Carlos Marn, a member of the Il Divo pop-opera combo, died at the age of 53.
In a Twitter message on Sunday, the remaining members of the chart-topping band revealed his death. Tenors David Miller, Sébastien Izambard, and Urs Bühler paid tribute to the baritone online, calling him a “beautiful soul.”
“It is with heavy hearts that we are letting you know that our friend and partner, Carlos Marin, has passed away,” the statement read. “He will be missed by his friends, family and fans. There will never be another voice or spirit like Carlos.”
“For 17 years the four of us have been on this incredible journey of Il Divo together, and we will miss our dear friend. We hope and pray that his beautiful soul will rest in peace.”
Before their tour was postponed “due to sickness,” Marn had been performing with the band in the UK in December.
The singer’s death comes just days after the band reported on Twitter that he had been admitted to the hospital. His sickness was not revealed, and the reason of his death has not been determined.
Marn, who was born in Germany but reared in Madrid, was a founding member of Simon Cowell’s Il Divo, which was formed in 2003 under his SyCo record company and means “divine male performer” in Italian.
He went on to release 10 studio albums with the group, including three UK number one albums: “Il Divo,” “Ancora” and “The Promise.”
Cowell expressed his sadness at the news on Twitter, saying: “I am finding this so difficult to put into words how I feel right now. I am devastated Carlos Marin has passed away. He loved life. He loved performing and always had so much appreciation towards the fans who supported the group from day 1. Rest in peace Carlos. I will miss you.
In 2006, Il Divo performed the 2006 FIFA World Cup official song, “The Time of Our Lives,” with R&B singer Toni Braxton.
In 2015, Marin said during an appearance on Mountain Lake PBS that he was “proud” that he was able to connect with people through music.
“The good thing being a singer, you can give the people the connection to a song and use your voice, your singing voice to tell a story. That’s the good thing and that’s the thing I’m really proud of.”
Marín was married to French-born singer Geraldine Larrosa — better known by her stage name Innocence — until 2009.