Celine Dion loses husband, 73-year-old René Angélil to throat cancer

                           René Angélil and wife Celine Dion             (C)Shutterstock

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.

                                                                              (C)Facebook

'He can't use his mouth. He can't eat so I feed him. He's got a feeding tube. I have to feed him three times a day. I do this myself. So I feed my husband, then I feed my kids,' Dion told Good Morning America.
By August, the Overjoyed hitmaker told USA Today that Angélil was preparing for his death.
Recalling their conversation, Celine said: '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." Okay, fine, "I'll be there, you'll die in my arms."'
René leaves behind the couple's fraternal twins Eddy and Nelson, 5, and son René-Charles Jr., 15.