Madonna visited her older brother, Anthony Ciccone, in rehab before his death at age 66.

Madonna had visited her late brother Anthony Ciccone before his death at the age of 66, in the last months of his life.

The 64-year-old musical icon, a source said Peopleand his family members, including six other siblings, shared a “complicated relationship” with Anthony amid his long-running battle with addiction, and were present “as he declined in recent months” before his death on February 24.

The source said “family members, including Madonna, visited him while he was in his rehab center” and “were all there for him” amid the difficult time.

The source added: “Madonna supported him in any way she could when he was willing to accept support.”

Madonna, who was born in Michigan to Catholic parents, grew up in suburban Detroit with five siblings, the eldest of whom was Anthony, born two years before her in 1956.

RIP: Anthony Ciccone, who died on February 24, shared a ‘complicated relationship’ with family members amid his long-running battle with addiction.

Although she moved to New York in 1978 to pursue dance and embarked on what was to be a highly successful career, he remained in Michigan for the most part, working from time to time for his father, before leaving. being a victim of alcoholism and homelessness.

Madonna’s brother-in-law, Joe Henry, husband of her sister Melanie Ciccone, announced Anthony’s death in a statement.

‘My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, left this earthly plane last night. I have known him since he was 15 years old, in the spring of our lives in Michigan, many years ago,” he said. ‘Anthony was a complex character; and God knows: we get tangled up at times, as real brothers can.

But I loved him and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on.

Henry added: ‘But the problems fade away; and family remains – with folded hands on the table. Goodbye, then, brother Antonio. I want to think that the god your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has her there, waiting for you. At least for today, no one will dissuade me from this vision.

Like Madonna, Cicconi also spent time in New York in her 30s in the late 1980s.

Carolina Gengo, 59, who dated him at the time, described him positively: “He was a lost soul trying to find his way, but he was a good person.

I had books everywhere, that was all I really had. He liked to read about life and philosophy,” Gengo said. And he wanted to sit down and talk about it.

Cicconi pictured as a young man in a warm tribute to him posted by his brother-in-law on Saturday.

Madonna knew of her brother’s plight and repeatedly offered to help by paying for him to go to rehab. She is pictured here during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“He talked about what it was like to be Madonna’s brother, he didn’t like being known as Madonna’s brother,” he said.

Gengo recounted an occasion when on his birthday his sister’s assistant called to ask how much money he wanted as a gift. That, she said, she alienated him.

After a few years of sleeping rough under a bridge in Michigan, Madonna’s family said they would reinstate Anthony in 2017.

It came after years of publicly suggesting that his family had turned their backs on him. ‘I am a zero in his eyes; a non-person, a shame’, he told the Daily Mail in 2011.

“If I froze to death, my family probably wouldn’t know or care about it for six months.”

Ciccone said at the time that she had been living under a bridge over a river in Michigan with a sleeping bag and her only companion, another homeless person named Michael.

Ciccone said she had been among the homeless at the Traverse City ski resort since losing a job at her father’s vineyard and winery six miles away.

His father and stepmother own a vineyard about 20 miles north of where Anthony slept rough under the Union St. Bridge in Traverse City.

Helping hand: ‘Madonna supported him in any way she could when he was willing to accept support,’ a source told People

Memories: Madonna took to social media with a memorial for her brother, saying he “planted a lot of important seeds” in her life

“My family basically turned their back on me when I was going through a difficult time,” he said. ‘Do you think I haven’t answered this question a million times? Why is my sister a billionaire and I am homeless on the street? Never say Never. This could happen to anyone.

He said he was angry that some would find it funny that the brother of such a famous star would end up living under a bridge. He was adamant at that point that he didn’t want any of the money from him, whether they offered it to him or not.

“I’m not looking to receive a free handout for my sister,” he said. I’m not looking for publicity. Instead, he relies on the generosity of soup kitchens run by local churches for food.

Ciccone, who said he once worked in the Alaskan fishing industry and as a photographer’s assistant in New York, said in 2011 that he was doing odd jobs and collecting bottles and cans from people’s trash cans.

Madonna knew of his plight and repeatedly offered to help by paying him to go into rehab. Her father also offered to return her work if she got professional help.

However, he had not always been receptive: “My family seems to think that rehabilitation is some kind of magical panacea for life’s ills,” he once said.

However, things seemed to be looking up for Cicconi after a period of rehabilitation in 2017 and his reintegration into family life.

Karen McCarthy, founder of Dann’s House rehabilitation clinic, confirmed his stay, telling Sunday People: “Anthony loved Dann’s House for quite some time and made significant improvements in his life while with us.”

‘Dann’s House does a good job with vulnerable people. We have seen tremendous and positive results.’