Carlos Marín, singer in pop-opera group Il Divo, dies at age 53

Carlos Marín, one quarter of the pop-opera group Il Divo, has died at the age of 53.

The other members of the chart-topping quartet announced his death in a Twitter post on Sunday.

In the online tribute, tenors David Miller, Sébastien Izambard and Urs Bühler remembered the baritone as 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 wiIl 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."

Marín had been performing with the band in the UK in December before their tour was postponed "due to illness."

The vocalist's death comes days after the group confirmed on Twitter he had been hospitalized.

The nature of his illness wasn't disclosed and the cause of his death has not been confirmed.

Marín, who was born in Germany but raised in Madrid, was one of the founding members of Il Divo -- meaning "divine male performer" in Italian -- which was created by Simon Cowell in 2003 under his SyCo record label.

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.

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