Mariah Carey’s mother Patricia and sister Alison died on the same day over the weekend, the US singer has said in a statement.
“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Carey said on Monday. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”
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.
Patricia, 87, was a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish-American descent.
Carey’s sister Alison, 63, had been receiving hospice care before her death, according to a friend quoted by the Times Union, a newspaper in New York State. The friend did not provide a cause of death.
The two sisters also had a complex relationship.
The singer’s father, Alfred, died in 2002 of cancer at the age of 72. Carey is regarded as one of the most successful singers globally. Her holiday single All I Want For Christmas Is You is the best-selling Christmas song by a female artist of all time. She holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist at 19 songs, has sold over 220 million records worldwide, and served as a judge on the competition show American Idol.