BY MELISSA RUGGIERI
Celine Dion’s husband René Angélil died on Thursday.
People first reported the news that Angélil lost his battle with cancer at the family's home in Las Vegas.
"Mr. Angelil, 73, died of throat cancer at his home in Henderson while under the care of a physician," the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner said in a statement to People.
Angélil was a prominent fixture in his wife’s life, discovering her talents and serving as her manager and mentor since the early ’80s.
While widely regarded as a businessman, Angélil started out as a pop singer in the 1960s in Montréal and was part of the pop-rock group, The Baronets.
He and Dion, 26 years his junior, married in 1994. He is survived by the couple's three children – René-Charles, 14, and 5-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy – and his adult children from a previous relationship, Anne-Marie, Patrick and Jean-Pierre.
In early 2015, Dion took a leave of absence from her massively popular Las Vegas show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace to tend to her ailing husband. She returned to the stage last August. Dion currently has dates scheduled through June, but has canceled her January shows and will return Feb. 23.
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