Christopher Ciccone, artist, interior designer and Madonna's younger brother, died on Friday. The Hollywood journalist he learned. He was 63 years old.
Ciccone had battled cancer and died peacefully, surrounded by her husband, Ray Thacker, and other loved ones, according to a statement from Ciccone's representative.
Ciccone, who started out as a dancer and choreographer, used his talents to support Madonna's emerging career, becoming a costume designer and creative consultant to her superstar sister. He has also directed music videos and tours, including Madonna's The Girlie Show world tour in 1993. And he was the artistic director of the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour.
He continued to work as an interior, footwear and furniture designer and artist and wrote the best-selling book of 2008 Life with my sister Madonnawhich led to reports that the brothers had had an argument.
Ciccone claimed that Madonna found out about this in a 1991 interview with The lawyerwhere 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 took cameras to their mother's grave for her 1991 documentary, Truth or Dare.
“I kept it in but I thought to myself, 'OK, there are no boundaries now.' You know, my mother has now become a part, a little player in her life, in her life story, and that hurt me,” he said Good morning America in 2008. “And my opinion of her changed at that time. I never said anything about it.
He added: “I think, at the end of the day, he's one person and, unfortunately, he really is at the top.”
Madonna's longtime representative, Liz Rosenberg, told The Associated Press at the time that the artist had not read the account but found it “very upsetting” that Christopher “would decide to sell a book based on his sister.”
“I would have to assume that he has come to terms with the fact that they don't have a close, loving relationship,” Rosenberg said. “And with the book coming out, I assume that will eliminate any possibility of that happening.”
But in interviews in 2012, Ciccone indicated he had made things right. “Our relationship is fine as far as I'm concerned,” he told CBS News.
He added to The standard of the evening: “We are in contact with each other, although I haven't seen her for a long time. We are back to being brother and sister. I don't work for her and it's better that way. … I couldn't be more proud of her. She is a force to be reckoned with. Does she have the voice of Barbra Streisand? No. Can she dance like Martha Graham? Probably not. But the combination of her skills made her great and left a huge legacy for her and, through her, for me. So yes, God bless her.
Ciccone has created commercial interior design for restaurants in New York, Miami and Los Angeles, corporate stages for London's O2 arena and a luxury condominium development in Miami Beach.
His furniture design for Bernhardt Furniture was chosen for use in President Bill Clinton's New York office.
Christopher Gerard Ciccone was born in Pontiac, Michigan on November 20, 1960, the fifth child and third child of Madonna Louise and Silvio Patrick Ciccone. He grew up 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 recent years, he has moved back to Michigan, close to family members who are involved in his father's Suttons Bay-based winery, Ciccone Vineyards.
She 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.
Madonna's representatives have not yet responded THRrequest for comment.