Mariah Carey Loses Mum, Sister on the Same Day
US singer, Mariah Carey, has revealed in a statement that her mother Patricia and sister Alison died on the same day over the weekend.
“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.” She said.
The Grammy-winning singer said she felt blessed to have spent time with her mother in the week before her death and asked for privacy.
She gave no further details about either woman's cause of death.
Carey's mum, Patricia, 87, was a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish-American descent.
In her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the five-time Grammy Award-winning singer opened up about her complicated relationship with her mother, describing it as a source of "so much pain and confusion." Carey, now 55, revealed that competition had created a rift between them. She acknowledged that professional jealousy often accompanies success, but noted that it becomes particularly painful when it comes from one's own mother at a young age.
Despite these challenges, Carey expressed her deep love for her mother in the book's dedication, writing, "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." In a 2022 interview with Gayle King, Carey admitted that criticism from her mother had "definitely" impacted her during her upbringing, but she also credited her mother for introducing her to music.
Carey's sister, Alison, who was 63, had been receiving hospice care before her passing, according to a friend quoted by the Times Union newspaper in New York State. The cause of death was not disclosed. The relationship between the two sisters was also strained. In her memoir, Carey wrote about being estranged from both Alison and her brother Morgan, explaining that it was “emotionally and physically safer for me to not have any contact.”
Following the memoir's release, Alison filed a lawsuit against Carey for $1.2 million (£909,780), claiming that the book caused her "immense emotional distress" and labeling it as "vindictive."
The singer’s father, Alfred, died in 2002 of cancer at the age of 72.
