Celine Dion’s husband and manager René Angélil died at their Las Vegas home on Thursday just two days shy of his 74th birthday.
‘[He had] a long and courageous fight against cancer. The family wishes to live the mourning in privacy,’ read a statement on the singer’s Facebook page.
The 47-year-old pop diva and her beau – who battled throat cancer since 1998 – had just celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary on December 17.
The five-time Grammy winner was only 12 years old when twice-divorced René declared her a star and became her mentor/manager.
In 1981, he reportedly mortgaged his home to fund Celine’s first record La voix du bon Dieu and, by 1993, the French-Canadian couple went public with their romance.
Last March, a tearful Dion revealed her husband was no longer able to eat and was getting all of his meals through a tube.
