While it has been two full decades since Celine Dion‘s “My Heart Will Go On” first played at the end of Titanic, the emotional tune is still making audiences tear up. Dion performed the song at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night and many, including co-host Vanessa Hudgens, have given great praise to the powerful performance.

Wearing a dress with large shoulders resembling angel wings, Dion held nothing back during her performance of the song that, even the singer admits, can grow old sometimes. On it’s 20 year anniversary though, it felt as fresh as ever, with Dion giving the performance everything she had.

“After 20 years you may think or feel like ‘Oh, am I going to sing the Titanic again?’ Dion told Billboard after the performance. “But when nights like tonight happen and everybody from six years old, eight years old, fifteen years old, they were not even born, and people were all singing with me … it was emotional. I was like, ‘hold your tears, hold your tears.”

During the performance, Titanic‘s most emotional scenes played in the background. The song ended with shimmering lights reflecting on to the crowd.

Dion was awarded an Icon Award at last year’s Billboard Music Awards. That night was an emotional one as well – Dion was still grieving over the death’s of her brother Daniel Dion and her husband of 22 years, René Angélil.

In an interview with Billboard, Dion also shared that had it not been for her husband, she may have never sang the song. As the story goes, James Cameron, director of Titanic didn’t want to have the song as a theme to his film but Angélil convinced Dion to record it despite Cameron’s rejection. After hearing the recorded version, Cameron flipped his tune and decided to use the song.

The next year, the song won the Oscar for Best Original Song and a Grammy for Record of the Year.

Watch Dion’s performance of “My Heart Will Go On” below.

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Article by Jacob Kaye

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