Farewell, adieu. Celine Dion’s devoted husband, René Angélil, died on Thursday, January 14, at his home in Las Vegas, and the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner tells Us Weekly that the death was “due to natural causes.”
“Mr. Angélil, 73, died of throat cancer at his home in Henderson while under the care of a physician,” Clark County coroner John Fudenberg told Us in a statement. “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.”
Dion, 47, also confirmed the news via Twitter.
“Rene Angelil passed away this morning at his home in Las Vegas after a long and courageous battle against cancer,” she tweeted in the afternoon.
“He was feeling better lately,” a source tells Us. “He was still handling her business and managing her, so this is a complete shock.”
The couple were parents to three children — son Rene-Charles, 14, and twin boys Nelson and Eddy, 5. They married in an elaborate wedding ceremony at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal in 1994.
Dion has been adamantly by her husband’s side since he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998. Last summer, she finally returned to the stage as part of her Las Vegas residency at Caesar’s Palace after a prolonged absence to tend to Angélil.
“That first show, it will be fragile,” she told USA Today in August. “There will be moments. Of emptiness, laughter, awkwardness, tearing up. But that’s the point of coming back — otherwise, I [would] just release an album.”
Additionally, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer explained that she would do everything in her power to fulfill Angélil’s last wish.
“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 Rene says to me, ‘I want to die in your arms.’ Okay, fine, I’ll be there, you’ll die in my arms.”
