René Angélil (; – ) was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager and singer. He was the husband and manager of singer
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
.
Early life
Angélil was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father of
Syrian
Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
descent and a mother of
Lebanese origin. His father, Joseph Angélil, was born in Montreal to parents from Damascus, Syria, and his mother, Alice Sara, was born in Montreal to Lebanese parents. He was the older of two children; he had a brother. Both of his parents were members of the
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church (, ''Kanīsat ar-Rūm al-Malakiyyīn al-Kāṯūlīk''; ; ), also known as the Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catho ...
. Angélil studied at Collège Saint-Viateur (high school), in
Outremont and at Collège André-Grasset (post secondary), in Montreal.
Career
Angélil started out in 1961 as a pop singer in Montreal. He formed a pop rock group, , with childhood friends Pierre Labelle and Jean Beaulne. Les Baronets had some hits during the 1960s, mostly translations of English-language pop hits from the United Kingdom or the United States, such as 'C'est fou, mais c'est tout' in 1964 (a translation of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' song
Hold Me Tight). After the dissolution of the group in 1972, Angélil and best friend
Guy Cloutier began managing artists.
Together they managed the career of two successful Québec entertainers
René Simard and
Ginette Reno
Ginette Reno (born Ginette Raynault; 28 April 1946) is a Canadian people, Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She has received nominations for the Genie Award, Genie and Gemini Awards and is a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. She is a ...
, among many other pop stars at the time. They parted ways in 1981 to each become solo managers. In 1981 (not long after being terminated as Ginette's manager and considering leaving the music business to pursue law school), René heard
Celine Dion's demo tape
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
when he was considered as a potential producer for her album. He soon took over as her agent.
He continued as her manager until June 2014, when he stepped down because he had cancer.
Angélil became one of several co-owners of Montreal's iconic
Schwartz's Deli in 2012.
He has also had occasional acting roles in film and television, notably a supporting role in ''
Sex in the Snow (Après-ski)'' and a leading role in ''
The Apparition (L'Apparition)''.
Personal life
In 1966, Angélil married his first wife, Denyse Duquette. Their son Patrick was born in 1968, and they divorced in 1972. He married singer
Anne Renée in 1974; they had two children, then divorced in 1986. Their daughter, Anne-Marie, married singer
Marc Dupré in 2000.
Angélil was sent a tape of then 12-year-old singer
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
and invited her to audition in Quebec. He began managing her career, taking the teen and her mother on tour in Canada, Japan and Europe. He mortgaged his house to finance her first album in 1981.
Angélil and Dion began a personal relationship in 1988 when she was twenty years old. Their first date took place the night Celine won the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
on 30 April 1988. Her mother was vehemently opposed to the union due to their 26-year age gap and his previous failed marriages. However, she eventually relented as most of the family was supportive. The couple married on 17 December 1994. The lavish wedding ceremony at Montreal's
Notre-Dame Basilica was broadcast live on Canadian television.
After Angélil was diagnosed with
throat cancer
Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...
in 1999, and before beginning radiation treatment, the couple turned to in-vitro fertilisation. Their efforts were extensively publicised. Their son René-Charles Angélil was born on 25 January 2001. Dion suffered a miscarriage in 2009, then gave birth to twin boys on 23 October 2010. The boys were named Eddy after
Eddy Marnay, who produced Dion's first five albums, and Nelson Angélil after former South African president
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
.
Angélil and Dion were huge fans of the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...
NHL hockey team, and were good friends of former
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...
/
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...
president and general manager
Pierre Lacroix.
Montreal Jubilation Choir founder Trevor Payne has said that "backstage, out of the eye of the general public, they were the kindest, most down-to-earth superstars that I've ever known in my entire career."
Defamation suit
In 2001, Angélil and Dion filed a $5million defamation lawsuit against the Quebec tabloid ''Allô Vedettes'', which claimed that the couple paid $5,001 to rent the swimming pool of
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks.
Caesar ...
in Las Vegas so that Dion could sunbathe topless and Angélil could go skinny dipping. The couple strenuously denied the claim.
Gambling
Angélil was an avid
poker
Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
player, having qualified for the 2005
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, and finishing
in the money
''In the Money'' is a 1958 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on February 16, 1958, by Monogram Pictures, Allied Artists Pictures and is the 48th and final film in the series. It ...
at the 2007 Mirage Poker Showdown event on the
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...
, a series of high-stakes tournaments. Angélil was also rumoured to be a dedicated gambler away from the poker table. He reportedly gambled upwards of $1million a week at Caesars Palace, and kept a line of credit for the same amount at
Bellagio. In 2007,
Jan Jones, a casino executive and the former mayor of Las Vegas, claimed that Angélil gambled $1million a week, but later retracted the statement. Caesars Palace later released a statement of Angélil's gambling losses and wins with his permission.
Later life, illness and death
Angélil suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in 1991 at age 49. In 1999, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, and made a full recovery after treatment.
He appeared in the video for
Simple Plan's song "
Save You" as a survivor of cancer. In 2009, Angélil reportedly underwent a planned, heart-related medical procedure to deal with arterial blockage.
Angélil had surgery in December 2013 for throat cancer. In June 2014, Angélil stepped down as Dion's manager to focus on his health, but was still involved in business decisions related to her career. In September 2015, Dion announced that Angélil's cancer had progressed and that he had only "months to live". Angélil died on 14 January 2016, of throat cancer, two days before his 74th birthday. He received a "national funeral" service at
Notre-Dame Basilica from the
government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...
on 22 January, and was buried at the
Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (, ) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Ro ...
.
Following Angélil's death, Dion became the sole owner and president of her management and production companies, including CDA Productions and Les Productions Feeling.
Legacy and honours
*1987 and 1988:
Félix Award for Manager of the Year.
*June 2009: awarded the
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...
, as Chevalier
*July 2013: awarded
the Order of Canada.
*22 January 2016: flags flew at
half-mast on Quebec and Montreal government buildings in his memoriam and an official national funeral of the Quebec government was held in
Notre-Dame Basilica
*15 February 2016: honoured by
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
during its annual '
In Memoriam' tribute.
*14 May 2021: asteroid
241364 Reneangelil, discovered by amateur astronomer
Michel Ory at his observatory in Switzerland in 2008, was by the
Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature in his memory.
Representation in other media
*In July 2008, Angélil was named the fictional principal for the reality television show ''
Star Académie's'' fourth season in 2009.
He filled the principal role in the show's two separate runs in 2009 and 2012.
*Angélil was portrayed by actor
Enrico Colantoni
Enrico Colantoni (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian-American actor and director, best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom '' Just Shoot Me!'', Keith Mars on the television series ''Veronica Mars'', Louis Utz on the short-lived ...
in a 2008 television biopic of Dion, ''
Céline''.
*In the 2021 film ''
Aline'', directed by and starring
Valérie Lemercier and loosely based on Dion's life, the character representing Angélil was portrayed by
Sylvain Marcel, an actor from Dion's hometown of Charlemagne.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelil, Rene
1942 births
2016 deaths
Businesspeople from Montreal
Canadian Melkite Greek Catholics
Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States
Canadian gamblers
Canadian people of Lebanese descent
Canadian people of Syrian descent
Canadian poker players
Canadian pop singers
Deaths from cancer in Nevada
Celine Dion
Deaths from laryngeal cancer in the United States
Francophone Quebec people
French-language singers of Canada
Members of the Order of Canada
Canadian music managers
Singers from Montreal
Officers of the National Order of Quebec
Deaths from throat cancer in the United States
Middle Eastern Christians
Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery