Legendary singer Mariah Carey is grieving the loss of her mother, Patricia, and her sister, Alison, who both passed away on the same day over the weekend.
In a statement released on Monday, Carey shared her profound sorrow. “My heart is broken to have lost my mother this past weekend,” said the five-time Grammy winner. “In a tragic twist, my sister also passed away on the same day.”
Patricia Carey, 87, a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish-American descent, was a complex figure in Mariah’s life. In her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the singer described a fraught relationship with her mother, marked by professional jealousy and difficult experiences from an early age.
Despite the challenges, Carey spoke of her deep love for Patricia, writing in the memoir’s dedication: “To Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I do believe actually did the best she could. I will love you the best I can, always.”
Carey’s relationship with her older sister Alison, 63, was similarly complicated. The memoir reveals their estrangement, with Carey noting that it was “emotionally and physically safer” to avoid contact with Alison and their brother Morgan.
Alison had previously sued Carey for $1.2 million after the memoir’s release, alleging “immense emotional distress” and calling the book “vindictive.”
No additional details have been released about the causes of death for Patricia or Alison.
Carey has requested privacy during this challenging time and expressed gratitude for the chance to spend time with her mother before her passing. The singer’s father, Alfred, died in 2002 at 72 from cancer.
Despite these personal losses, Mariah Carey remains one of the most successful recording artists of all time, holding the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist with 19 songs and having sold over 220 million records worldwide.
