LOS ANGELES — In a heartbreaking announcement on Monday, August 26, 2024, Grammy-winning singer Mariah Carey revealed that both her mother, Patricia Carey, and her sister, Alison Carey, passed away over the weekend.
The tragic news, confirmed in a statement by the superstar, marks a devastating moment for the iconic artist, who described her loss as an “impossible time.”
“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Carey said in her statement. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”
Details surrounding the causes of death for both Patricia and Alison have not been disclosed.
Carey expressed her gratitude for the time she was able to spend with her mother in the days leading up to her passing.
“I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed,” she shared.
“I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”
Patricia Carey was a Juilliard-trained opera singer who greatly influenced her daughter’s vocal talents.
She was previously married to Alfred Roy Carey, with whom she had three children: Alison, Mariah, and their brother Morgan.
The couple divorced when Mariah was just three years old.
In her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, Mariah Carey candidly discusses her complicated relationships with her mother and sister.
She describes her bond with Patricia as fraught with “contradictions and competing realities,” reflecting a mixture of “pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration, and disappointment.”
“Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment,” Carey wrote of her mother. “A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother’s.”
Despite these complexities, Mariah maintained a connection with Patricia, even recording a duet of “O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus” together for her 2010 Christmas album.
Carey’s relationship with her sister Alison was also strained. In her memoir, she described it as “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact” with Alison.
Despite the distance between them, the simultaneous loss of both family members represents a profound grief for the singer.
The news of Patricia and Alison’s deaths has prompted an outpouring of condolences from fans and fellow artists alike, as the world mourns with Mariah Carey during this difficult time.
