Celine Dion jumped at the chance to honour Aretha Franklin during Saturday night's (12Jan19) Grammy tribute concert to pay the Queen of Soul back for the little things she took from her.

The Canadian star joined a host of big names for Aretha! A GRAMMY Celebration for the Queen of Soul in Los Angeles, and told Entertainment Tonight she would not have missed the evening for anything.

"You sing with your heart but she has taught us that, when we believe so much, that it comes from deeper than the heart, it comes from the soul," Celine said.

"So we did not invent those words, she gave those words. She put those words into our repertoire, into our lives and dreams…our performances.

"I feel extremely, extremely fortunate and honoured that they called me to pay tribute to her because I think that we all took through the years a little part of her. We did not sing her tonight, we lived her."

And Dion will be forever grateful she got the chance to sing with her idol before Aretha lost her battle with cancer last year (18).

"I've had the privilege of singing at VH1's Divas with her," she recalls of her duet with the soul legend in 1998. "I had a moment with her that I will never forget and I will cherish this for the rest of my life... I remember taking a picture with her after meeting with her, singing her songs, of course, and when you love to sing so much, it's gotta be done with the soul."

Celine joined Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson, among others, at Saturday's tribute concert, which will air in America on 10 March (19).