René Angélil, the husband of singer Céline Dion, died Thursday.
“René Angélil, 73, passed away this
morning at his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle
against cancer,” Dion’s publicist confirmed to CNN.
“The family requests that their privacy be
respected at the moment; more details will be provided at a later
time,” according to a post on Dion’s website.
Rene Angelil passed away this morning at his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer. https://t.co/JOeLaOfbSB— Celine Dion (@celinedion) January 14, 2016
Angélil, Dion’s longtime collaborator,
stepped aside as his wife’s manager in June 2014 because of his battle
with cancer. That August, Dion put her career on a temporary hold to
help him fight the disease.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office said Angelil died from throat cancer.
“We have determined Mr. Angelil’s death
was due to natural causes. No further investigation into his death is
expected,” the coroner said in a statement.
Dion and Angélil met after the
always-singing 12-year-old Dion recorded a demo and one of her brothers
sent it to Angélil, who was a fledgling producer at the time. When
Angélil didn’t reply, the Dions called him directly to listen to it.
That prompted Angélil to audition Dion in
January 1981, and once he heard her, he mortgaged his house to pay for
her debut album, “La Voix du Bon Dieu.”