Christopher Ciccone, the younger brother of Madonna, died Friday, Oct. 4, of cancer. He was 63.
Apart from his relationship with his famous older sibling, Ciccone also worked as an artist and an interior designer. He began his career as Madonna’s choreographer.
The singer issued a lengthy statement in honor of her brother on Instagram. “My brother Christopher is gone. He was the closest human to me for so long. It’s 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 began.
“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. 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. 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 the Creative Director, of many tours.”
“When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope, and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing. We defied the Roman Catholic Church, The Police, the Moral Majority and all Authority figures that got in the way of Artistic freedom!
My brother was right by my side. He was a painter a poet and a visionary.”
“I admired him. He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, Which he 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. 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,” she finished.
Ciccone’s death comes two weeks after his stepmother died and over a year after his brother Anthony died of respiratory failure and throat cancer.
Ciccone began his career as one of Madonna’s backup dancers before he began directing music videos for stars such as Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett. He directed his sister’s 1990 “Blond Ambition World Tour” and her 1993 “The Girlie Show” tour.
His 2008 book “Life With My Sister Madonna” documented the pair’s famous falling out and reached number 2 on the New York Times best seller list. As he wrote, Ciccone was hurt that Madonna and ex-husband Guy Ritchie hired another interior designer to decorate their home in New York, and was also hurt that Madonna didn’t stop Ritchie from making homophobic comments. Ritchie later denied he had made such statements.
In 2012 he told the Evening Standard that the pair had mended their relationship. He said, “As far as I’m concerned, we’re good. 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.”
Christopher Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan, on Nov. 22, 1960. He is survived by his husband, Ray Thacker.
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