Celine Dion's Son Has Grown Up To Be Gorgeous
Celine Dion is undoubtedly an international superstar. With an enviable music career that spans decades, the Canadian singer has charmed fans from around the world with her voice. However, she has made it clear through the years that her family continues to be what is most important to her. Dion had three children with her late husband René Angélil, the young twins Nelson and Eddy and their eldest son, René-Charles. Time has flown since that first whirlwind pregnancy, and René-Charles is all grown up — he turned 20 in January 2021.
As you right imagine, he's no longer the cute, little, long-haired boy we saw in photos at his mom's knee. René-Charles isn't in the spotlight nearly as much as his show-stopping mother, but he's making his way in the world at his own pace, in his own way. And there's still plenty interesting about him. As he starts the adult phase of his life, we're all wondering how he got to where he is now. Here's a look at how the Celine Dion's oldest son became the gorgeous young man he is today.
A miracle baby
Celine Dion didn't start planning to have a family until she was in her 30s, which is widely considered by the medical community to be a more difficult age to conceive a child. Compounded with that were her husband René Angélil's own medical issues. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 and was thus undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, forcing them to freeze some of his sperm. However, his sperm count was apparently already too low for standard IVF (in-vitro fertilization) treatment.
After a specialized procedure known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, Dion finally completed a successful pregnancy. René-Charles Angélil was born in Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, Fla. on Jan. 25, 2001. According to David Foster, a record producer and close family friend, it was a long-awaited joy. "This was their dream," he told People. "It's bigger than any hit record, bigger than anything for them." The couple had waited a long time for René-Charles Angelil to come into the world, and they were overjoyed at his arrival.
Part of a big family
The Dion family goes much farther than just Celine Dion and her children. Dion is the youngest of 14 kids. The amount of children no doubt stressed the family's already struggling financials, as their father worked as a butcher for $167 a week. "We were safe and warm and taken care of. Three or four of us in the same bed was normal to us," Dion told Vanity Fair. "We were given love and affection and support. What else did we need?"
It all appears to have been for the best, though, as now René-Charles has a whopping 13 aunts and uncles to dote on him. As soon as he was brought home to Quebec from the hospital, he was known as "Le Petit Prince" in the house, which means "The Little Prince" in French. Dion's sister Liette told People, "[Celine] won't be seeing much of her little boy. Everyone will want to hold him!"
Big brother
Nearly 10 years after René-Charles' miraculous birth, his mother gifted him with not one but two siblings — Dion gave birth to twin boys on Oct. 23, 2010. By now, though, at the age of 42, Celine was starting to feel the exhaustion of motherhood and had to focus on the babies over René-Charles. "My little boy, René-Charles, has a fever and I want to be there for him but I am breastfeeding the babies every two-and-a-half hours," she told Hello! Canada (via The Daily Mail).
Even at the young age of 10, René-Charles showed he was mature enough to be a supportive big brother. "He was an amazing trooper. Very sensitive," Dion said to Oprah magazine. "For every trial, he was with us emotionally." However, he was hilariously less than impressed with his new siblings when they finally arrived. "René-Charles is looking at them like, 'Mom the only thing they do is look around and cry,"' Dion admitted. However, it looks like he eventually came around to the value of family. Celine's Instagram is full of loving photos of the entire family together.
A gender neutral upbringing
The regional Quebec press had a very weird fascination with René-Charles' hair when he was growing up. The articles constantly asked why Celine Dion let her sons grow their hair so long. That was just the first sign of the public's bafflement with the Dion parenting style. In 2013 Dion went on Katie, Katie Couric's talk show, and revealed that one of the twins, Nelson, liked running around in high heels. "I don't know how he does it, but I'm not the only one in this family who loves shoes, believe me," Dion joked.
The internet responded with its usual tact, but Dion didn't — and still doesn't — seem to care. In 2018 she launched her gender-neutral line of children's clothing, Celinununu. As she told CNN, she was inspired by her experiences raising René-Charles and the twins. "I thought they were going to go for the big superheroes. They were looking at princesses. And they all wanted to be Minnie Mouse," she said. "And I end up saying to myself, 'You know what, it's OK.' You know why it's OK? Because they're talking, they're finding themselves." René-Charles was able to grow up without a hard focus on gender expectations.
