Christopher Gerard Ciccone ( ; November 22, 1960 – October 4, 2024) was an American visual

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a creative flair, an interior ...

, and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. He was the younger brother of American singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. Ciccone began his professional career as a dancer with Le Groupe de La Place Royale. He was a dancer for his sister Madonna early in her career. He eventually became the art director for Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990 and he was the tour director for her tour, The Girlie Show, in 1993. Ciccone also directed music videos for

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

among others. In 2008, he released ''The New York Times'' Best Seller book, '' Life with My Sister Madonna''. In 2012, he launched a footwear line, Ciccone Collection.

Early life

Ciccone was born on November 22, 1960, in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

, to

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parents Madonna Louise Ciccone (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Fortin) and Silvio "Tony" Ciccone. His father's parents were Italian emigrants from Pacentro while his mother was of

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

descent. His siblings were Anthony (1956–2023), Martin (born 1957),

(born 1958), Paula (born 1959), and Melanie (born 1962). In 1963, Ciccone's mother died from

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

at age thirty. Their father remarried in 1966 to the family's housekeeper, Joan Gustafson (1943–2024), and had two more children: Jennifer (born 1968) and Mario (born 1969). After graduating from high school, Ciccone attended

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

and then transferred to

Oakland University Oakland University (OU or Oakland) is a public university, public research university in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson and husband ...

where he took dance classes. In 1980, he began his career as a dancer with Le Groupe de La Place Royale in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Career

In 1982, Christopher moved to New York City to support his sister Madonna's career as her backup dancer. Ciccone appeared in the music video for her single " Lucky Star" in 1984 and performed on her early television performances. Around this time, he worked at the Italian boutique, Fiorucci. Ciccone always had an interest in art and in 1984, he was hired as a receptionist at the Diane Brown Gallery in

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall (SoHo), and ha ...

. As Madonna's fame grew and she embarked on arena tours, Ciccone was her "dresser". He created the artwork for the 12" version of her single " Like a Prayer" in 1989. Ciccone was the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

for Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. He also was the tour director for her The Girlie Show tour in 1993. Ciccone stated that Madonna demeaned and underpaid him throughout their working relationship. Ciccone credited his sister with having encouraged him to keep painting, lending him $200,000 to buy a studio where he began to paint regularly. In November 1991, he had his first solo New York

art show An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanent ...

at the Wessel + O'Connor Fine Art gallery in SoHo. He exhibited seventeen paintings with prices starting at $3,500. He ventured into interior design when Madonna asked him to buy furniture for her new apartment in 1985. He also designed Madonna's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

apartment in Manhattan, which was featured on the cover of ''

Architectural Digest ''Architectural Digest'' (stylized in all caps) is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast ...

'' in 1991. In 1994, Ciccone moved to Los Angeles where he indulged in the partying lifestyle and he began using

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

. Ciccone directed the music video for Dolly Parton's single " Peace Train" and

's rendition of " God Bless the Child" in 1997. That year, he formed a friendship with actress

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...

and he was her date to the

Gucci Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...

evening for AIDS Project LA. In 2008, Ciccone released his autobiography, '' Life with My Sister Madonna'', which debuted at No. 2 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. The book fractured their relationship and Ciccone asserted that Madonna had him

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Ciccone also filmed a pilot for an interior design show called ''Pardon My Decor'' in 2008. He also made an appearance on the reality show, '' The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency'', to design a new sleeping quarter. In September 2012, Ciccone debuted a footwear line, Ciccone Collection, during

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fash ...

. While doing press for his shoe collection, Ciccone revealed that he and Madonna are on "personable" terms. "We're back to being a brother and sister. I don't work for her, and it's better this way", he said.

Personal life

Ciccone was openly gay. He stated that Madonna

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia in order to discredit politi ...

him in her interview with ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' in 1991. Their relationship became strained when she married English film director

Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter known primarily for British comedy gangster films and large-scale action-adventure films. Ritchie left school at the age of 15, and worked in e ...

in 2000. According to Ciccone, he did not get along with Ritchie, who he claimed is

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

. "It was...very apparent at the wedding in Scotland, just in the way that his friends made their toast with his gay references. I mean had it been any other word, you know Jew or a black person...anyone would find if offensive and I have a thick skin", said Ciccone. However, Ciccone's biggest rift with Madonna was over finances. In addition, Madonna appointed a different director and choreographer— Jamie King—for her Drowned World Tour 2001 and did not tell Ciccone. During an interview with

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

in 2012, Ciccone indicated they had patched things up, saying "Our relationship is fine as far as I'm concerned". He also told ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'', "We are in contact with each other". Ciccone befriended actress

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a ...

and they bonded over their love of art. They attended '' Vanity Fair'''s Oscar party together in 2002. Ciccone married British actor Ray Thacker in 2016.

Death

Ciccone died on October 4, 2024, in

Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Emmet County, Michigan, and is the largest settlement within the county. Petoskey has a population of 5,877 at the 2020 census, up from 5,670 at the 2010 census. Petoskey is part of N ...

at age 63 from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, according to a statement from his family. On October 6, Madonna dedicated a lengthy

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post to him saying, "I admired him ..We found our way back to each other. I did my best to keep him alive as long as possible. He was in so much pain towards the end ..There will never be anyone like him".

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciccone, Christopher 1960 births 2024 deaths Artists from Michigan American gay artists American interior designers American fashion designers LGBTQ fashion designers People from Bay City, Michigan American art directors American male painters LGBTQ people from Michigan Gay dancers American music video directors Western Michigan University alumni Oakland University alumni American people of French-Canadian descent American people of Italian descent American male dancers Madonna 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Michigan People of Abruzzese descent