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Mariah Carey performs onstage for Merry Christmas One And All
Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MC

‘My heart is broken’: Tragedy strikes twice as Mariah Carey loses her mother and her sister on the same day

The singer described the news as 'a tragic turn of events.'

Mariah Carey is mourning the loss of two deaths in her immediate family following the tragic news that both the singer’s mother and sister passed away on the same day.

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Carey relayed the heartbreaking developments in a statement to media outlets on Aug. 27, revealing that her mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, both died over the weekend. “My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Carey said in the statement. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.” The pop star went on to share her gratitude that she was “able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed,” and extended thanks to those who’ve provided “love and support” and will continue to “respect [her] privacy during this impossible time.” No cause of death was given for either family member, but we do know that Patricia was 87 years old at the time of her passing, while Alison was just 63. 

Carey has been open in the past about her complex history with her mother, who was a Juilliard-trained opera singer and vocal coach before Carey was born. Patricia married Carey’s father, Alfred Roy Carey, in 1960, and their relationship saw her disowned by her family for marrying a Black man. In her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the singer said her relationship with Patricia was “a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment.”

“A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother’s,” Carey wrote. The singer maintained a relationship with her mother despite their complications, and the pair came together in 2010 for a duet of the song, “O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus,” one of Carey’s many festive time songs that featured on her second Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You

While details around Carey’s relationship with Alison are scarce, we do know that at one point they were estranged. The singer wrote in her memoir that it was “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact” with both Patricia and her brother Morgan. Among other revelations, the memoir includes allegations of abuse perpetrated by Patricia, leading to a lawsuit filed by both siblings over “unnecessary public humiliation.” The shocking news of the two deaths comes just months ahead of Carey’s annual Christmas time concerts, which were slated to begin on Nov. 6. It’s not yet known whether those events — which see Carey’s perform smash hit carols like “All I Want For Christmas Is You” — will be affected by her family members’ passing.   


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Author
Image of Tom Disalvo
Tom Disalvo
Tom Disalvo is an entertainment news and freelance writer from Sydney, Australia. His hobbies include thinking what to answer whenever someone asks what his hobbies are.