LOS ANGELES: Singer Madonna has poured out her love for her brother Anthony Ciccone who recently left for the heavenly abode.
Taking to Instagram Story, Madonna thanked her brother Ciccone for "blowing (her) mind" as a young girl. "Thank you for blowing my mind as a young girl and introducing me to (jazz musicians) Charlie Parker (and) Miles Davis," the "Vogue" singer, 64, wrote on her Instagram Story Monday alongside a group photo featuring her late sibling.
She continued by shouting out other things her brother taught her, including religions Buddhism and Taoism, and writers Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan and Jack Kerouac. "You planted many important seeds," Madonna concluded the tribute.
Ciccone died on February 24. He was 66.
The news of Ciccone's demise was shared by his relative Joe Henry on social media.
In his emotional post, Henry described Ciccone as a "complex character." "My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, exited this earthly plane last evening," Henry wrote alongside a youthful photograph of his brother-in-law. "I've known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone. As brother Dave Henry (who took this photograph) notes here, Anthony was a complex character; and god knows: we tangled in moments, as true brothers can."
Henry continued, "But I loved him, and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on. But trouble fades; and family remains -- with hands reached across the table. Farewell, then, brother Anthony. I want to think the god your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has her there, waiting to receive you. At least for today, no one shall dissuade me from this vision."
Ciccone had reportedly struggled with alcoholism and was homeless for several years. In 2013, he needed nine stitches to his forehead after resisting arrest in a public bathroom in Michigan, The Hollywood Reporter informed.Years prior, Anthony previously spoke out against Madonna and the rest of their family, accusing them of not caring about him.