Fox News reports that Anthony Ciccone, the older brother of Madonna, has died. He was 66.
The news of Ciccone’s passing was announced by Joe Henry, Ciccone’s brother-in-law, via Henry’s Instagram account.
“A complex character”
In the remainder of his announcement, Henry speaks about his relationship with Ciccone.
“I’ve known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone,” Ciccone writes. “As brother Dave Henry (who took this photograph) notes here, Anthony was a complex character; and god knows: we tangled in moments, as true brothers can.”
Nonetheless, Henry writes that he “loved Ciccone” and that he “understood” Ciccone “better than [he] was sometimes willing to let on.”
“But trouble fades; and family remains— with hands reached across the table,” Henry continues. “Farewell, then, brother Anthony. I want to think the god your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has her there, waiting to receive you. At least for today, no one shall dissuade me from this vision.”
Cause of death?
The cause of Ciccone’s passing has yet to be released.
PageSix reports that Ciccone struggled with alcoholism and spent many years homeless.
A family insider told PageSix:
Most family members had a difficult relationship with him due to his disease [with alcohol]. Madonna helped to support her brother when he would accept that support. During his final months, he was in contact with family and Madonna, but this past week, he refused the support the rehab facility offered, and it was clear he was ready to move on.
This anonymous source seems to be claiming that alcohol had something to do with Ciccone’s passing. But, this has yet to be confirmed.
Family struggles
It has widely been reported that Ciccone was disconnected from the rest of his family for many years. In 2011, for example, Ciccone, speaking about his family, said, “I’m a zero in their eyes — a non-person. I’m an embarrassment. If I froze to death, my family probably wouldn’t know or care about it for six months.”
It has also been reported that Ciccone, in particular, didn’t get along with his sister Madonna. He spoke about this in his book, Life With My Sister Madonna.
There were reports that Ciccone reconnected with his family in 2017. The relationship between him and his family at the time of his death, though, is unclear. Madonna, at the time of this writing, had not released a statement on his passing.
