Christopher Ciccone, an artist, dancer, designer and younger brother of Madonnahas died. He was 63.

Ciccone died Friday in Michigan, his representative, Brad Taylor, told The Associated Press on Sunday. He had cancer.

Madonna posted a tribute to him on Instagram on Sunday with a carousel with photos from previous years.

“He was the person closest to me for so long,” she wrote. “It’s hard to explain our bond. But it came from the realization that we were different and that society would make things difficult for us if we didn’t follow the status quo. We took each other’s hands and danced through the madness of our childhood.”

Madonna wrote that discovering dance in her small Midwestern town saved them both and that her ballet teacher created a safe space for her to be gay.

Ciccone had been a dancer since his youth and was closely associated with his sister’s rise to pop stardom in the 1980s. He appeared in music videos such as “Lucky Star”, led the artistic direction of their Blond Ambition World Tour and served as tour director for the Girlie Show tour. He also directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett.

“When it came to good taste, my brother was the Pope and you had to kiss the ring to get his blessing,” Madonna wrote. “He was a painter, a poet and a visionary. I admired him. He had impeccable taste. And a sharp tongue that he sometimes used against me, but I always forgave him.”

In 2008, Ciccone published a bestselling autobiography, Life with My Sister Madonna, in which he wrote about their strained relationship, her romantic entanglements, and memories of his time on tour with her. For two decades he was at her side, choreographing, directing, dressing and helping his sister. He also designed the interiors of their homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. He said it was a bit like a marriage sometimes.

“It was a double-edged sword,” he told Good Morning America in 2008. “Nobody chained me to – to stay.”

The book and its unfiltered descriptions of the exploits of his sister’s famous circle also took a toll on some of his Hollywood friendships. A few years later, in 2012, when a shoe collection he designed was launched, he told The Standard that he and his sister were “on an absolutely friendly level” and were in touch.

“I don’t work for them and it’s better that way,” he said.

In recent years, Ciccone moved to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula to be closer to family. In 2016, Ciccone married Ray Thacker, a British actor who was at his side when he died.

Madonna wrote that when he became ill they found each other again.

“I’m glad he’s no longer suffering,” she wrote. “There will never be anyone like him. I know he’s dancing somewhere.”

Madonna also lost her stepmother Joan Clare Ciccone to cancer a few weeks ago and her older brother Anthony Ciccone in early 2023.