René Angélil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

René Angélil (born January 16, 1942 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian of Syrian ancestry. He is the husband and manager of Canadian singer Céline Dion. He studied in the College Grasset and Les Clercs de Saint-Viateur in Outremont, Montreal.

He started out as a pop singer in the 1960s in Montréal, Angélil formed a pop rock group, "The Baronets", with childhood friend Pierre Labelle and Jean Beaulne, who were known as "Quebec's Beatles." This group had some hits in the 1960's as "C'est Fou, Mais c'est Tout" (a translation of the Beatle's "Hold Me Tight") catering to the short-lived Québec market for translations of English language pop hits from the United Kingdom or the United States. After the dissolution of the group, René Angélil began managing artists. He managed the career of two successful Quebec entertainers René Simard and Ginette Reno.

Not long after being replaced as Ginette's manager, in 1981 he heard Celine Dion's demo tape. In 1987 and 1988, he won the Felix Award of manager of the year.

On December 17, 1994, after over 13 years of managing her, he married Celine, who is his third wife. Their son, René-Charles Dion Angélil, was born on January 25, 2001. René also has three other children from previous marriages, the oldest of which is the same age as Dion.

He suffered from throat cancer (resulting in Dion temporarily halting her career to be with him), but has recovered. He is also a keen poker player, and qualified for the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, and has also played on TV.

Marriages:

-1966: first wife Denyse Duquette: father of Patrick Angélil (born in 1968, same year his future wife Celine Dion was born)

-1970: second wife Manon Kirouac, called Anne-Renee on the stage (she was a singer): father of Jean-Pierre Angélil (born in 1974) and Anne-Marie Angélil (born in 1977)

-1994: third wife Celine Dion: father of René-Charles Dion Angélil (born in 2001)