Christian music icon Brian Doerksen dies battling stage 4 cancer

Christian singer-songwriter Brian Doerksen has died at the age of 60 just four days after publicly revealing his stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

Doerksen passed away peacefully in his sleep at his family home in Abbotsford, Canada on Tuesday according to a statement shared by his family on social media.

"Till the very end, Brian continued to love those around him, encouraging them in who they are, and shared incredible gratitude to those in the medical field who tried their best to help him," the family wrote.

The heartbreaking news came only days after relatives announced that Doerksen had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. A health update shared on July 17 revealed that he had been dealing with serious medical issues since February.

According to a GoFundMe page created to support the family medical scans found a mass in his pelvis along with cancer that had spread to his liver, lungs and the area near his heart.

Doerksen is survived by his wife Joyce and their six adult children all of whom live with Fragile X syndrome a genetic condition that can cause intellectual disabilities.

Christian music label Vineyard Worship which released 28 of Doerksen's albums between 1989 and 2002 paid tribute to the late musician.