Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone is dead at 63

The Queen of Pop’s ‘talented’ younger brother, with whom she had a sometimes rocky relationship, has died of cancer aged 63.

Madonna has been rocked by a death in her family as her younger brother and close collaborator, Christopher Ciccone, died in Michigan from cancer, his representative told TMZ.

It’s the second death in as many weeks for Madonna’s family. Last month, her stepmother Joan Ciccone died after a battle with what was described as a very aggressive cancer.

Life with My sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone

Christopher Ciccone in 2008. Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Christopher and Madonna were extremely close in the early years of her career when she was just getting started, and he famously served as one of her backup dancers.

He later graduated to being the show designer and backstage dresser for Madonna, and he was the art director for her groundbreaking and influential “Blonde Ambition” world tour, which redefined the way top artists were seen in concert.

Christopher was also Madonna’s tour director for “The Girlie Show”, as well as directing music videos for music icons Tony Bennett and Dolly Parton.

Outside of the music industry, Christopher, also built a career as an interior designer, and launched a footwear line as he tried to establish his own identity.

However, he suffered a falling out with his much more famous sibling when he publicly criticised her in the biography he wrote, “Life With My Sister Madonna,” which became a New York Times bestseller.

Christopher claimed that the Material Girl was just “a middle-class girl who propagates the story that she landed in Times Square with just a pair of ballet shoes and $35 to her name”.

He said this was “pure mythology and the further she progresses, the more mythological her life story becomes.”

The two, who were the family’s closest and went out dancing when the grew up in Michigan, eventually made peace with each other.

Madonna intros brother #ChristopherCiccone on 2-12-84 on "The Dance Show." #keepittogetherpic.twitter.com/XptFRbvrcP

— Matthew Rettenmund (@mattrett) October 5, 2024

In his book he claimed that his big sister had demeaned and underpaid him and, he claimed, outed him as gay on television, causing him to lose most of his friends.

In 2017, Christopher did an exclusive interview with The Sun and said he could have written another tell-all book about just how “horrific” she is.

He said: “I could have written that book, the book about how horrifying she is or can be, but I didn’t write that book.

“I was just looking for a little recognition for the work I’ve done for 20 years with her, that it wasn’t one person.”

The Sun reported that Christopher passed away peacefully with his husband Ray Thacker by his side in Michigan. He was 63.

So far, Madonna has not publicly commented on the death.

Tributes poured in on social media with many Madonna fans noting that Christopher was instrumental in the early years of his sister’s career, and that his identity as a gay man in the end helped consolidate her appeal with fans.