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Celine Dion Devastated Over Loss Of Both Husband And Brother Within Two Days Of Each Other

By Pam Wright
Published on: 01:04 PST, Jan 17, 2016

Celine Dion has suffered another devastating loss with the death of her brother, which came just two days after her husband died of the same form of cancer.

The 47-year-old Canadian singer lost her husband and manager Rene Angelil, 73, to throat cancer on Thursday, and just two days later, on Saturday, her brother, Daniel Dion, 59, succumbed to the same form of cancer.

The Canadian Press reports that Dion is close with all 13 of her siblings, so losing her brother just days after her husband has been devastating.

“They’re close, she’s close with all of her siblings. It’s hard.”

Dion canceled her Las Vegas shows following Angelil’s death, and has tentatively scheduled her return to The Colosseum for February 23, but it is unclear if she will take more time following the subsequent death of Daniel.

“Celine is still in Vegas with her kids making plans for [her husband’s] funeral. It’s a typical grieving process. There’s moments of shed tears, moments of memories and laughter. She’s grieving the loss of her husband.”

Dion posted an official obituary about her brother to social media, asking for privacy while she and her family grieve their losses.

“Surrounded by his loving family, Daniel Dion, older brother to Celine and eighth child of Thérèse and Adhémar Dion, passed away peacefully at the age of 59 years old.”

According to the Associated Press, Daniel had been diagnosed with throat, tongue, and brain cancer, and was being treated in Quebec.

“His last days were in the wonderful care of the doctors and personnel at Maison Adhémar-Dion, a palliative care center in Terrebonne Québec. For those wishing to send flowers, a donation to that organization would be very much appreciated.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that Daniel was the father of two daughters and was the eighth of the 14 Dion children. The Dion siblings, including Celine, performed at their parents’ small piano bar called Le Vieux Baril (“The Old Barrel”) in the town of Charlemagne, Quebec.

According to the obituary, Daniel’s tribute will take place on Saturday, January 23, at Salon Charles Rajotte in Repentigny. A religious funeral will also take place at St-Simon-et-Jude, in Charlemagne, Québec, where the family was raised.

Angélil died Thursday in the suburban Las Vegas home in Henderson that he shared with Dion and their three children after a long battle with throat cancer.

A state funeral will be held next Friday in Montreal at the same church at which the two were married in 1994. Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said it would give Quebecers the chance to pay respects to a man “who has marked the cultural landscape” of Quebec and Canada.

“He will be remembered as a gentle man, generous and kind, an unprecedented visionary, a modern Pygmalion, a Renaissance man. (We) have lost a conqueror and a man of great substance and influence. He is now a part of the collective memory of the music industry, be it in Canada or elsewhere in the world.”

Angelil, who married Dion in 1994, was the singer’s manager from the discovered her as a young girl and became a constant figure in her life.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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