Pop icon Madonna paid an emotional tribute to her late brother Christopher Ciccone, who died of cancer on October 4. The two, who were estranged for a number of years, reunited before his death. Christopher was a painter, poet, and visionary. He was also the creative director of Madonna during the early years of her career.
Following her loss, Madonna took to Instagram to give word about her brother’s passing and the special bond they shared.
She shared several pictures of the siblings. And wrote, “My brother Christopher is gone. He was the closest human to me for so long.” She described their closeness as singular and said it grew from the understanding of them both being different from others.
“Society gave us a hard time for not following the status quo,” Madonna said of how they remained tight as the ups and downs took them through life. She remembered how dance was fundamental to their bonding. “Dance was a kind of superglue that held us together,” she explained. She spoke of their little town in the Midwest, where Christopher’s ballet teacher made a safe place for him to become the gay man he is today.
Madonna recalled, that in New York, their mutual love for art, music, and film brought them together. “We devoured art and music and film like hungry animals,” she wrote. “We danced through the madness of the AIDS epidemic. And also went to funerals and we cried, and we went dancing.”
Christopher had been one of the early participants in Madonna’s career as a backup dancer, assistant, dresser, and decorator, later to become the creative director. “When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope, and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing,” Madonna said. Both became one in circumventing the authority. And embracing artistic license there was much criticism hurled their way.
Things took a turn for the worse in 2008 when Christopher released a tell-all book, Life With My Sister Madonna. Madonna said they did reconcile before his death. “The last few years have not been easy. We did not speak for some time, but when my brother got sick, we found our way back to each other,” she wrote.
She concluded her tribute with a final farewell to say, “I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore. There will never be anyone like him. I know he’s dancing somewhere.” Christopher died peacefully with his husband by his side.
ANI
