Celine Dion and Rene Angelil In Los Angeles, United States In March 1990.

After one of Dion's 13 siblings sent a tape of a then 12-year-old Celine singing to Angélil, the well-known music manager invited her to audition in Quebec. "While I was singing, he started to cry," Celine has said. "I knew then I had done a good job." In 1981, Angélil even mortgaged his house to finance her album and took the teen and her mother on tour in Canada, Japan, and Europe.

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Celine Dion and Rene Angelil in Los Angeles in 1990

When Dion was 19, she and Angélil went on their first official date in 1987 (though she admitted that they started seeing each other about a year before that). She didn't announce their relationship until five years later in the liner notes of her album, The Color of My Love. "I was afraid of what people would think," Angélil has admitted of their 26-year age gap. But Celine wanted the truth out there: "When you're in love, you want to scream it to the world."

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DECEMBER 15: Celine Dion's Wedding In Montreal, Canada On December 15, 1994-Celine Dion with husband Rene Angelil.

They got engaged in 1991, even though their romance was still a secret to the world. But her mother did not immediately approve. "It was very difficult for her," Dion revealed. "When I told her I had some really strong feelings for René she tried everything to kill him and make me snap out of it. I was very frustrated and mad at first but she tried to make me understand that this man tried marriage twice before, he has three children, he's not responsible... Then it was so strong that my whole family was in love with him and she had no choice." Eventually, the couple married in a lavish wedding ceremony at Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica on December 17, 1994, which was broadcast live on Canadian television.

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World Music Awards In Monte Carlo, Monaco On May 03, 1995 - Celine Dion and husband Rene Angelil.

Dion's star kept rising, which was great news for the newly married couple and professional partners. (She received a World Music Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco, in May 1995.)

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Celine Rene Oscars 1997

Dion's version of "Beauty and the Beast" won an Oscar and Grammy in 1991, but in 1997, one of her biggest hits — "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic — won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

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In 1998, the couple's world was shaken when Angélil was diagnosed with throat cancer. Despite her demanding career, Dion chose to step back and take a hiatus to focus on her personal life and care for her husband. Looking back on their years of marriage, the star has said they've certainly had tough times: "We had tension between us. It's never easy being husband and wife, but add to that we are in business together, dealing with all the added pressures of shows, concerts, tours, traveling. It was hard – a lot of hard work." 

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In 2000, Celine and René renewed their wedding vows in a traditional Melkite Byzantine ceremony five years after their wedding in Montreal,

Angelil was declared cancer-free in 2000. The couple celebrated by renewing their wedding vows in a traditional Melkite Byzantine ceremony in Las Vegas. Of the elaborate event, Dion said: "It's almost like a show, and we're show business people."

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Pop star Celine Dion stands next to her husband, Rene Angelil, who holds their baby Rene-Charles July 25, 2001 as they arrive at the chapel of the Notre-Dame Basilica in old Montreal, Quebec before the baptism of their 6-month-old baby boy.

Years of difficult fertility treatments finally paid off, and Dion gave birth to son René Charles, the couple's first child, on January 25. The couple baptized the baby that July at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal — the same place where they married years earlier!

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January 26, 2003 Rene Angelil and Celine Dion during Super Bowl XXXVII - Pregame Show at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, United States.

Finally, Dion was ready to resume performing, with a healthy Angélil by her side. In 2002, she released album A New Day Has Come and announced her residency at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. In January 2003, she kicked off the Super Bowl (pictured here) with "God Bless America."

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DECEMBER 15: Singer Celine Dion is embraced by her husband and manager Rene Angelil and their son Rene-Charles Angelil after the final performance of her show 'A New Day...' at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace December 15, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Almost three million people watched Dion perform 717 shows since it opened in March 2003.

More than four years (and 717 performances and nearly three million tickets sold) after her Caesars Palace residency began, Dion hugged Angélil and their son René-Charles at the final show on December 15, 2007. Through the years, the star said they've had to relearn to communicate. "It's lessons that every married couple should know to hold their relationship together... We laugh. We joke. We kid each other. We want our marriage to last forever. Talk over everything and you'll find you are still on the honeymoon."

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After multiple rounds of IVF, Dion and Angélil happily welcomed fraternal twin boys: Nelson, named for South African President Nelson Mandela, and Eddy, named for French songwriter Edd Marnay, arrived on October 23. "My greatest reward is my children," she has said. "Unless you are a mom you don't know what you're missing or what it even is really... It gives you true meaning to your life and it's the most important job. Who cares if people like me as a singer or not, they can find other singers and there will be other singers. But no other mother can be a better mother for my children than me."

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The couple were devastated yet again when Angélil's cancer returned in 2013. (They gave an interview about the diagnosis to Katie Couric in April, 2013, pictured.) That December, he underwent surgery to remove a tumor. The next year, the singer put her career on hold again to care for her longtime love.

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In August, Dion returned to performing in Las Vegas, while Angelil battles cancer at their nearby home. "I didn't want to be here at first," Dion, 47, told USA Today of how her husband of 21 years pushed her to go. "But René really gave me a gift. All my grieving, it was during this last year. I think I've got this. For now. When it hits me, it's going to hit me. But my biggest job is to tell my husband, we're fine. I'll take care of our kids. You'll watch us from another spot." Angélil, 73, has been on a feeding tube for two years, and Dion tries to be strong during his lengthy illness. "I'll say, 'You're scared? I understand. Talk to me about it,'" she said. "And René says to me, 'I want to die in your arms.' OK, fine, I'll be there, you'll die in my arms."