René Angelil

René Angélil spent his professional life orchestrating the career of Céline Dion, one of pop music's best-selling artists of all time, yet his personal life proved that he was also a survivor. He was born on Jan. 16, 1942 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Before working as a music producer, Angélil sang with Les Baronets, which was commonly called "Québec's Beatles" in the 1960s. After the group disbanded, Angélil began managing artists, including pop superstar and Grammy-winning artist Céline Dion. They started working together when she was 12 and he was 38; he reportedly signed her on immediately after hearing her demo tape. The couple began dating after she turned 19 and were married in 1994. As Dion's manager, Angélil guided her career, whether she was recording one of her timeless ballads like "My Heart Will Go On" (1997) or performing live during her widely successful musical production "A New Day " (2003-07) in Las Vegas. Yet, in spite of his professional success, Angélil's personal life was rocky. The couple endured many attempts at in-vitro fertilization before the births of their children. In early 2000, Angélil was diagnosed with throat cancer, and recovered before the birth of their first child, René-Charles. Angélil also had his share of legal troubles, including being falsely accused of rape in 2003 by a woman who was later charged with extortion. In 2012, he appeared in the film "Omertà," based on the popular crime drama series of the same name.