American singer Mariah Carey said in a statement that her mother, Patricia, and sister, Allison, died on the same day over the weekend.
“My heart is broken because I lost my mother last weekend,” Carrie said Monday. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life that same day.”
The Grammy-winning singer said she was glad she had spent time with her mother in the week before her death and asked for privacy.
No further details were given about the cause of death of either woman.
Patricia, 87, was a former opera singer and voice coach of Irish-American descent.
In her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” the five-time Grammy Award-winning singer described her complex relationship with her mother, saying she caused her “so much pain and confusion.”
Carey, 55, said the rivalry between them had developed. Professional jealousy, she added, “comes with success, but when it’s your mother and you show jealousy at such a young age, it’s especially painful.”
But she also spoke of the deep love she had for her mother, writing in the dedication: “To Pat, my mother, who I believe did the best she could despite everything that happened. I will love you as much as I can always.”
In a 2022 interview with Gayle King, the singer said she was “definitely” affected by the criticism her mother gave her when she was growing up.
She added that she always credited her mother with introducing her to music.
Carrie’s sister, Allison, 63, was being cared for in a nursing home before her death, according to a friend quoted by the Times Union in New York. The friend did not give a cause of death.
The sisters also had a complicated relationship.
In her memoir, Carey wrote about her separation from Allison, as well as from her brother Morgan, saying that “it was safer for me emotionally and physically to have no contact.”
Allison sued Carey for $1.2 million (£909,780) after the memoir was released for “extreme emotional distress”, calling it “vindictive”.
The singer’s father, Alfred, died in 2002 of cancer at the age of 72.
Carey is one of the most successful singers in the world.
Her single “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is the best-selling Christmas song by a female artist of all time.
She holds the record for the most number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist with 19, has sold over 220 million records worldwide, and has served as a judge on the competition show American Idol.
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