Christopher Ciccone, an artist, dancer, and the younger brother of singer Madonna, has passed away aged 63.
Ciccone's representative confirmed the news to The Associated Press, saying he died on Friday, October 4. He had cancer.
Madonna's stepmother Joan Clare Ciccone had only just passed away from cancer on the 24th of September — less than two weeks before Christopher.
Madonna posted a tribute to her younger brother on her Instagram page, with a series of photos of the two of them throughout the years.
"My brother Christopher is gone," she penned in tribute. "He was the closest human to me for so long."
"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," she continued.
In the post, Madonna talked about bonding with her brother through dance and art.
"We took each other's hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood. In fact dance was a kind of superglue that held us together. Discovering dance in our small Midwestern town saved me and then my brother came along, and it saved him too," she wrote.
"My ballet Teacher, also named Christopher— created a safe space for my brother to be Gay, a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived.
"When I finally got the courage to go to New York to become a Dancer, my brother followed. And again we took each other's hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City…
"We danced through the madness of the AIDS epidemic, we went to funerals and we cried, and we went dancing. We danced together on stage in the beginning of my career and eventually, he became the Creative Director of many tours."
The singer also acknowledged that she and Christopher had a somewhat estranged relationship saying, "He had impeccable taste and a sharp tongue, which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him.
"We soared the highest heights together and floundered in the lowest lows.Somehow, we always found each other again and we held hands and we kept dancing. The last few years have not been easy."
Watch: Mamamia Wonder Women: Madonna. Post continues below.
Christopher had also previously talked about their tense relationship in his autobiography 'Life with My Sister Madonna'.
However, in the tribute post Madonna mentioned that they had become close again before Christopher passed away.
"We did not speak for sometime, but when my brother got sick, 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," she wrote.
"Once again, we held hands, we closed our eyes and we danced together. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore. There will never be anyone like him."
"I know he's dancing somewhere," Madonna finished her tribute, with a broken heart emoji.
Feature Image: Instagram/@madonna.