Who Are Madonna's 7 Siblings? She Said She Never Felt "Completeness" From Her Family
Madonna's siblings are mourning the losses of her brothers, Christopher and Anthony Ciccone, who died one year apart.
Published Oct. 7 2024, 6:11 p.m. ET
In October 2024, singer Madonna received tons of support from her fans when she opened up about a family tragedy. Weeks after the loss of her stepmother, Joan Ciccone, the "Vogue" singer announced via Instagram that her brother, Christopher Ciccone, had died of cancer at age 63. In a heartfelt tribute to her brother and former creative partner, she called him a "visionary" who "danced through the madness" with his little sis.
Madonna's brother was the latest of the singer's large immediate family to die within the last year. As she continues to mourn her relatives, fans wonder about the other members of her tribe. So, who are Madonna's siblings? Let's find out.
Madonna is the most famous one of her 7 brothers and sisters.
Madonna's siblings include her brother, Christopher, and six other brothers and sisters. Her parents, Silvio and Madonna Louise Ciccone (yes, the pop diva is a Jr. — cute!), welcomed six children together, and Madonna was the couple's third.
According to Hello! Magazine, Anthony, Martin, Madonna, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie were all born before Madonna's mother died of cancer in 1963. When she died, her father remarried their housekeeper, Joan, and the pair welcomed two children, Jennifer and Mario.
Madonna's family grew up as devout Catholics in Michigan. In the 1970s, the "Like A Virgin" singer dropped out of college at the University of Michigan and moved to New York City, and the rest is history. While several of her siblings dabbled into the entertainment and music industry before ultimately moving back to their hometown, Madonna admitted she would've likely had the same fate had she felt like she belonged at home.
"If my mother didn’t die, and I grew up with a feeling of wholeness and completeness and family, I probably would have stayed in Michigan and become a schoolteacher,” the pop icon told Rolling Stone in June 2023.
Madonna's eldest brother, Anthony Ciccone, died one year before their brother Christopher.
Madonna and her numerous siblings are hopefully leaning on each other in the wake of multiple family tragedies. Before the singer's brother, Christopher's death, the family mourned her eldest brother, Anthony Ciccone. In April 2023, Anthony died of respiratory failure and throat cancer at the age of 66. Madonna and her older brother had a rocky relationship, though she honored him on her Instagram account when he died.
"Thank you for blowing my mind as a young girl," she wrote to her brother under a photo of them with their siblings. "You planted many important seeds."
Though Madonna paid tribute to Anthony, she and her other siblings mostly kept their lives private, although they had spoken out about her and their childhood in the past. In 2008, Christopher was dragged by many of her fans for his memoir, Life With My Sister Madonna. However, the siblings had seemingly resolved their issues before he died, as she had nothing but positive memories about their time together.
"He was the closest human to me for so long," Madonna said of Christopher in an emotional tribute. "Its hard to explain our bond, but it grew out of an understanding that we were different and society was going to give us a hard time for not following the status quo."
