Celine Dion made her emotional return to the stage at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas last night, performing her first show since losing her husband René Angélil to cancer in January.

Dion paid tribute to her late husband at the beginning of the show, offering a 20-minute intro that included beautiful written messages in his memory, a slideshow featuring photos from their exemplary 21-year marriage, and a heartfelt personal message from the icon herself.

The first 20 minutes of the show were made available to fans via free live stream on Dion's website.

"I understood that my career was in a way his masterpiece, his song, his symphony," text from the intro read. "The idea of leaving it unfinished would have hurt him terribly. I realized that if he ever left us, I would have to continue without him, for him."

E! reports the singer broke tradition and left the stage to interact with fans and take selfies during her performance of "My Heart Will Go On," and struggled to make it through "All By Myself" without crying:

A video tribute to her husband played for the crowd, who cheered and applauded loudly when images from the couple's wedding were shown. Images of René playing hockey and standing with the Stanley Cup were also shown, which also received a round of applause.

Celine also shared very personal photos, including one of her pregnant in a hospital bed with her bare baby bump exposed. Her husband is standing next to her in scrubs, resting his hands on her belly. The couple always seemed to be in sync with each other, as a clip played of Celine giving her husband a subtle hand single that he promptly returned.

"Through my life I only had eyes for my husband, who sat out here night after night," Celine said. "People thought that I was looking at him but I didn’t need to because every time I closed my eyes, I felt Rene on stage with me — whether he was seated in his seat right there, in the balcony, backstage, or at home with the kids. He’s always been on stage with me and nothing will ever change that."

E! notes the singer, who made tradition out of holding her husband's hand before taking the stage each night, also had a gold cast of his hand made (pictured above). It'll live backstage so she can continue the tradition.

"I might not hear his voice yet, but I talk to him, I think of him all the time," she said. "I feel and I know he hears me, one way or another. I know he will give me a sign for his approval or not. And now I can feel that he is telling me to zip it and start singing."

Check out the first 20 minutes of the show below: