Mariah Carey’s mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, died over the weekend, the American singer said in a statement.
“I am heartbroken to have lost my mother over the weekend,” Carey said on Monday. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”
The singer said she felt lucky to have spent time with her mother in the week before her death and wished for privacy.
No further details were released on the cause of death.
Patricia, 87, is an opera singer and vocal coach of Irish-American descent.
In Carey’s 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the five-time Grammy Award-winning singer detailed her complicated relationship with her mother, saying it “caused me great pain and confusion.”
Carey said the rivalry that took place between the two and the career jealousy “comes with success, but when that person is your mother and the jealousy manifests at such a young age, it’s especially painful.”
But she also spoke of the deep love she had for her mother, writing in the dedication: “To Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I believe truly did the best she could. I will love you with all my heart, always.”
In a 2022 interview with Gayle King, Carey said the criticism she received from her mother growing up “definitely affected me”.
She added that she is always grateful to her mother for exposing her to music.
Carey’s relationship with her sister Alison, 63, is also complicated.
In her memoir, she wrote about distancing herself and her brother Morgan, saying “I would be safer emotionally and physically without any contact”.
Alison sued Carey for $1.2 million (£909,780) after the memoir was released for “causing enormous emotional distress”, calling it an act of “revenge”.
The singer’s father, Alfred, died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 72.
Carey is considered one of the most successful singers globally.
Her holiday single “All I want for Christmas is You” is the best-selling Christmas carol of all time by a female artist.
She holds the record for most number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist with 19, has sold more than 220 million records worldwide, and was a judge on the reality television show American Idol.
