Madonna's brother Cristopher Ciccone dies due to cancer: 'I did my best to keep him alive'

Madonna and Cristopher Ciccone Pic/Instagram

Iconic pop star Madonna has dedicated a tribute to her brother Cristopher Ciccone, who passed away recently and said that before his death the two had met after a long estrangement, reported E! Online. The two shared a close bond and Christopher died on October 4 from cancer before releasing a tell-all book about their relationship.

Madonna took to her Instagram handle and wrote an emotional post dedicated to her brother and posted several pictures of the two. "My brother Christopher is gone. He was the closest human to me for so long. It's 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."

Talking about their bond, she shared, "We took each other's hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood. In fact dance was a kind of superglue that held us together. Discovering Dance in our small Midwestern town saved me and then my brother came along, and it saved him too. My ballet teacher, also named Christopher- created a safe space for my brother to be Gay a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived. When I finally got the courage to go to New York to become a Dancer. My brother followed."

The ace singer continued, "And again we took each other's hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City! We devoured Art and Music And Film like hungry animals we were in the epicenter 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. When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope, and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing. We defied the Roman Catholic Church, The Police, the Moral Majority and all Authority figures that got in the way of Artistic freedom!"

Madonna shared that her brother was always by her side, " My brother was right by my side. He was a painter a poet and a visionary. I admired him. He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, Which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him. We soared the highest heights together. And floundered in the lowest lows. Somehow, we always found each other again and We held hands and we kept dancing."

She also opened up about the differences between the two, saying, "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."

She concluded with, "I did my best to keep him alive as long as possible. 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."

She added, "We took each other's hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood. In fact dance was a kind of superglue that held us together."

Madonna said that discovering dance saved both her and Christopher and that her ballet teacher "created a safe space for my brother to be Gay, a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived."

Christopher had passed away "peacefully" with husband Ray Thacker by his side, his rep had said in a statement to multiple outlets October 6.

Madonna, who was raised with her seven siblings in Michigan, wrote that when she moved to New York in the late '70s to become a dancer, Christopher followed.

"And again we took each other's hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City!" she said. "We devoured Art and Music And Film like hungry animals. We were in the epicenter 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."

In the earlier years of the Grammy winner's music career, Christopher worked as her backup dancer, assistant, dresser, decorator and creative director on her tours.

"When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope, and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing. We defied the Roman Catholic Church, The Police, the Moral Majority and all Authority figures that got in the way of Artistic freedom!" said Madonna, whose 1989 "Like a Prayer" video was condemned by the Vatican for its religious imagery. "My brother was right by my side."

In more recent years, Christopher had worked as an artist, footwear designer and interior specialist.

"He was a painter a poet and a visionary," Madonna wrote. "I admired him. He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, Which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him. We soared the highest heights together. And floundered in the lowest lows. Somehow, we always found each other again and We held hands and we kept dancing."

In 2008, the relationship between the siblings soured amid the release of his tell-all autobiography, Life With My Sister Madonna.

"The last few years have not been easy," the "Material Girl" singer wrote. "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. He was in so much pain towards the end. Once again, we held hands. We closed our eyes and we danced. Together."

Madonna continued, "I'm glad he's not suffering anymore. There will never be anyone like him. I know he's dancing somewhere," reported E! Online.

Stepmother of pop icon Madonna, Joan Clare Ciccone, has died at the age of 81 after a brief struggle with cancer in September. Her passing comes a year and a half after the death of Madonna's brother, Anthony, who passed away at age 66 in 2023.