“Rene Angelil, 73, passed away this morning as his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer”, his rep told People.
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A heartbroken Celine Dion has cancelled her upcoming shows in Las Vegas after her husband, René Angélil, died.
Dion and Angelil have three children – Rene-Charles, who was born in 2001 and twins Nelson and Eddy, who arrived in 2010. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999 (Dion put aside her career then as well) and had surgery in December 2013 that removed part of his tongue and limited his speech.
Angélil was not only Celine’s husband, but he was also her manager and her confidant.
Luprano first teamed with Angelil and Dion on the 1987 French-language album “Incognito”. He died of natural causes under the care of a doctor, Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said. Reporter: Celine says it was Rene himself encouraging her to go back to the stage.
She told USA Today at the time of her return that Angelil’s dying wish was to “die in my arms”.
The pair, who began dating when Dion was 19, dated for almost five years before Dion publicly announced their relationship in the album notes of her 1993 studio album “The Colour of My Love”.
He would have two other marriages before eventually falling in love with Celine and wedding her in 1994.
He was constantly seen by her side.
The star won Grammy awards for songs including My Heart Will Go On, the theme to the popular Titanic film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Angelil was born in Montreal on January 16, 1942, to a Syrian father and a Quebecois mother.
Celine reveals to ET that the decision to postpone her residency was not a hard one to make.
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“René really gave me a gift”, she says. “I understand. Talk to me about it.’ And Rene says to me, ‘I want to die in your arms.’ Okay, fine, I’ll be there, you’ll die in my arms”.
