Celine Dion’s husband René Angélil has died following a battle with cancer, the singer’s representative told People on Thursday. He was 73.
“René Angélil, 73, passed away this morning as his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer,” the representative said. “The family requests that their privacy be respected at the moment; more details will be provided at a later time.”
In addition to Dion, Angélil is survived by the couple’s three children, René-Charles, Nelson and Eddy, as well as three children from a previous relationship, Anne-Marie, Patrick and Jean-Pierre.
Angelil had multiple bouts with cancer. In 2014, he underwent a successful procedure to remove a tumor from his throat. He was also diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999.
In August, Dion told USA Today that her husband’s fate was uncertain.
“We have asked (doctors) many times, how long does he have, three weeks, three months? René wants to know,” Dion said at the time. “But they say they don’t know.”
Born in Montreal, Angélil started his career in the 1960s as a pop singer, enjoying a number of hits with his group The Baronets.
Moving on to artist management, he handled the careers of artists including Rene Simard, Ginette Reno and, of course, Dion. Angélil won the Felix Award for Manager of the Year in 1987 and 1988.
Angélil and Dion married in December 1994. In June 2014, Angelil stopped managing Dion to focus on his health, and in August of that year, she put her career on hiatus in order to care for her husband.