Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone has died aged 63, with the popstar remembering him as “the closest human to me for so long”.
Mr Ciccone, who was an artist, dancer and designer, died on Friday in Michigan after being diagnosed with cancer.
He appeared in music videos such as Lucky Star, art directed Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour and served as tour director for The Girlie Show tour.
Image: Christopher Ciccone in 2008, when he released his book Life With My Sister Madonna. Pic: AP
In a post on Instagram, Madonna, 66, said Ciccone was in “so much pain towards the end”.
She said: “He was the closest human to me for so long, it’s hard to explain our bond.
“But it grew out of an understanding that we were different and society was going to give us a hard time for not following the status quo.
“We took each other’s hands and we danced through the madness of our childhood, in fact dance was a kind of superglue that held us together.
“Discovering dance in our small Midwestern town saved me and then my brother came along, and it saved him too. My ballet teacher, also named Christopher, created a safe space for my brother to be gay, a word that was not spoken or even whispered where we lived.
“When I finally got the courage to go to New York to become a dancer, my brother followed, and again we took each other’s hands, and we danced through the madness of New York City.”
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She added: “My brother was right by my side, he was a painter, a poet and a visionary, I admired him.
“He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue, which he sometimes used against me but I always forgave him.
“We soared the highest heights together, and floundered in the lowest lows.
“Somehow, we always found each other again and we held hands and we kept dancing.”
Image: Christopher and Madonna in 1991. Pic: AP
Mr Ciccone fell out with his sister in 2008 after the release of his bestselling autobiography Life With My Sister Madonna in which he wrote about their strained relationship, her romances and memories from their time on tour together.
Speaking about mending their argument before Mr Ciccone’s death, Madonna said: “The last few years have not been easy.
“We did not speak for some time but when my brother got sick, we found our way back to each other.”
Mr Ciccone directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett during his career, and was an interior designer for Madonna’s homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
In 2016, Mr Ciccone married Ray Thacker, a British actor, who was by his side when he died.
Madonna’s stepmother, Joan Clare Ciccone, died from cancer just weeks ago, and her older brother Anthony Ciccone died last year.
Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.
The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed theUS rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.
“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.
“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.
“An underdog that bites back, just like me.
“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”
Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.
Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.
The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”
Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Image: Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
Image: The fire gutted the main stage
Image: Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Image: Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
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The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Image: Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.