Madonna suffers double family tragedy as brother dies days after stepmum

One of Madonna’s closest relatives – a key figure in her career to date – has died, days after the death of another family member.

Madonna’s younger brother Christopher Ciccone has died at the age of 63.

Christopher passed away of cancer on Friday in Michigan, his rep confirmed to TMZ.

Christopher’s “loving” husband, British hairdresser Ray Thacker, was “faithfully by his side” when he died, the spokesperson said.

His death comes less than two weeks after the passing of Madonna’s stepmother, Joan, who died on September 24 after a short battle with a “very aggressive” cancer.

Madonna, 66, had complicated relationships with both her brother and her stepmother, who her father Silvio married in 1966, three years after Madonna’s mother – also named Madonna – died of breast cancer when the future pop star was just five years old.

Christopher was a key collaborator in Madonna’s career since before her rise to fame, working first as her back-up dancer, then her art director and tour director for iconic shows like Blond Ambition and The Girlie Show.

Madonna in Milan this month.

Christopher was with Madonna every step of her career, until a bitter rift pushed them apart. Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

But by the early noughties, their relationship had fractured to the point Christopher penned a brutal 2008 tell-all, Life With My Sister Madonna. The book painted Madonna as miserly and controlling, with Christopher claiming he was unfairly paid for his years of work helping Madonna become one of the richest people in music.

Surprisingly, four years after that scathing tell-all, Christopher claimed he and his sister were back on “personable” terms. “We’re back to being a brother and sister. I don’t work for her, and it’s better this way,” he said in a 2012 interview.

Christopher’s tell-all book came out in 2008.

Madonna's stepmother Joan with her father Silvio.

Madonna has yet to comment publicly on either passing. She has been in London this week, working with frequent collaborator Stuart Price, who produced her acclaimed 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor.

One of seven siblings, Madonna also lost her older brother Anthony in February last year. He died at the age of 66.

Bizarrely, Madonna is not the only pop icon to suffer a double family loss in recent weeks: in late August, Mariah Carey lost both her mother, Patricia, and her sister Alison, on the same day.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Carey told People magazine in a statement. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”