Mom tried to shield him from the press
It should come as no surprise now that Celine is very passionate about her family. "I'm still on stage because I still love that part of my life," she told Taste of Life, "but what I'm most proud of, what I consider my biggest success, is my family — my three beautiful children." Thus, when it was ever a choice between family and fame, she always chose the former. She made sure René-Charles and his brothers got to have as much of a normal upbringing as possible.
"I always say to the bodyguards when we go bowling, for example, 'If the fans come, don't tell them no. But ask them if they can wait because I'm having a moment with my child, and if they don't mind waiting, I will be pleased to give them an autograph if they want," she told Oprah. Furthermore, she apparently built a private home in Florida where the entire family, including her parents and 13 siblings, could enjoy each other in peace. René-Charles likely didn't have to suffer through sharing one bathroom with all of them, though!
Dad was sick for much of his life
René Angélil had recovered from his initial battle with throat cancer in 1999, but in 2013, the horrible disease reared its ugly head again. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor in winter of that year, but the cancer did not subside. For the last two years of his life, he would eat through a feeding tube with steadily declining health. At the time, René-Charles was still just a young teenager.
Celine opened up about her son's experience to Us Weekly. "I have tremendous respect for my oldest, René-Charles, because he's showing strength to see his dad this way, because he's been his anchor," she said. "When he was younger he knew his dad was older but they bonded a lot. I'm sure it's hard for him." René Angélil sadly passed away at the age of 73 on Jan. 14, 2016. René-Charles gave the eulogy at his own father's funeral, demonstrating strength and maturity at such a young age.
A normal sports-focused teen
Despite his celebrity parents, René-Charles grew into a pretty average teenage boy. He joined up with the local hockey teams (unsurprising considering his parents' Canadian roots), thus, bringing about this adorable picture of him getting all dapper with his teammate. It wasn't just hockey he was into, either — he can be seen enjoying a few rounds of golf on his Instagram. Outside of that, he seems to enjoy hanging out with his friends — just like any other teen.
It appears as if Celine Dion's down-to-earth parenting has paid off, and she couldn't be more proud. "He's a wonderful young man. He's entered his teenage years and sometimes we can go really crazy, for some teenagers, but so far so good," she told Us Weekly. While the death of his father obviously impacted him, Celine made sure that her son was able to move on with his life. "I said to [René-Charles], 'I never want you to feel the pressure of being the man of the house,'" she told Extra in 2017 (via The Daily Mail). "'You have your own dreams and he is always with you in your heart and I am here for you.'"
He's a hockey fan like his mom
René-Charles might have spent most of his childhood in Nevada, but there is Canadian blood running through his veins. As mentioned before, he was a part of his local hockey team. Off the ice, though, he also enjoyed watching the sport. There's a shoutout to René-Charles and his mom from the Canadian professional hockey player P.K. Subban on Instagram, where he says that Dion is a "big Habs fan." The Habs are what fans call the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL team that Subban got his start in and which launched his professional career.
It looks like René-Charles gets a lot of love from mom when it comes to his own hockey endeavors. There's hilarious footage of Celine Dion, darling of Canada and five-time Grammy winner, dancing it up hockey-mom style at one of her son's games in Montreal. She's even sporting a jersey with his name and number on it. It's beyond adorable. According to René-Charles' eulogy, his departed father also had a love of the sport. It looks like this is one family tradition that's still going strong.
He speaks French
If only all of us grew up with the bilingual upbringing that René-Charles had. As once evidenced by his Instagram, he is fluent in French, translating many of his posts into the romantic language. He also began his moving eulogy for his father in French. It all makes perfect sense, though, given his parents' French-Canadian heritage. Not to mention, his mother's native tongue is French. At first she could only speak a little English. Grammy-winning producer David Foster recalled the first time he heard Dion sing, she was "belting out Top 40 hits, singing words and she didn't even know what she was saying. She didn't speak hardly any English at all at that point." Since then, she has released several albums in both English and French.
However, it looks like René-Charles did not have to go through that same struggle. Dion, along with her large extended family, have been shown speaking to her children in French while they're still young, introducing them early. Clearly, they all grew up in a two-language household. René-Charles already has a leg up on most Americans. Perhaps he can become a real renaissance man in the years to come.
Hanging with celebrities
He may have had a down-to-earth upbringing, but René-Charles did get a few celebrity perks in his life. He attended the Billboard Music Awards in 2016, giving his mom the Icon Award in a surprise appearance. While witnessing his mom's emotional performance, he managed to rub elbows with other celebrities like Rihanna.
