Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone has died aged 63

Christopher Ciccone, a multihyphenate artist, dancer, designer and younger brother madonnahas died He was 63 years old.

Ciccone died Friday in Michigan, his representative, Brad Taylor, told The Associated Press on Sunday. He had cancer.

Posted by Madonna Tributes were paid to him on Instagram on Sunday With a photo carousel from year to year.

“He was the closest person to me for so long,” she wrote. “Our bond is hard to explain. But it grew out of an understanding that we are different and that society is going to give us a hard time for not following the status quo. We held each other's hands and we danced through our childhood madness.”

Madonna wrote that discovering dance in their small Midwestern town saved them both, and that their ballet teacher created a safe space for her brother to come out as gay.

A dancer since her youth, Ciccone was deeply involved in her sister's rise to pop stardom in the 1980s, appearing in music videos such as “Lucky Star”, art directing her Blonde Ambition World Tour, and serving as tour director for The Girlie Show Tour. . He directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett.

Madonna wrote, “When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing.” “He was a painter, a poet and a visionary. I admire her. He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him.

In 2008, Ciccone published a best-selling autobiography called “Life with My Sister Madonna” in which he wrote about their tensions, his romantic entanglements and memories from his time on tour with her. For two decades, he was by her side, choreographing, directing, dressing and helping her sister. He also designed the interiors of his homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. He said it was like marriage at times.

“It was a double-edged sword,” he told Good Morning America in 2008.

The book, and its no-filter description of her sister's celebrity circle exploits, also influenced some of her Hollywood friendships. Several years later, in 2012, while launching a shoe collection she designed, she told The Standard that she and her sister were “on a completely personal level” and in touch.

“I don't work for him, and it's better that way,” he said.

Ciccone moved to Michigan's Lower Peninsula in recent years to be closer to family. In 2016, Ciccone married British actor Ray Thacker, who was by her side when she died.

Madonna wrote that when he became ill, they found their way back to each other.

“I'm glad she's not suffering anymore,” he wrote. “There will be no one like him. I know she's dancing somewhere.”

Madonna also lost her stepmother Joan Claire Ciccone to cancer just weeks ago, and her older brother Anthony Ciccone in early 2023.