Mariah Carey’s mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, passed away on the same day over the past weekend.
In a statement to the PEOPLE, Carey said, "My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day. I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed."
She also added, "I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time."
Patricia Carey (87) was a retired opera singer and vocal coach who worked with the New York City Opera.
In ‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey’, a 2020 memoir released by the 55-year-old, she details her relationship with her mother, stating that her mother was jealous of her success. "Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment."
Alison Carey (63) was in hospice care for three weeks before her death.
Alison and the singer also had a very strained relationship. The “Always Be My Baby” singer said that they had a troubled childhood and that her sister had a drug problem. She allegedly offered drugs to Mariah as a child.
After the release of her memoir, Alison sued Mariah for $1.25m for causing “immense emotional distress” and called Mariah “heartless and vicious”.
Mariah Carey rose to fame in the 1990s. Her holiday album ‘Merry Christmas’ released in 1994, birthed one of the most popular Christmas jingles ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’, selling over 16 million copies worldwide.
