Tender moments from Celine Dion and René Angelil's 21-year marriage

After battling cancer for over a decade, Celine Dion's husband René Angélil sadly passed away on Thursday 14 January. Their love story spanned years, with both Celine and René, who shared a 26-year age gap, remaining totally devoted to one another through thick and thin.

Having weathered storms including René's health battles and the couple's fertility treatments, the lovebirds persevered thanks to their rock-solid relationship.

As we say goodbye to Celine's husband and former manager René, HELLO! Online looks back at one of the music world's greatest love stories...

Celine and René first met when the singer was just 12 years old. Their professional relationship turned romantic when the My Heart Will Go On singer turned 19.

Three years later in 1994, the couple said "I do" in René's birthplace Montreal, at the Notre-Dame Basilica.

Celine wore a silk creation by Mirella and Steve Gentile – complete with a 20-foot train – and an enormous, Swarovski-crystal tiara.

The couple made a glamorous appearance at the 1999 American Music Awards, where Celine won Favourite Pop/Rock Female Artist of the year. It marked the first of many achievements that the husband-and-wife team would accomplish together.

Five years into their marriage, Celine and René renewed their wedding vows in an Orthodox ceremony at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas. The ceremony was meant to honour René's Syrian and Lebanese roots.

After rounds of fertility treatments and two operations to improve her chances of conceiving, Celine welcomed the couple's first child René-Charles in January 2001.

The little boy was baptised in July at the chapel of the Notre-Dame Basilica, where his proud parents had married six years earlier.

The loved-up pair attended a Grammy Awards after-party in 2002, shortly after Celine announced an upcoming three-year residency in Las Vegas. The move was deemed risky at the time, but the gamble would pay off – the show has grossed more than £80million to date!

The doting parents shared the spotlight with their then 20-month-old baby boy, René-Charles, on stage in Montreal.

René was there to support his playful wife before she performed a powerful rendition of God Bless America during the 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII pre-game show at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

The couple are pictured at Caesar's Palace following the debut of Celine's Las Vegas residency in 2003. The continually sold-out show proved wildly successful, making the singer the "most profitable music act in Las Vegas" since Elvis Presley, according to Market Watch.

The songbird was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004, with her proud husband René cheering her on at the ceremony.

Later that year Celine was presented with the Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for being the World's Best Selling Female Artist of All Time in 2004.

The lovebirds were caught in a private, candid moment as they arrived at the 2007 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

In 2007 the Angelil family took a well-deserved break from Celine's Las Vegas show to spend some time together during a holiday at Disneyland.

The fun-loving couple embraced the "masked ball" theme during a farewell party that was held for the cast and crew of Celine's Las Vegas show in 2007.

Snuggled up in the audience at the 2007 American Music Awards, the happy couple appeared to be more in love than ever.

15 December 2007 proved to be an emotional day for Celine. The singer, who had just finished her last performance of her show A New Day at Caesars Palace, was embraced by her husband and son as fans threw roses at the stage.

Almost three million people had watched her perform 717 shows since the show first opened in 2003.

Celine and René enjoyed a moment with their wax replicas during the unveiling of the René Angelil wax statue at the Museum Grevin in Paris in 2008.

Fans were thrilled to see how much the couple's son had grown, as the Angelils attended the Portland Trailblazers vs. New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in December 2009.

The family travelled to Miami in 2010 to attend the world premiere of Celine: Through the Eyes of the World. The documentary-concert film grossed nearly £700,000 in Canada alone.

After the birth of her twins in 2010 and a brief hiatus from show business, Celine was ready to return to the stage.

Holding baby Nelson (with René nestling twin-brother Eddy), the family was greeted by throngs of fans as they arrived at Caesars Palace, where Celine was due to begin rehearsals for her new Vegas show.

The songbird told HELLO! exclusively that the babies, who were conceived after six IVF attempts, had made her life "extraordinary".

Celine and René were pictured at the Oscars in 2011, where Celine performed ​the Charlie Chaplin song Smile during the In Memoriam tribute.

The singer was decorated with the Order of Canada in July 2013, just a few months before announcing that she was taking a hiatus to take care of her increasingly ill husband.

This was one of the last times René was pictured in public with his wife Celine, before his death in January 2016.