Madonna shares moving tribute to brother Christopher Ciccone after his death: ‘I know he’s dancing somewhere’
The singer's brother died aged 63 on Friday (4 October) after being diagnosed with cancer
By Alim Kheraj
Madonna has shared a moving tribute to her brother, the artist and designer Christopher Ciccone, after it was revealed that he had died aged 63 last Friday (4 October).
Ciccone, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died peacefully surrounded by his husband, Ray Thacker, and loved ones, a representative told The Hollywood Reporter.
“My brother Christopher is gone,” Madonna wrote in a post on Instagram, sharing a carousel of images of the pair together.
“Dance was the superglue that held us together” – Madonna
“He was the closest human to me for so long. Its 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.”
In her tribute, Madonna said that “dance was the superglue that held us together”, adding: “Discovering Dance in our small Midwestern town saved me and then my brother came along, and it saved him too.”
Madonna went to say that her ballet teacher, who was also named Christopher, gave her brother a safe space to be gay, “a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived”.
When she eventually moved to New York to pursue her career, her brother followed her.
“And again we took each other’s hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City,” Madonna wrote. “We devoured art and music and film like hungry animals. We were in the epicentre 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.”
Indeed, Ciccone directed a number of his sister’s tours, including The Girlie Show. He was also the art director on the Blond Ambition Tour, and directed music videos for the likes of Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett, as well as his sister.
He would later go on to design the interiors for restaurants, corporate boxes at London’s O2 Arena and furniture for Bernhardt Furniture. He married Thacker, a British actor, in 2016.
“There will never be anyone like him” – Madonna
However, Madonna and her brother’s relationship became strained in 1991 after Ciccone accused his sister of outing him in an interview with The Advocate. He later published a book, Life With My Sister Madonna, in 2008, which reportedly furthered their feud.
In her tribute on Instagram, Madonna said that her brother “had a sharp tongue, which he sometimes used against me”, but that she “always forgave him”.
She added: “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,” she continued. “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.”