Anthony Ciccone, Madonna’s older brother, has died at the age of 66.
Ciccone was one of the star’s seven siblings and, according to local media reports, died on Friday night.
Throughout his life he struggled with alcoholism and, according to press reports, was homeless for many years, to the point of living under a bridge at one point.
His brother-in-law, Joe Henry, broke the news on Instagram: “I’ve known him since he was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan, so many years have passed,” wrote the composer, who is married to Madonna’s sister, Melanie Ciccone.
“My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, left this earthly plane last night,” Henry announced.
And he defined: “Anthony was a complex character; and God knows: we get tangled up at times, like true brothers can. But he loved him, and he understood him better than he sometimes let me. Problems fade away; and the family remains, hands outstretched on the table. Farewell, then, brother Anthony. I want to think that the God your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has you there, waiting to receive you. At least for today, no one will dissuade me from this vision.
The cause of death has not yet been revealed.
So far Madonna has not made any publication in relation to the death of her older brother.
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