Mariah Carey says she recently lost not one, but two family members.
The “We Belong Together” and “Fantasy” pop diva said in a statement shared with The Times on Monday: “My heart is broken to have lost my mother this past weekend.” She added that, “in a tragic turn of events,” her older sister “lost her life on the same day.”
He did not share additional details, including when and where the women died or the causes of their deaths.
The five-time Grammy winner, 55, said she felt “blessed” to have “been able to spend the last week” with her mother, Patricia Carey. Patricia, a former opera singer, and Alfred Roy Carey welcomed the singer on March 27, 1969. The couple divorced when Mariah was 3.
In her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” the singer detailed her complicated relationship with her mother. The singer wrote at the time: “Our relationship is a thorny rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment.”
The singer also wrote about her relationship with her sister, whom she accused of drugging her with Valium, offering her cocaine and cigarettes and trying to “sell her to a pimp.” She said she went to therapy, which helped her “change my name and rethink my family.”
“My mother became Pat to me, Morgan became my ex-brother, and Alison became my ex-sister,” he wrote, according to People. “I had to stop hoping that one day, miraculously, they would become the mom, big brother, and big sister I fantasized about.”
On Monday, Mariah said she was grateful for “everyone's love, support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”
