Anthony Ciccone, who was the brother of music star Madonna, has died at the age of 66.
According to Page Six, Ciccone is believed to have died in Michigan.
Madonna’s brother-in-law Joe Henry, the husband of Madonna’s sister Melanie, announced Ciccone’s death Saturday on Instagram.
“My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, exited this earthly plane last evening,” he wrote.
Madonna’s older brother Anthony Ciccone dead at 66 https://t.co/PFPzHctbAX pic.twitter.com/UBKWxwjIa8
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 26, 2023
“I’ve known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone. 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,” he said.
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“But I loved him, and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on. But trouble fades; and family remains — with hands reached across the table. 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,” he wrote.
In 2013, the Daily Mail published an interview with Ciccone, who at the time was living in Traverse City, Michigan, and was homeless.
“Madonna doesn’t give a s**t if I’m dead or alive. She lives in her own world,” he said.
Ciccone painted a picture of a loveless family.
“I never loved her in the first place, she never loved me. We never loved each other,” he said.
“My father would be very happy if I died of hypothermia and then he would not have to worry about it anymore. He’s old school, he grew up in the depression. He doesn’t want to be bothered, he’s lived his life you see. He doesn’t like me. He doesn’t want me to be me, he wants me to be somebody else. He thinks the way I live is intentional. He simply doesn’t know me,” he said.
Ciccone said that “when the chips fell,” he had “no family backup.”
“What would you do under these circumstance when your family has stood against you completely?” he said.
Asked about the solution to his problems, he said, “I merely need love and care of family and friends.”
People said a family source told it the relationship was complicated.
“They were all there for him and despite being estranged, Madonna supported him in every way she could when he was willing to take the support. Family members including Madonna visited him while in his rehab facility as he declined these past few months,” the source said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.