The American singer said on Monday, according to US media, that the death of her mother Patricia was breaking her heart. She died over the weekend – and tragically, her sister lost her life on the same day.
“I feel fortunate to have been able to spend the last week before she passed away with my mother,” People quoted the Grammy award winner as saying. The singer, known for hits such as “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” who has 13-year-old twins with ex-husband Nick Cannon, did not provide any information on the causes of death. According to People magazine, the mother was 87 years old, and Carey’s older sister Alison died at the age of 63.
Complicated relationship
Carey had worked her way to the top from a broken family. In her 2020 autobiography “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” she described a difficult, poor childhood marked by neglect and racism. Her mother was of Irish descent and earned her money as a singer, her father, who died in 2002, had African-American and Venezuelan roots and was an engineer. The couple separated a few years after Carey was born. She has an older brother.
In her memoirs, the singer wrote about a complicated relationship with her mother and only very sporadic contact with the family. In February 2019, she posted a photo of herself as a little girl with her mother on Instagram – as a birthday greeting “to a true diva – my mother, Patricia Carey”.
