American singer Mariah Carey said in a statement that her mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, died over the weekend.
“My heart is broken after losing my mother this past weekend,” Carey said Monday. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister also passed away on the same day.”
The singer said he was happy to be able to spend time with his mother in the week before her death and asked that his privacy be respected.
No further details about the cause of death have been released.
Patricia, 87, was an Irish-American former opera singer and vocal coach.
The five-time Grammy Award-winning singer detailed her complicated relationship with her mother in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” which she said “caused me a great deal of pain and confusion.”
Carrey said there was a rivalry between the two and that professional jealousy “comes with success, but it’s especially painful when it’s your mother and it unfolds at a young age.”
But she also spoke of her deep love for her mother, writing in the dedication: “To my mother, Pat, I believe she did the best she could against all odds. I will always give you all the love I can.”
In a 2022 interview with Gayle King, Carey said that the criticism she received from her mother while growing up “definitely affected me.”
She added that she will always be grateful to her mother for introducing her to music.
Carrie’s relationship with her 63-year-old sister, Allison, was also complicated.
In her memoir, she wrote about her estrangement from her brother Morgan, saying, “It was safer emotionally and physically for us to have no contact at all.”
Following the publication of her memoir, Ms Allison sued Ms Carrey for $1.2 million (£909,780) in damages for “immeasurable emotional distress”, claiming the memoir was “vindictive”.
The singer’s father, Alfred, died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 72.
Carey is considered one of the most successful singers in the world.
Her holiday single, “All I want for Christmas is You,” is the best-selling Christmas song of all time by a female artist.
She holds the record for the most number one Billboard Hot 100 singles by a solo artist with 19, has sold more than 220 million records worldwide, and served as a judge on the competition show “American Idol.”
