Update: The CBC reports, via a statement from Celine Dion's publicist, that the singer's brother, Daniel, has passed away. Daniel Dion's funeral will take place at St-Simon-et-Jude de Charlemagne church in Repentigny, Quebec, but a date has not been announced. No further details were released at this time.
This story was originally published on Friday, January 15.
A day after husband René Angélil passed on Thursday, Celine Dion may be losing another member of the family.
Dion’s older brother, Daniel, is battling cancer and may have as little as hours or days to live.
'It's very painful,” Dion’s sister Claudette told Journal Of Montreal. “It's a matter of days or hours. It looks a lot like René, he had cancer of the throat, tongue and brain. Our family is very experienced.”
59-year-old Daniel is with his family as they gather at his bedside in hospital in the Dions’ native Montreal. That family includes their 88-year-old mother Therese.
“We are with Daniel, day and night. He is 59 years old, very young to be the end of life,” Claudette told the Journal Of Montreal.
Celine, 47, is the baby of a family that includes 14 children.
It’s a horrible thing to see so much tragedy striking one family.
ET confirmed the news earlier Friday. Dion expects to return to her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on February 23.