single says—recovering.
The pop icon, whose next leg of her Las Vegas residency starts Sept. 20, sat down with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric to speak about dealing with loss and moving forward with her children. She also discussed her greatest hits, her new French album, her upcoming English album, and her deep bond with her fans.
Related: Why Céline Dion says the movie “Up” saved her life
“It was hard to go back on stage even when he was struggling with his last weeks,” Dion said of Angelil. “Before leaving, he wanted to make sure that this thing had started again. ‘She’s back on track. It’s working. People are responding.’ I think he checked things out, made sure everything is OK.”
The biggest song of Dion’s career, “My Heart Will Go On,” almost didn’t, in fact, go on. She didn’t like the song at first, but Angelil persuaded her to at least make a demo. The rest is history.
“That day, I did not warm up my voice. I just took a black coffee with sugar,” Dion explained, demonstrating how the caffeine affected her sound. But that didn’t stop her rendition from becoming a worldwide smash hit. “I never re-sang the song. They took that version, and they built an orchestra around it.”
With more than 20 years of hits, Dion said that although she sometimes gets tired of her repertoire, she’ll never stop singing the songs because of how happy they make her fans.
“I cannot erase what got me here today,” she said. “I’m stuck with these songs for the rest of my life, in a good way.”
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