Madonna speaks out in wake of brother Christopher Ciccone’s death at 63

Christopher Ciccone, the brother of Madonna, passed away. He was sixty-three. Christopher “died peacefully” in Michigan on Friday due to cancer, his representative confirmed on Sunday to The Post. The 66-year-old music legend gave a moving message on Sunday in response to Ciccone’s passing.

“Christopher, my brother, passed away. For a long while, he was the closest person to me. Our bond is difficult to describe. However, it began with the realization that we were unique and that society would penalize us for defying convention. We held hands and danced our way through our childhood’s insanity. Actually, dancing served as a sort of superglue to keep us all together.” Dead at 25.

“Dancing saved my life in our little Midwestern town, and when my brother came along, it also saved him.” “The last few years have not been easy,” Madonna added in a lengthy social media message. After a while, we didn’t talk until my brother became ill. We managed to reconnect with one another. “I tried everything I could to prolong his life. By the end, he was really hurting. We danced while holding hands and closing our eyes once more. Together.”

According to the representative, Christopher’s British hairstylist husband Ray Thacker was “faithfully by his side” when he passed away. Less than two weeks have passed since the deaths of Christopher and Madonna. Less than two weeks have passed since Joan Clare Ciccone, Christopher and Madonna’s stepmother, passed away from cancer. In February 2023, the siblings also lost their brother, Anthony Ciccone. Christopher was a designer, decorator, and artist. He was the tour director for Madonna’s The Girlie Show in 1993 and the art director for her Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990.

In the 1990s, he also directed Tony Bennett and Dolly Parton’s music videos. Christopher wrote about the brother-sister relationship in his 2008 autobiographical book “Life With My Sister Madonna,” which went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

In 1991, Christopher claimed that Madonna had outed him when she remarked, “My brother Christopher is gay, and he and I have always been the closest members of my family,” in an interview with The Advocate. In addition, he charged Guy Ritchie, Madonna’s ex-husband with homophobia. The two were wed from 2000 until 2008. Furthermore, Christopher added that the Grammy Award winner’s 1991 documentary “Truth or Dare”—which featured cameras at their mother’s grave—was the “turning point” in their relationship.

“Even though I held everything inside, I told myself that there were no more limits. You know, I was upset by my mother’s current status as a little actor in her own life. And I — my, my opinion of her altered at that moment. I never said anything about it,” he told “GMA” in 2008. Christoper said, speaking of his sister, “I think, in the end, she’s a lonely person and, unfortunately, it, it truly is lonely at the top.”

The singer didn’t read the expose, and Madonna’s representative, Liz Rosenberg, told the Associated Press at the time that she was “very upset” that Christopher “decided to sell a book based on his sister.” Rosenberg went on, “I would have to presume she’s accepted the fact that their connection is not intimate and loving. The publication of the book, I assume, will eliminate the possibility of that ever occurring. The “Vogue” singer and Christopher talked about their relationship in a 2012 interview with The Evening Standard.

“We’re good as far as I’m concerned. Despite the fact that I haven’t seen her in a while, we stay in touch. We are once again brothers and sisters. It’s better this way, and I don’t work for her,” he declared. “I am incredibly proud of her. She is a formidable opponent. Does she sound like Barbra Streisand? No, Christopher added in reference to Madonna. Is she capable of dancing like Martha Graham? Most likely not. However, the amalgamation of her skills has elevated her to a tremendous level and created a significant legacy for both her and myself. God bless her, then.

In 2016, Christopher wed British stylist Ray Thacker. Tragically, Madonna lost her stepmother not long before Christopher passed away. “Joan Clare Ciccone passed away peacefully early in the morning of September 24th, 2024, after a brief encounter with a very aggressive cancer,” an online obituary stated. “She will be terribly missed by her family and friends whose lives she enriched with her enthusiasm, joy and love.” Joan was married to Christopher and Madonna’s father, Silvio, for 58 years.