"Courage": Behind the scenes of Celine Dion's first U.S. tour in over a decade

Even with a career spanning nearly 40 years and chart-topping hits that made her a household name, for Celine Dion, the rush backstage before a big show never gets old.

"The adrenaline is like a drug. So that's why I keep doin' it," Dion told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King. "It's addictive."

It's been over a decade since her last U.S. tour and she's back on the road like she never left.

King noted her audience is "younger, older, male, female, black, white."

"Do you know how much it makes me feel?" Dion asked, adding, "I'm so proud… I look at those kids and they're, like, 17 years old. And then I turn around, those people are 60 years old. And then I'm like, 'Wow. What's happening in my career?'" She said that's the greatest gift.

"They look at me, like I said, like, beyond the songs. 'Celine, are you okay? We got you, girl. We're here. We love you so much,'" Dion said.

"I could certainly feel that in the room. It's the first time they're seeing you after René's death," King said. "And they just wanna make sure you're okay. Did you feel that from them?"

"So much," Dion responded.

Her new album, out Friday, and the tour are both called "Courage" – and it's what Dion said she needed to move forward after the death of René Angélil. He was not only her husband of 22 years but also managed her career from the very beginning.

"Courage" is her first English album since his passing.

"I've been so much involved, not only in my album but into the production of this show. I say what I like, I have ideas. They can be tacky, wrong. I'm not asking to be right. I'm just asking to be heard," Dion said. Before, she said she didn't want to be in the meetings.

"I just wanted to sing the best way that I could and that's it. Basta! You do your job. But now René is not—" Dion started.

"—taking care of that. But you do seem very much in control and in charge," King said.

"It's just the fact that I can be in the team of production and express my ideas… And that gives me a lot of, like, well, if that idea turned out into something super amazing, I'm not just a singer," Dion said.

Asked what the word "courage" means to her, Dion responded: "When I look back… my family went through a lot. Losing my husband, my manager, the father of my kids, my friend," Dion said. "I feel his vibration and his support—oh forever."

"What do you miss most about René?" King asked.

"Oh everything. His smell. His touch. His way of making me laugh," Dion said. "It's, like, when I'm not on stage and my fans are home and I go in a hotel, for example, I don't have any pillow talk."

In the song "Say Yes," Dion sings, "Remember the good times. Let go of the pain. Say yes. Have you let go of the pain?" King asked.

"Rene will always be with me," Dion said. "Say yes. Say yes for dance… Say yes for friendship. Say yes for love maybe one day. I don't know."

"Are you open to it?"

"Yes," Dion said. "I'm an open book… I'm open. Am I ready? No. Will it happen? I don't know. But I'm not stressed at all. I'm enjoying my life so much more now than ever before."

Dion said she had to prove to herself she could do it. "I needed to prove to my family, my friends, the business people, the industry, the fans… That I can sing and continue on and not have only a hit but a career," she said.

"I feel like I can do anything I want," Dion said, adding, "I've always been all right and I will always be all right."