Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone dies aged 63

Christopher Ciccone, the artist and designer who was the younger brother of Madonna, has died at the age of 63.

Representatives of the family confirmed his passing to TMZ, disclosing that he had died of cancer in Michigan on Friday (October 4).

He had worked closely with his sister early on in her career, serving as the art director on her Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990 and as the tour director on 1993’s The Girlie Show tour.

In addition, Ciccone was an artist, interior decorator and designer, and also directed music videos for artists including Dolly Parton (for 1997’s ‘Peace Train’) and Tony Bennett (1997’s ‘God Bless The Child’).

His passing comes less than two weeks after the death of Joan Clare Ciccone, Christopher and Madonna’s stepmother, also from cancer. The siblings’ eldest brother Anthony also passed away in February 2023.

Christopher Ciccone was born on November 22, 1960 in Bay City, Michigan to Italian and French-Canadian immigrant parents. As well as Madonna and Anthony, he also had a brother Martin and sisters Paula and Melanie. His mother, also named Madonna, died from breast cancer at the age of 30.

He published his memoir Life With My Sister Madonna in 2008, which became a New York Times bestseller. The book caused some friction within the family, with Ciccone writing about the personal toil his sister went through during her relationship and subsequent breakup with film director Guy Ritchie. It is thought that the brother and sister fell out as a result of the memoir.

Ciccone also said that Madonna had outed him in a 1991 interview with The Advocate in which she said: “My brother Christopher’s gay, and he and I have always been the closest members of my family.”

He went on to criticise Ritchie for being homophobic, and claimed that his sister was a “lonely person”, adding it “truly is lonely at the top”.

Christopher did say in a 2012 interview, however: “I couldn’t be more proud of her. She is a force to be reckoned with. Does she have Barbra Streisand’s voice? No. Can she dance like Martha Graham? Probably not. But the combination of her abilities has made her great, and left a huge legacy for her, and through her, for me. So yeah, God bless her.”

Ciccone is survived by his partner Ray Thacker.

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