(Getty Images)
Celine Dion’s husband Rene Angelil has died following a long battle with throat cancer, Gossip Cop confirms. The musician passed away at his Las Vegas home on Thursday morning. He was 73.
Angelil’s rep announced the sad news in a statement that expressed, “The family requests that their privacy be respected at the moment; more details will be provided at a later time.”
Dion has since canceled her performances on Saturday and Sunday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, but plans to return to the stage on February 23. The singer left her show for some time last year to care for her ailing husband.
Angelil was originally a musician, whose band Les Baronets was signed by the late Ben Kaye in 1961. Angelil and Kaye would later discover, manage, and turn Dion into an international superstar.
He was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998. After years of improving health, Angelil’s cancer returned in 2014, at which time he retired as his wife’s manager.
Angelil and Dion wed in 1994. He is survived by the couple’s three children, René-Charles, 14, and 5-year-old twin boys Nelson and Eddy, as well as his three older children, Anne-Marie, Jean-Pierre, and Patrick, from previous marriages.
Gossip Cop sends our thoughts and prayers to Dion and Angelil’s family during this difficult time. On a personal note, the founder of this site’s family had known and been close to Angelil for decades, and expresses its deepest sympathies.