Madonna mourns ‘closest human to me’
Madonna with her brother Christopher Ciccone at an event in 1997. Photo: Getty
Madonna is mourning the loss of her younger brother, Christopher Ciccone, who died on Friday after battling cancer.
Ciccone, who died in Michigan, was 63 years old.
He and Madonna, 66, were very close in the early days of her career, and she hired him as one of her backing dancers.
He later became her show designer and backstage dresser and was the art director for her Blonde Ambition world tour and tour director for The Girlie Show.
Madonna penned her own emotional tribute to her brother on Instagram on Monday (Australian time).
“He was the closest human to me for so long. It’s hard to explain our bond,” she wrote.
“But it grew out of an understanding that we were different and society.”
Ciccone – who also directed videos for Tony Bennett and Dolly Parton, as well as working as an interior designer – fell out with his superstar sibling when he released his 2008 best-selling book Life With My Sister Madonna.
The two eventually reconciled, and in 2012, Ciccone released his own footwear line.
Madonna acknowledged the pair’s split in her tribute, saying recent. years had been difficult.
“When my brother got sick, we found our way back to each other. I did my best to keep him alive as long as possible,” she wrote.
He was in so much pain towards the end. Once again, we held hands We closed our eyes and we danced together.
“I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore. There will never be anyone like him. I know he’s dancing somewhere.”
She signed off her post with a broken-heart emoji.
The sad news comes just a few weeks after Madonna’s stepmother, Joan Ciccone, died from a “very aggressive cancer”.
The 81 year old – who was married to the singer’s father Silvio Ciccone – died “peacefully” on 24 September after a brief bout of ill health. A memorial posted online revealed her family’s sadness over the loss.
“Joan Clare Ciccone passed away peacefully early in the morning of September 24th, 2024, after a brief encounter with a very aggressive cancer. She will be terribly missed by her family and friends whose lives she enriched with her enthusiasm, joy and love,” it read.
Joan married Silvio in 1966 following the death of his first wife – Madonna’s mother, who shared the same name as the singer – and took on his six kids. They had three children of their own, including a son who died shortly after birth.
“She took special joy in her grandkids later in life and with the grim cancer prognosis lamented that she was sad she would not see them marry and have kids of their own,” the family post read.
Madonna’s mother died in 1963 after a battle with breast cancer. The pop star was aged just five at the time.
-with AAP