A year later he returned to the 2017 Billboard Music Awards and meet up with even more stars. He met up with the popular band BTS after they had just won the award for Top Social Artist. René-Charles' Instagram used to show off pictures of the young teen hanging with big names like Drake, DJ Khaled, and Miley Cyrus.
Then, in August 2018, he took a snapshot with rapper Post Malone and Khalid at the Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal. Considering all these appearances, it should come as no surprise that René-Charles has a passion for music, and even released some of his own tunes under the name Big Tip. He clearly doesn't mind taking advantage of his position to hang with his favorite artists.
Keeping dad's memory alive
As mentioned before, René-Charles gave the eulogy at his father's funeral. The speech shows nothing but love and strength in the face of tragedy. "Fifteen years is not a long time for a son to get to know his father," he said to the congregation. "You had a busy life, but we were communicating through golf, hockey, poker and smoked meat... and a lot of other wonderful food, bonding more and more as time went by."
He went on to assure loved ones that he would keep his father's memory alive in the young twins, Nelson and Eddy. "You left me now with enough good memories of you to share with my younger brothers. As they grow older, without you being around, I'll make sure to pass on what I've learned from you." The whole Angelil family appears to have kept this promise and keeps Rene's memory alive every single day. Dion told The Sun in 2017 that she and her sons have a ritual to "kiss [their dad] every night... [and] say goodnight to him with a little picture."
According to mom, dad is still with René-Charles in the deepest way; she wrote to her oldest son in an Instagram post for his 18th birthday: "Your father continues to guide you, helping you to make the right choices."
A budding rap career
The music gene continues to be strong in the Dion family. In May 2018, René-Charles dropped six songs onto his SoundCloud, four original rap songs and two covers of The Weeknd's songs, under the name Big Tip. The covers hit No. 1 and two of the Canadian Soundcloud R&B charts for that week. He quickly shared his success with mom. "I played it to her for the first time (Wednesday)," he told the Montreal Gazette. "I just felt like keeping it on the low. But she loved it. She was just kind of stunned at first, because she'd never heard anything from me."
Critics were skeptical of the teen's privilege as the son of a famous artist, but René-Charles is not interested in using his mom's connections. He said to the Montreal Gazette, "I could have been like, 'Hey mom, I'm kind of into this music stuff, let's do something about it.' But I wanted to prove to myself that I'm able to do it. Not just because my mom is who my mom is." There's no telling where his very young career will go.
Mom stresses about her baby growing up
On Jan. 25, 2019, René-Charles turned 18 years old. Like countless of other parents before her, Celine worries for his future. In an interview with Dan Wootton on Lorraine, Celine joked, "The girls are starting to come now, I'm starting to be stressed out." It's possible this is due to her own difficulties growing up and dating René Angélil — who was 28 years her senior. She admitted to Access Hollywood, "If I reversed roles... RC, if I think of him and he comes [to me] with this lady who has kids and she's 45 and she think she knows best, [I'd be] like, 'Take your hand off of my son.'"
Mama bear instincts aside, she trusts him enough to make good decisions. In that same interview on Lorraine, she said, "He does stuff sometimes that, I have to say, I don't necessarily agree with what he chooses to try, but as long as he's using his intelligence and his brain, I trust him. But I'm very, very proud of him!" Along with the good vibes from his dad and mom's love, René-Charles has everything he needs to prepare for the challenges of life ahead of him.
Celine Dion's son reemerged as RC Angelil
In December 2020, René-Charles took to Instagram to share his new, heavily-bearded look and tease that music was "on the way." Less than a month later, Casino.5 debuted on January 11. The EP contained tracks "Mamba Mentality," "Money, Thrills, and Rest," "NO Ls," "GG4 (feat. PAKKA)" and "LV," all in René-Charles's unique hip-hop styling. As People noted, his mother gushed over him in her Instagram Stories, expressing how proud she was and noting, "It touches me deeply that one of his passions is also one of mine," while also including a link to the EP.
The Las Vegas Review Journal enthused, "Angelil has produced an energetic, high-velocity verbal sprint peppered with references to his hometown of Las Vegas" particularly in "LV," which is a love letter to Sin City. In keeping with his super-cool new image, René-Charles also adopted the moniker "RC Angélil." His mother, however, seems to have always called him RC. On the musician's 20th birthday, Celine posted a sweet photo of her placing her hand lovingly on his face with a caption advising, "Remember to never stop believing in yourself, because I believe in you."