Celine Dion spoke publicly for the first time about the death of her late husband, Rene Angelil, at a memorial honoring his life at Las Vegas’ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Feb. 3.
During her almost 20-minute speech, Dion spoke of Angelil and his dedication to her career. Angelil died last month at the age of 73 after battling throat cancer.
"I was never part of any of the meetings that he had where he had to say yes or no. He protected me from Day 1 to for the rest of my life, I am pretty sure of that," Dion said during her speech.
According to E! Online, Dion didn't plan on speaking at the memorial event but had a change of heart right before it began.
"I feel his love in this room,” she told the crowd. “I feel his strength and his warmth being reflected in all of you. René always surrounded me with the best people who believed in us and always worked so hard on our behalf."