The music industry mourns another loss.
Celine Dion’s husband René Angélil has passed away after his long battle with throat cancer.
“René Angélil, 73, passed away this morning at his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer,” the singer’s camp posted on her website. The 73-year-old died in his Las Vegas home Thursday. Angélil mentored and managed Celine’s career.
“The family requests that their privacy be respected at the moment; more details will be provided at a later time.”
According to the Clark County Office, Angélil died of throat cancer at his home in Henderson while under the care of a physician, and that the medical description of the cause of death is “squamous carcinoma of the floor of the mouth”. Moreover, the coroner told E! News, “We have determined Mr. Angélil’s death was due to natural causes. No further investigation into his death is expected. Our condolences go out to Mr. Angélil’s family and friends during this difficult time for them.”
He is survived by his children, 5-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy and René-Charles, 14; he also has his adult children from a previous relationship, Anne-Marie, Patrick and Jean-Pierre.
When her husband’s health had taken a turn for the worse, Dion mentioned that she would be on a hiatus and her fans had no idea when she would return. However, in an August interview, the iconic singer revealed that she’d decided to take the stage at Caesars Palace again, because “my biggest job is to tell my husband, we’re fine. I’ll take care of our kids. You’ll watch us from another spot.”
Dion admits she tried to be strong in these trying times, but sometimes Angélil “needs something more sensitive than that, more than just positivity. Sometimes he just wants me to enter into a different place with him.”
She shared, “I’ll say, ‘You’re scared? I understand. Talk to me about it.’ And René says to me, ‘I want to die in your arms.’ OK, fine, I’ll be there, you’ll die in my arms.”
“When you see someone who is fighting so hard, it has a big impact on you,” she said. “You have two choices. You look at your husband who’s very sick and you can’t help, and it kills you. Or you look at your husband that’s sick and you say, ‘I got you. I got it. I’m here. It’s going to be just fine.'”
