Madonna shared somber snaps on Friday from her trip to the cemetery, where she and her daughter Lourdes visited the graves of the singer’s late brother and their mother.
The Like a Virgin singer, 66 – who has shown stress in recent days – took to her Instagram Story to share a carousel of photos as she laid her brother Christopher’s remains to rest after he passed away earlier this month pancreatic cancer had died.
She wrote “Homecoming…” above a photo of her late brother’s green marble grave marker, with his name, date of birth and date of death.
The singer left red roses and stopped at the grave of her mother, Madonna Fortin Ciccone. She died in 1963 at the age of 30 when the Like a Prayer singer was just five.
Madonna shared somber photos on Friday from her trip to the cemetery, where she and her daughter Lourdes visited the graves of the singer’s late brother and their mother
28-year-old Lourdes knelt next to her grandmother’s gravestone and posed for a moment
Both the singer’s brother and mother were buried at Calvary Cemetery in Kawkawlin, Michigan.
28-year-old Lourdes knelt next to her grandmother’s gravestone and posed for a moment.
The Bay City, Michigan native added a moving video of Levon Henry covering Duke Ellington’s Single Petal of a Rose on the saxophone.
She also made a pit stop at her grandmother’s house and shared a photo of it, writing: “When I was little I thought my Nanoos house was a mansion!”
Madonna’s visit to the cemetery comes less than a month after her brother died on October 4 at the age of 63.
In an earlier post, she shared a heartfelt tribute to her brother – gushing about their bond and how they supported each other through tough times.
She wrote: ‘My brother Christopher is gone. He was the person closest to me for so long. It’s hard to explain our bond. But it came from realizing that we were different and that society would make things difficult for us because we didn’t follow the status quo.
‘We took each other’s hands and danced through the madness of our childhood. In fact, dance was a kind of super glue that kept us together.’
She wrote “Homecoming…” above a photo of her late brother’s green marble grave marker, detailed with his name, date of birth and date of death
She also made a pit stop at her grandmother’s house and shared a photo of it, writing: “When I was little I thought my Nanoos house was a mansion!”
The singer left red roses and stopped at the grave of her mother, Madonna Fortin Ciccone
The music icon further explained how the love for dance helped the siblings express themselves at a young age.
Madonna continued, “Discovering dance in our small town in the Midwest saved me and then my brother came along and it saved him too. 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 had the courage to go to New York to become a dancer. My brother followed. And once again we took hands and danced through the madness of New York City! We devoured art, music and film like hungry animals, we were at the epicenter of all these exploding things. We danced through the madness of the AIDS epidemic.”
Madonna went on to explain how she and her late brother became as thick as thieves when rebellion helped bring them together.
She wrote: ‘We went to funerals and we cried, and we went dancing. Early in my career we danced together on stage and he eventually became creative director of many tours. When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing.
‘We defied the Roman Catholic Church, the police, the moral majority and all authorities who stood in the way of artistic freedom! My brother stood next to me. He was a painter, a poet and a visionary.’
The Like A Virgin hitmaker ended the lengthy tribute by talking about the person her brother is and the relationship they have built together.
She concluded the message by writing, “I admired him. He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, which he sometimes used against me, but I always forgave him. We rose to the highest heights together and crashed into the lowest of lows.
Madonna’s visit to the cemetery comes less than a month after her brother died on October 4 at the age of 63
In an earlier post, she shared a heartfelt tribute to her brother – gushing about their bond and how they supported each other through tough times
She wrote: ‘My brother Christopher is gone. He was the person closest to me for so long.”
‘Somehow we always found each other and held hands and kept dancing. The past few years have not been easy. We haven’t spoken in a while, but… When my brother got sick. We have found our way back to each other.
‘I did my best to keep him alive as long as possible. Towards the end he was in so much pain. We held hands again. We closed our eyes and danced. Together. I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore. There will never be anyone like him. I know he’s dancing somewhere.’
In addition to Christopher, the singer also has siblings Anthony, Martin, Paula and Melanie from her parents’ marriage – Silvio and Madonna Ciccone.
Madonna’s mother, who shares her namesake, died of breast cancer in 1963 at the age of 30. After his wife’s death, her father, who is 93, remarried and welcomed children Jennifer and Mario with his second wife.
The singer is currently dating Akeem Morris, 28, a former college football player and political science graduate from Stony Brook University.