'Titanic' Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash at 61

— -- Legendary film composer James Horner, known for writing the score to the 1997 movie “Titanic” and its enduring theme song, “My Heart Will Go On,” was killed Monday after the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed in southern California, authorities said. He was 61 years old.

The crash happened around 9:30 a.m. near Quatal Canyon in Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County fire spokesman Mike Lindbery said and reps confirmed Tuesday night that the father of two died in the crash.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with James’ family at this difficult time, and also with the millions of people around the world who loved his music," his agents from Gorfaine/Schwartz said in a statement. "A shining light has been extinguished, which can never be replaced."

No one else was on board.

Jay Cooper, an attorney for Horner, said the plane -- an S-312 Tucano MK1 turbo-prop -- was one of several owned by the composer. His agents called him an "experienced pilot," the statement said.

Horner has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning two for 1997's best picture, "Titanic." He composed the film's score and "My Heart Will Go On," sung by Celine Dion.

Dion posted a tribute to Horner on her website, shortly after the news broke of his death.

"Rene and I are deeply saddened by the tragic death of James Horner. He will always remain a great composer in our hearts. James played an important part in my career. We will miss him. We offer his family and friends our deepest sympathy," the Grammy winner wrote.

Recently, Horner had spoken to Empire magazine about Dion and his timeless classic and that he wrote the song in secret because director James Cameron didn't want "a Hollywood movie that had violins soaring away around it and a song pasted in at the end."

"But when you see the last scene of the movie, my job is to keep the audience in their seats and not let them off the hook. It’s my personal belief I should never let anyone put their coats on. They have to be as in it as they can be. As I started writing this eight-minutes sequence, I was saying, 'How am I going to do this? Just another orchestra reprise?' It had to be very intimate, very emotional," he continued.

Sylvia Patrycja, Horner's assistant, also wrote on her Facebook page about the death of a movie legend.

"A great tragedy has struck my family today, and I will not be around for a while. I would like some privacy and time to heal. We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart, and unbelievable talent. He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support and love and see you down the road," she wrote.

Horner also composed scores for "Alien," "Apollo 13," "Field of Dreams," "Braveheart," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Avatar," earning Oscar nods, as did his original song, "Somewhere Out There," from "An American Tail."

On "Avatar," Horner told Empire about reuniting with Cameron, "In a certain way, it’s a science fiction effects movie. And in a certain way, it’s very conventional: it’s a love story and I had to fuse the two."

Horner, who trained at the Royal College of Music in London, moved to California in the 1970's and earned a degree from USC and a master's from UCLA before working on his first projects "The Lady in Red" in 1979 and then a big break with "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" in 1982, according to IMDB.

Horner had films due out this year, including Jake Gyllenhaal's "Southpaw," which premieres next month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.