Mariah Carey's mother Patricia and her sister Alison died on the same day over the weekend.
"I am heartbroken that I lost my mother this past weekend," the American singer said in a statement. "Unfortunately, in a tragic coincidence, my sister lost her life on the same day," she also wrote.
The Grammy-winning singer said she felt blessed to spend time with her mother in the week before her death and asked for privacy. There are no details yet on the cause of death.
Patricia, 87, is a former Irish-American opera singer and vocal teacher.
In Carey's 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the five-time Grammy winner detailed her complicated relationship with her mother, saying it caused her "so much pain and confusion."
Carey, 55, said the competition stood between them. Professional jealousy "comes with the territory of success, but when the person is your mother and the jealousy is revealed at such a tender age, it's especially painful," she shared at the time, also talking about her deep love for her mother. The dedication reads: “To Pat, my mother, who, despite everything, I believe did the best she could. I will always love you to the best of my ability."
In an interview with Gayle King in 2022, the singer stated that she was "definitely" affected by her mother's criticism growing up. She added that she has always credited her mother for introducing her to music.
Kerry's relationship with her older sister Alison, 63, is also complicated.
In her memoir, she wrote that she became estranged from her and her brother Morgan, saying that it was "emotionally and physically safer for her to have no contact at all."
After the memoir came out, Alison sued Carey for $1.2 million (BGN 909,780) for "tremendous emotional distress," calling her "vindictive."
The singer's father, Alfred, died in 2002 of cancer at the age of 72.
Carey is considered one of the most successful singers worldwide. Her holiday single All I Want For Christmas Is You is the best-selling female Christmas song of all time. She holds the record for the most number-one singles by a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 - 19 songs, has sold over 220 million records worldwide, and was a judge on the competition show American Idol. I BGNES
