Singer Mariah Carey has announced a family tragedy, saying that both her mother, Patricia, and her sister, Alison, recently died on the same day as each other.
"My heart is broken that I鈥檝e lost my mother this past weekend,鈥� Carey said in a statement issued on Monday. 鈥淪adly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day."
Carey said she was glad to have been able to spend the last week with her mother, who had reportedly moved to an assisted care facility in Florida several years ago. Carey鈥檚 sister, Alison, died in New York state, according to local media.
"I appreciate everyone鈥檚 love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time,鈥� she added. News of the two women鈥檚 deaths was first reported by .
The pop superstar did not provide details about the causes of death. Patricia Carey was 87, according to public records.
Alison Carey died in hospice care at age 63 in Greene County, N.Y., south of Albany, according to the . The newspaper cites David Baker, a friend of Alison Carey鈥檚 who had helped her navigate housing and benefits issues, who said her death followed problems with her organ functions. She was reported to have struggled with substance abuse.
Carey, 55, has said she has complicated relationships with her family, describing her early life as a source of recurring instability. She has linked her past to the very public emotional struggles the singer endured even as her career soared to rare heights.
鈥淚 think that my tolerance level for dysfunction is so high because I grew up in a very dysfunctional environment,鈥� in 2006.
Carey had maintained ties with her mother, including in 2010 and spending time together with Carey's young children. But she was reportedly estranged from her sister, who sued Carey over allegations about her in the singer鈥檚 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
Describing her mother as a neglectful parent, Carey said in her memoir that Patricia, who was white, in a variety of ways, including not tending to her biracial daughter鈥檚 hair. But she also credited her mother 鈥� a former opera singer who trained at Juilliard 鈥� with encouraging her to sing and explore her talent.
In her memoir, Carey also alleged that her older sister , including giving Mariah drugs when she was 12.
Carey鈥檚 mother reportedly in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2020. One year later, Carey sold the house in Westchester County, N.Y., that she had bought for her mother in the 1990s.
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