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

Kelis, 43, and Bill Murray, 72, are rumored to be dating.

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

Kelis’ husband Mike Mora was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 before tragically passing away at just 37 years old, after a six-month battle with the disease.

Bill, meanwhile, was left devastated when his ex-wife Jennifer Butler passed away unexpectedly 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’s husband, how did he die and what did she say?

Mike worked as a photographer and regularly shared photos of Kelis after the couple got married in 2014. They lived on a remote ranch 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 a daughter – Galilee, two.

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

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

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

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

Exactly one year after her husband’s death, Kelis took to Instagram to share how the situation had affected her. She wrote, “It’s been exactly one year. That’s crazy to me. I am generally a very private person, especially when family is involved…

“But there’s 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, love and say goodbye…

‘We spent the time we needed, as much as we got, in the best possible way. Is it a great situation?… No, it’s terrible, but I’m grateful. It was out of our hands from the start…

“We’re just thankful 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 have no control whatsoever…

“I want to control what I can control — how I treat those around me. I’m very big on celebrating people when they’re here. I don’t feel it’s all that helpful when they’re gone.’

Her family: The singer shared 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

Murray pictured with his wife and family in 2001. Before separating after more than a decade of marriage, the couple 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 before, 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 acclaimed performances, and also designed costumes for Firestarter and The Last of the Mohicans.

The couple were said to have been married for more than a decade before Butler filed for divorce in 2008, accusing Murray of domestic violence and addictions to sex, alcohol and cannabis.

Butler died unexpectedly at the age of 54 in January 2021, and Murray had not remarried since his divorce from Butler.

Her obituary read: “Those who knew her will remember an extremely kind and generous person, a woman of principle, an absolute hothead and a very loyal mother.”

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