How grief brought Kelis, 43, and Bill Murray, 72, together

Rumours are rife that Kelis, 43, and Bill Murray, 72, are dating. 

And while their A-list statuses appear to be all the age-gap couple have in common, the duo also share heartache – after both losing partners over the past two years.

Kelis’ husband Mike Mora was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 before he tragically passed away at the age of just 37, after a six-month battle with the illness.

Bill meanwhile was left devastated when his ex-wife Jennifer Butler unexpectedly died at the age of 54 in January 2021. The couple were married from 1997 to 2008.

Butler filed for divorce in 2008, accusing Murray of domestic violence and addictions to sex, alcohol and cannabis

Who was Kelis’ husband, how did he die and what did she say? 

Mike worked as a photographer and frequently shared pictures of Kelis after the pair married in 2014.  They lived on a remote farm in Temecula, California, outside of Los Angeles, from January 2020 until Mora’s passing.

The couple had two sons — Knight, 13, and Shepherd, seven — and one daughter — Galilee, two. 

In 2021, Mora revealed that he had cancer, having been diagnosed a year earlier – at which time doctors had given him just 18 months left to live.

Mora took to his Instagram in late September 2021 to reveal he had stage 4 stomach cancer which was spreading to the lymph nodes in his back.

Gone too soon: Mike Mora and Kelis had two sons together — Knight, 13, and Shepherd, seven — and one daughter — Galilee, two — before Mora was told he only had 18 months to live

After a six-month battle with the illness, Mora died in March 2022.

Exactly a year after her husband’s death, Kelis took to Instagram to open up about how the situation had affected her. She wrote: ‘It’s been exactly a year. That’s crazy to me. I’m a very private person generally, especially when there is family involved…

‘But there is no denying the impact and evolution my husband’s passing has had on my life. I get asked all the time how I started this journey’.  

In September last year, she told People: ‘It wasn’t something that was sudden. We were able to prepare, and love, and say goodbye…

‘We were able to spend the time that we needed to, as much as we were given, the best way that we could. Is it a great situation?… No, it’s freaking awful, but I am grateful. It was out of our hands from the beginning…

‘We’re just grateful for what we had. It’s part of life… It doesn’t change the fact that I’m heartbroken… but it does change how I choose to approach it. It reminds you how short time is, and how we don’t have any control…

‘I want to control what I can control — how I treat the people around me. I’m really big on celebrating people when they’re here. I don’t feel like it’s as useful when they’re gone.’

Her family: The singer spoke about how her wellness journey was affected after her husband of nearly a decade passed away after a long battle with stage 4 stomach cancer at the age of 37

Kelis seen here in a video she shared on Friday while on vacation in Greece

Murray pictured with his wife and family in 2001. Before their split after over a decade of marriage, the pair had four sons together: Caleb, now 30, Jackson, now 27, Cooper, now 26, and 22-year-old Lincoln

Who was Jennifer Butler and how did she die? 

Murray married Jennifer in 1997, having left his first wife Angela Kelly the year prior, after having an affair with Butler while still married to his first wife.

Butler was a costume designer in Groundhog Day, one of Murray’s most highly-acclaimed performances, as well designing costumes for Firestarter and The Last of the Mohicans.

The pair would be married for over a decade before Butler filed for divorce in 2008, accusing Murray of domestic violence and addictions to sex, alcohol and cannabis.

Butler unexpectedly died at the age of 54 in January 2021, with Murray not having remarried since his split from Butler.

Her obituary read: ‘Those that knew her will remember an extraordinarily kind and generous person, a woman of principle, an absolute spitfire and a fiercely loyal mother’.

Murray was nominated for his work in the film Lost in Translation at the 2004 Golden Globes