Madonna’s older brother, Anthony Ciccone, dead at 66

Madonna, pictured at the 65th Grammy Awards, was reportedly estranged from her older brother, Anthony Ciccone. Photo / Getty Images

Best known as the older brother of global superstar Madonna, 64, Anthony Ciccone, a former photographer’s assistant, passed away on Friday, with his death announced the following evening by his brother-in-law Joe Henry, who is married to the Like a Prayer hitmaker’s younger sister Melanie.

Also a singer and songwriter, Henry wrote on Instagram: “My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, exited this earthly plane last evening. I’ve known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone.

“As brother Dave Henry (who took this photograph) notes here, Anthony was a complex character; and god knows: we tangled in moments, as true brothers can. But I loved him, and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on. But trouble fades; and family remains — with hands reached across the table.”

Madonna's estranged brother, Anthony Ciccone, has died. Photo / Instagram

Without revealing a cause of death, the Time is a Lion singer went on to wish “farewell” to his late brother-in-law as he shared his hopes that he has made it to the afterlife.

He added: “Farewell, then, brother Anthony. I want to think the god your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has her there, waiting to receive you. At least for today, no one shall dissuade me from this vision.”(sic)

Meanwhile, Madonna is yet to speak out publicly about the death of her brother and over the last decade it appears he had become estranged from his sister - who is thought to have a net worth of $850 million (NZ $1.3 billion) - as he explained in 2011 that he was sleeping rough after becoming a “non-person” to the rest of his family.

Madonna with her six children, Lourdes Leon, 26, Rocco Ritchie, 22, David Banda, 17, Mercy James, 16, and ten-year-old twins Stelle and Estere Ciccone. Photo / Instagram

He said: “I’m a zero in their eyes; a non-person, an embarrassment. If I froze to death, my family probably wouldn’t know or care about it for six months. My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time.

“You think I haven’t answered this question a bazillion times – why my sister is a multi-bazillionaire and I’m homeless on the street? Never say never. This could happen to anybody.”