Christopher Ciccone, an artist, interior designer and Madonna‘s younger brother, died Friday, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. He was 63.
Ciccone had been battling cancer and died peacefully, surrounded by his husband, Ray Thacker, and other loved ones, according to a statement from Ciccone’s rep.
Ciccone, who got his start as a dancer and choreographer, used his talents to support Madonna’s emerging career, becoming dresser and creative consultant to his superstar sister. He also directed music videos and tours, including Madonna’s The Girlie Show world tour in 1993. And he was the art director for her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour.
He went on to work as an interior, footwear and furniture designer and artist and wrote the 2008 best-selling book Life With My Sister Madonna, which led to reports that the siblings had had a falling-out.
Ciccone claimed Madonna outed him in a 1991 interview with The Advocate, where she identified him as “gay,” and he accused Madonna’s ex-husband Guy Ritchie of being homophobic. He said the “turning point” in their relationship came when she brought cameras to their mother’s grave for her 1991 documentary, Truth or Dare.
“I kept it inside but I thought to myself, ‘OK, there are no boundaries now.’ You know, my mother’s now become a side — a bit player in her life, life story, and it hurt me,” he told Good Morning America in 2008. “And my opinion of her altered at that moment. I never said anything about it.”
He added, “I think, ultimately, she’s a lonely person and, unfortunately, it truly is lonely at the top.”
Madonna’s longtime rep Liz Rosenberg told the Associated Press at the time that the artist didn’t read the tell-all but found it “very upsetting” that Christopher “decided to sell a book based on his sister.”
“I would have to assume she has come to terms with the fact that they do not have a close and loving relationship,” Rosenberg said. “And with the book coming out, I assume that will remove the chances of that ever happening.”
But in 2012 interviews, Ciccone indicated they had patched things up. “Our relationship is fine as far as I’m concerned,” he told CBS News.
He added to The Evening Standard: “We are in contact with each other, although I haven’t seen her for a long time. We’re back to being a brother and sister. I don’t work for her, and it’s better this way. … 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 did commercial interior design for restaurants in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, the corporate boxes for London’s O2 arena and a Miami Beach luxury condo development.
His furniture design for Bernhardt Furniture was chosen to be used in President Bill Clinton’s New York office.
Christopher Gerard Ciccone was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on Nov. 20, 1960, the fifth child and third son of Madonna Louise and Silvio Patrick Ciccone. He was raised in Rochester, Michigan.
Studying dance and attending college at Western Michigan and Oakland universities, he moved to New York City, where he worked alongside Madonna.
In his latter years, he moved back to Michigan, near family members who are involved in his father’s Suttons Bay-based wine company, Ciccone Vineyards.
He married Thacker, a British actor living in Los Angeles, in 2016.
In addition to Thacker and Madonna, Ciccone is survived by his father; other siblings Martin, Paula, Melanie, Jennifer and Mario; and nieces, nephews and cousins.
Ciccone and Madonna’s stepmother Joan Ciccone died of cancer in September and their brother Anthony died in early 2023.
Reps for Madonna have not yet responded to THR‘s request for comment.