Céline Dion‘s husband René Angélil died on Thursday after a years-long battle with throat cancer.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that René Angélil, aged 73, died this morning at [his] residence in Las Vegas after a long and courageous fight against cancer,” Dion’s team shared on Facebook (in French). “The family wishes to live the mourning in privacy. Other information will be provided in the next few days.”
Dion, 47, and Angélil had three children together: René-Charles, 14, and twins Eddy and Nelson, who are 5 years old. The couple wed in 1994.
“We have asked [doctors] many times, how long does he have, three weeks, three months? René wants to know,” Céline, told USA Today in August. “But they say they don’t know.”
She added, “I’ll say, ‘You’re scared? I understand. Talk to me about it’ And René says to me, ‘I want to die in your arms.’ OK, fine, I’ll be there, you’ll die in my arms.”
Last year, Dion postponed her Las Vegas residency and her Asia tour as her husband, who acted as her manager and is credited for skyrocketing her to fame, continued to battle the disease.
A rep for the singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
People first reported the news.