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January is likely always going to be a tough month for Celine Dion. Her husband, Rene, passed away in January of 2016, and her brother Daniel died two days later (on what would have been Rene’s 74th birthday). Celine’s mother, Therese, passed away on Thursday, the anniversary of Daniel’s death. That night, Celine was back on tour in Miami, Florida, and paying tribute to her mom:
“I’m pretty sure that you heard the news about my mom passing away early this morning,” Celine told the crowd, according to footage from the concert obtained by TMZ. “But I’m doing okay.”
“My mom was 92. She was ill for quite a while. And we knew she wouldn’t be with us long,” Celine continued. “Two days ago, we got a call from the nurses who were taking care of her so well, saying that her time was coming soon. Very soon. So last night, I joined my brothers and sisters in Montreal and I spent the evening at her bedside.”
“We told stories. We sang songs. We hugged each other. And we said our goodbyes,” Celine said of the emotional night. “We are pretty sure that mom waited for us to be all together before [she passed].”
The 51-year-old Canadian singer shared a sweet tribute to her mom on Instagram on Friday, confirming that her tour would continue after her mother’s reported death on Thursday.
I know that Celine was very close to her mother. Celine, her mother, and her brother Jacques wrote Celine’s first song (when Celine was 12). That Today link has an Instagram post from Celine celebrating her mother’s 91st birthday. It includes a sweet photo of them singing a song together. I really want to know what they sang!
In light of that, the clip of Celine singing “Over the Rainbow” is incredibly bittersweet. I’m glad that she was able to get to be with her mother before she passed, especially given that Celine is on tour and has an unforgiving schedule. Not that she couldn’t cancel a show, but it’s not necessarily easy to pick up between shows and hop on a plane and get to someone’s bedside quickly. Even if death is expected, it’s still painful, and I hope that getting to be with her mom and her siblings brought Celine some peace. I suppose that touring is therapeutic for Celine and a good distraction, so I just hope that she feels that she has the energy for it and is taking care of herself.
Wow. Now that’s a commitment to fans and appreciation of one’s success certain pop divas could learn from: back on stage the same night, entertaining people who paid for tickets and adjusted their days to see her.
Apart from that, I am happy she was able to say goodbye. I will never forget and will always be grateful to my husband, who realised my dad was about to pass and forced all our family (me and my brother still in denial) to say goodbyes while we still could. It is extremely hard but a gift I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Celine really has had some horrible years with losing her husband and now mother. Hopefully she will get through it with her children and family.
She really looks like her mother doesn’t she?
I’m glad she had a peaceful, loving parting with her Mum. Be strong, Tante Céline.
I feel so sorry that she has faced so much loss lately. I also read that her mother was furious about Rene basically grooming her from such a young age, and was NOT behind their relationship when she found out about it. I can’t imagine having to find out that the man you trusted with your child’s career had intentions of marrying her. I also can’t imagine being in Celine’s shoes.
Honestly, I’d love for this woman to never have anything bad happen to her again. She just seems like SUCH a lovely human, and she’s so goofy and fun. I just want to see her achieve whatever she wants.
I am glad to hear that about her mom’s feelings towards Rene. I’ve always wondered about the family, and whether they were ok with it, leaned into it, or what. It was such a different time (as far as how people thought of that kind of thing, much less how it would have been covered in the press).
I hope she has peace and gets to enjoy herself and some of what she missed out on by following her career path so early.
I’m glad she got to be with her Mom and family.
When my dad passed away four months ago I was able to be by his side for the last few days as we knew it was the end. As painful as it was, I’ll cherish those memories forever. My mom and my sister were there as well and we all got closure, even if it always feels too soon. Celine is indeed the consummate professional. I just hope she gets to have some time to process her feelings as well.
I saw Joan Jett the night her mum died. She almost fell at the end of the concert and someone helped her off stage. It broke my heart. Care to Celine.
Oh. This reminds me of when Joannie Rochette’s mother died and she had to skate in the olympics. So sad 😭. At least Celine’s mom lived a good long life.
Coincedendly Celine was Joannie’s mom favorite singer and she scated to Celine’s song in exhibition.
I lost my mom this past Sunday. I’ve always hated January and I thought that if we could just get past January, then we would have more time together.
So sorry for your loss. My mom died on New Year’s Eve several years ago; I really hate Januarys, too.
That last picture is Celine’s sister Louise, not her mom
Wow. I just saw her show Tuesday night in Charlotte NC and I had no idea she’d just lost her mother. Not only was her performance fantastic, but her inner beauty just shines through. She’s amazing.