Celine Dion mourns husband René Angélil at open casket visitation

Angelil passed away on January 14 from throat cancer after a long battle with several cancers.

Celine Dion has been joined by thousands of fans, friends, family members, politicians and entertainers in Montreal to say farewell to her husband and manager, Rene Angelil.

Celine Dion and Rene Angelil had one of those once in a lifetime love stories that would be impossible to replace or even compete with.

Dion attended the service and met with mourners who had come to pay their respects.

The crowd inside the church stood as Dion and her children entered and made the somber processional down the aisle toward Angelil’s casket. Dion is also coping with the death of her brother, who died two days after her husband, and he will have his funeral on Saturday.

They will stream the funeral online beginning at 3 PM Friday, and it will be presided over by Christian Lépine, the archbishop of Montreal. And this was her great love, and we had to be there for her. They’re inseparable-they’re like one person, and now she lost half of herself.

The “My Heart Will Go On” singer and the couple’s 5-year-old twin boys Nelson and Eddy were also in mourning at today’s event.

The Funny Girl actress took to Instagram on January 21 to post a throwback photo of her and Celine, along with an emotional note honoring Rene’s tragic passing.

The government of Quebec province offered to hold a “national” funeral – akin to a state funeral – for Angelil.

“I understood that my career was somehow his masterpiece, his song, his symphony to himself”. The idea of leaving it unfinished would have hurt him terribly. “You had a busy life, but we [communicated] through golf, hockey, poker, and smoked meat”, he said, a line that drew a smile from his mother.

Angelil is survived by Dion and their three children, 14-year-old Rene-Charles and their five-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy.