Madonna suffers double family tragedy as brother dies days after stepmum

Madonna has issued a heartbreaking statement following the death of her “closest human,” days after the death of another family member.

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

Christopher died of cancer on Friday in Michigan, his rep confirmed to TMZ. His husband, British hairdresser Ray Thacker, was “faithfully by his side” when he died, the spokesperson said.

And in a heartbreaking tribute on social media, Madonna has paid tribute to her brother, who she described as “the closest human” to her for “so long.”

Christopher’s 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.

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

Madonna’s emotional tribute

Madonna today posted a detailed tribute to her younger brother on Instagram, accompanied by a selection of photos of them together from throughout their lives.

In the tribute, Madonna called her brother “a painter a poet and a visionary,” while also acknowledging the very public rift that drove them apart for years: “He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, Which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him.”

She wrote that in the past few years her relationship with her brother had “not been easy” and they hadn’t spoken for some time, but that they reconnected when he was diagnosed with cancer.

“I did my best to keep him alive as long as possible.

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.”

Madonna shared an emotional tribute to her brother on Instagram.

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.

But by the early noughties, their relationship had fractured to the point Christopher penned a brutal 2008 tell-all about his famous sibling, Life With My Sister Madonna. The book painted Madonna as miserly and controlling, with Christopher claiming he was unfairly treated and paid poorly 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 with Madonna on the Blonde Ambition tour, as seen in the film In Bed with Madonna.

And in a 2015 interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Madonna herself said she and Christopher were “friends again.”

“We’re speaking again... it took a while; it really hurt me. There was many years of silence, but I do believe in forgiveness and I think that he feels bad that he did it. Hopefully it will all be alright in the end,” she said.

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

Madonna's stepmother Joan with her father Silvio.

Madonna 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.”

Originally published as Madonna suffers double family tragedy as brother dies days after stepmum