Mariah Carey has confirmed that her mother Patricia and her sister Alison died on the same day over the weekend.
Neither of the family members’ causes of death are known at this time.
“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” the Grammy-winner told People in a short statement.
“I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed,” Carey added. “I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”
Carey’s father, Alfred Roy Carey, died in 2002 of a rare form of cancer.
The singer’s parents divorced when she was three years old. In her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the singer spoke about her difficult relationship with her mother, writing that their bond “has caused me so much pain and confusion.”
“For my sanity and peace of mind, my therapist encouraged me to literally rename and reframe my family,” she wrote. “My mother became Pat to me, Morgan my ex-brother and Alison my ex-sister… I had to stop expecting them to one day miraculously become the mommy, big brother and big sister I fantasized about.”
Discussing her mother, whom she described as a “very talented” Juilliard-trained opera singer, in a 2022 interview with Gayle King, Carey said: “I’ve always credited her with exposing me to music.”
However, the “Obsessed” singer said that her mother told her she “should only hope” she could be “half the singer” Patricia was while she was growing up.
“There was a distinct shift: she made me feel like the competition, like a threat. In place of our previous bond grew a different tie, a rope tethering us through shared biology and social obligation,” Carey writes in the memoir. “Having people you love be jealous of you professionally comes with the territory of success, but when the person is your mother and the jealousy is revealed at such a tender age, it’s particularly painful.”
“It definitely had an effect on me,” Carey told King of her mother’s words, adding: “I don’t know that she would even remember that.
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“That one statement did live with me for the rest of my life though. You have to be so careful what you say.”
Despite her complicated relationship with her mother, Carey paid tribute to Patricia in the dedication of her book, where she wrote: “And to Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I do believe actually did the best she could. I will love you the best I can, always.”