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Christopher Ciccone, Who Dished About His Sister Madonna, Dies at 63
An artist, designer, choreographer and dancer, he was best known for writing a grudge-settling memoir about his formerly close bond with the pop star.
Christopher Ciccone, who devoted himself to his older sister Madonna — living with her, warning her of impending arrest and directing her world tours of the early 1990s — but who later, after feeling cast aside, wrote a memoir chronicling experiences that he described as “abuse,” died on Friday. He was 63.
The cause was cancer, his representative, Brad Taylor, said in a statement. He did not specify where Mr. Ciccone died.
Mr. Ciccone (pronounced chick-OH-neigh) was with Madonna from just about the beginning: He choreographed the music video of “Everybody,” her debut single in 1982. He was there as a backup dancer during her early club dates. He endured her shouting as he went along for a ride to dizzying heights of celebrity.
“In many ways, Christopher was the most important and steadfast member of Madonna’s early inner circle,” Mary Gabriel, the author of “Madonna: A Rebel Life,” a biography of the singer, wrote in an email.
The 1991 documentary “Madonna: Truth or Dare,” which chronicled “Blond Ambition,” features a scene in which Mr. Ciccone notifies Madonna that the Toronto police intended to arrest her if she were to grope herself onstage, as she had done at other shows.
The moment is brief but seems to reveal a complicated dynamic. “You shouldn’t have told me, Chris,” Madonna says over her shoulder as she walks away. Later, before going onstage, she strikes a more plaintive note: “Chris, don’t let them take me.”
