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Celine Dion is mourning the loss of her late husband, René Angélil, nine years after his death.
On Instagram, Dion shared a photo of her with her three sons, and along with it, wrote a touching tribute to Angélil. She shared, "René, we can’t believe you’ve been gone nine years already. Not a day goes by that we don’t feel your presence, RC, Eddy, Nelson and I. You were my greatest champion, my partner, and the one who always saw the best in me. I honor you and you are forever missed mon amour…. We love you."
René passed away in 2016 at the age of 73.
Celine and René got married at Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal in December 1994, after having dated for seven years — the couple went on their first official date when Dion was 19 years old. However, the couple originally met when Celine was 12 and Angélil was 38. He funded her debut album, La voix du bon Dieu, which was released in 1981 when she was just 13.
Dion once told PEOPLE after she and René started dating, "We kind of kept it cool because of my career. I was living that love secretly," Dion told PEOPLE in 2016. "When I was at the age to be able to say to people ... It was like bang! Love! Love always wins."
Celine and René share three sons together, René-Charles (RC), and twins Eddy and Nelson.