‘I kept him alive as long as possible’: Madonna pays tribute to younger brother following death aged 63

7 October 2024, 08:15 | Updated: 7 October 2024, 09:40

Madonna has paid tribute to her younger brother Christopher Ciccone who has died aged 63.

The artist, dancer and designer died on Friday in Michigan, his representative, Brad Taylor, said on Sunday.

It comes just three weeks after Madonna lost her stepmother, Joan Clare Ciccone, to cancer and her older brother Anthony Ciccone, who died in early 2023.

He had been suffering with cancer before his death, with his sister now paying tribute to her “closest human”, adding it is “hard to explain” the bond the pair shared.

A dancer since childhood, Ciccone was deeply intertwined with his sister’s rise to pop stardom in the 1980s.

He appeared in the singer’s music videos for Lucky Star, art directing her Blond Ambition World Tour and later served as tour director for The Girlie Show tour.

For two decades, he remained by the pop star’s side, choreographing, directing, dressing and tour managing Madonna’s performances.

He also directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett.

However, the singer did not hold back, flagging her brothers “sharp tongue”

Taking to instagram on Sunday night, Madonna paid heartfelt tribute to her sibling, writing: “My brother Christopher is gone. He was the closest human to me for so long. Its hard to explain our bond.

“But it grew out of an understanding that we were different and society was going to give us a hard time for not following the status quo,” she wrote.

“We took each other‘s hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood. In fact dance was a kind of superglue that held us together. Discovering Dance in our small Midwestern town saved me and then my brother came along, and it saved him too.

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“My ballet Teacher, also named Christopher created a safe space for my brother to be Gay, a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived. When I finally got the courage to go to New York to become a dancer, my brother followed,” she added.

“And again we took each other’s hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City! We devoured Art and Music And Film like hungry animals we were in the epicenter of all of these things exploding.

“We danced through the madness of the AIDS epidemic. We went to funerals and we cried, and we went dancing. We danced together on stage in the beginning of my career and eventually, he became my the Creative. Director, of many tours.

In 2008, Ciccone released a bestselling autobiography called Life With My Sister Madonna in which he wrote about their strained relationship, her romantic entanglements as well as recollections from his time on tour with her.

Madonna noted her brother’s words were “sometimes used against me but I always forgave him.”

“We soared the highest heights together and floundered in the lowest lows. Somehow, we always found each other again and We held hands and we kept dancing.

“The last few years have not been easy. We did not speak for sometime but 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. He was in so much pain towards the end,” she added.

“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.”

Ciccone also was an interior designer for her homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. He said that it was a bit like a marriage at times.

“It was a double-edged sword,” he told Good Morning America in 2008. “Nobody was chaining me down to make – to stay.”

The book, and his no-filter descriptions of the exploits of his sister’s famous circle, took its toll on some of his Hollywood friendships too.

Several years later, in 2012, around the launch of a shoe collection he designed, he told The Standard that he and his sister were “on a perfectly personable level” and in contact.

“I don’t work for her, and it’s better this way,” he said.

In recent years Ciccone relocated to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula to be closer to family. In 2016, Ciccone married Ray Thacker, a British actor, who was by his side when he died.

Madonna also lost her stepmother, Joan Clare Ciccone, to cancer just a few weeks ago, and her older brother Anthony Ciccone in early 2023.