Bad Week for Celebrity Deaths

This, the third week of January, has been a particularly bad week for celebrity deaths. On Monday we learned, with great shock and sadness, of the death of music icon, David Bowie. Unbeknownst to all but his closest family members, he had been battling cancer for 18 months. He died two days after his 69th birthday which was also the same day he chose to release his final album, Blackstar.

Three days later, on January 14th, respected British actor, Alan Rickman, passed away of pancreatic cancer. He was also 69. He burst onto the scene with his role as Hans Gruber, contemptible adversary of Bruce Willis in the original Die Hard movie. Younger generations would remember him as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter series of films.

Also, on January 14th, we lost René Angélil, husband and manager to Canadian singing sensation, Celine Dion. He died at age 74, two days short of his 75th birthday. Again cancer was the culprit. This time it was of the throat. His funeral will be held at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. The same place he was married over two decades ago.