16th January, 2016
Daniel Dion, the older brother of pop singer Céline Dion, died on Saturday, just two days after the death of the entertainer’s husband, René Angélil, from throat cancer.
Céline Dion’s representative Kim Jakwerth released a statement that Daniel Dion, 59, died surrounded by his family after battling cancer for several years. The statement said he died at a palliative care center in Terrebonne, Quebec, outside Montreal.
His death was announced just two days after the 73-year-old Angélil died in suburban Las Vegas after a long battle with throat cancer. Angélil was Céline Dion’s manager for decades, molding her from a French-speaking Canadian ingénue into one of the world’s most successful singers, best known for the smash hit My Heart Will Go On, the theme from the film Titanic.
The family is “remembering a gentle and reserved man of many talents”, the statement said.
Daniel Dion, the father of two daughters, was the eighth of 14 Dion children. The Dion siblings, including Céline, performed at their parents’ small piano bar, Le Vieux Baril (The Old Barrel), in the town of Charlemagne, Quebec.
Viewing will take place next Saturday, a day after Angélil’s funeral is set to take place at Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica, the same church where he married the singer in 1994.
Daniel Dion’s religious funeral will be held several days later at a church in the family’s hometown of Charlemagne.