(WJW) – Multiple news outlets are reporting the death of Christopher Ciccone, the younger brother of singer and entertainer Madonna. He was 63.
Ciccone, who had cancer, died Friday in Michigan, his representative Brad Taylor told The Associated Press Sunday. In a statement to CBS News, Ciccone’s rep said his husband of eight years, Ray Thacker, was with him.
Last month, Joan Ciccone, the stepmother of Madonna and Christopher, died due to cancer, TMZ reports.
MIAMI – JANUARY 27: Christopher Ciccone poses at the Nikki Beach 10th anniversary party on January 27, 2007 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Nikki Beach)
A dancer since his youth, Ciccone was deeply intertwined with his sister’s rise in pop stardom in the 1980s, appearing in music videos like “Lucky Star,” art directing her Blond Ambition World Tour and serving as tour director for The Girlie Show tour. He also directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett.
Off the stage, Ciccone, one of Madonna’s seven siblings, wrote a New York Times bestselling autobiography, “Life With My Sister Madonna.” In it, he wrote about their strained relationship, her romantic entanglements as well as recollections from his time on tour with her. For two decades, he was by her side, choreographing, directing, dressing and helping his sister. He also interior designed her homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. He said that it was a bit like a marriage at times.
While Ciccone and Madonna were close earlier in their careers, their relationship became strained later on. Ciccone had accused Madonna of outing him – revealing he was gay without his consent – in the early 1990s, and said her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, was homophobic. He also claimed, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that the “turning point” came when Madona brought cameras to their mother’s grave for her documentary, “Truth or Dare.”
After Ciccone’s book was released, Madonna’s representative told The Associated Press that she had not read the book but was upset that her brother would sell “a book based on his sister.”
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.
Ciccone also told CBS News in 2012 that his relationship with his sister was “fine as far as I’m concerned.”
In recent years Ciccone relocated to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula to be closer to family. In 2016, Ciccone married British actor Ray Thacker.
As of Sunday afternoon, Madonna had not publicly addressed her brother’s death. Madonna’s older brother, Anthony Ciccone, died in 2023. He was 66.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
