American artist
Christopher Ciccone
(born November 22, 1960) is an American
artist
,
interior decorator
, and
designer
in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. He is the younger brother of singer
Madonna
.
Ciccone began his professional career as a dancer with
La Groupe de La Place Royal
. He was a dancer for his sister Madonna early in her career. He eventually became the art director for Madonna's
Blond Ambition World Tour
in 1990 and he was the tour director for her tour,
The Girlie Show
, in 1993. Ciccone has also directed music videos for
Dolly Parton
and
Tony Bennett
among others. In 2008, he released
The New York Times
Best Seller
book,
Life with My Sister Madonna
. In 2012, he launched a footwear line, Ciccone Collection.
Life and career
[
edit
]
Ciccone was born on November 22, 1960, in
Bay City, Michigan
, to
Catholic
parents Madonna Louise Ciccone (born Fortin) and Silvio "Tony" Ciccone. His father's parents were Italian emigrants from
Pacentro
while his mother was of
French-Canadian
descent.
[1]
His siblings are Anthony (1956–2023),
[2]
Martin (born 1957),
Madonna
(born 1958), Paula (born 1959) and Melanie (born 1962). In 1963, Ciccone's mother died from
breast cancer
at age thirty.
Their father remarried in 1966 to the family's housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and had two more children: Jennifer (born 1968) and Mario (born 1969).
[4]
After graduating from high school, Ciccone attended
Western Michigan University
and then transferred to
Oakland University
where he took dance classes.
In 1980, he began his career as a dancer with Le Groupe de La Place Royale in
Ottawa
.
In 1982, he moved to New York to support his sister Madonna's career as her backup dancer.
Ciccone appeared in the music video for her single "
Lucky Star
" in 1984 and performed on her early television performances.
Around this time, he worked at the Italian boutique,
Fiorucci
.
Ciccone always had an interest in art and in 1984, he was hired as a receptionist at the Diane Brown Gallery in
SoHo, Manhattan
.
As Madonna's fame grew and she embarked on arena tours, Ciccone was her "dresser".
[11]
He created the artwork for the 12" version of her single "
Like a Prayer
" in 1989.
[12]
Ciccone was the
art director
for Madonna's
Blond Ambition World Tour
in 1990.
[13]
He also was the tour director for her
The Girlie Show
tour in 1993.
[14]
Ciccone stated that Madonna demeaned and underpaid him throughout their working relationship.
[15]
Ciccone ventured into interior design when Madonna asked him to buy furniture for her new apartment in 1985.
[16]
He also designed Madonna's
Upper West Side
apartment in Manhattan, which was featured on the cover of
Architectural Digest
in 1991.
[17]
In November 1991, he had his first solo New York
art show
at the
Wessel + O'Connor Fine Art
gallery in SoHo.
[18]
He exhibited seventeen paintings with prices starting at $3,500.
[18]
In 1994, Ciccone moved to Los Angeles where he indulged in the partying lifestyle and he began using cocaine.
Ciccone directed the music video for Dolly Parton's single "
Peace Train
" and
Tony Bennett
's rendition of "
God Bless the Child
" in 1997.
[21]
[22]
That year, he formed a friendship with actress
Demi Moore
and he was her date to the
Gucci
evening for
AIDS Project LA
.
Ciccone is
openly gay
. He stated that Madonna
outed
him in her interview with
The Advocate
in 1991.
Their relationship became strained when she married English director
Guy Ritchie
in 2000.
[25]
According to Ciccone, he didn't get along with Ritchie, whom he claimed is
homophobic
. "It was...very apparent at the wedding in Scotland, just in the way that his friends made their toast with his gay references. I mean had it been any other word, you know Jew or a black person...anyone would find if [
sic
] offensive and I have a thick skin", said Ciccone.
[25]
[26]
However, Ciccone's biggest rift with Madonna was over finances.
[25]
In addition, Madonna appointed a different director and choreographer?
Jamie King
?for her
Drowned World Tour 2001
and didn't tell Ciccone.
Ciccone befriended actress
Farrah Fawcett
and they bonded over their love of art. They attended
Vanity Fair
's
Oscar party
together in 2002.
In 2008, Ciccone released his autobiography,
Life with My Sister Madonna
, which debuted at No. 2 on
The New York Times
Best Seller list.
[29]
The book fractured their relationship and Ciccone asserts that Madonna had him
blacklisted
from Hollywood.
[30]
Ciccone also filmed a pilot for an interior design show called
Pardon My Decor
in 2008.
[31]
[11]
He also made an appearance on the reality show,
The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency
, to design a new sleeping quarter.
[32]
In September 2012, Ciccone debuted a footwear line, Ciccone Collection, during
London Fashion Week
.
[33]
[34]
While doing press for his shoe collection, Ciccone revealed that he and Madonna are on "personable" terms. "We're back to being a brother and sister. I don't work for her, and it's better this way", he said.
[15]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2001).
Madonna : an intimate biography
. New York, New York. p. 10.
ISBN
978-0-7432-2880-0
.
OCLC
893687277
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
(February 26, 2023)
Madonna's Older Brother Anthony Ciccone Dies Aged 66
,
BBC
. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
- ^
"Christopher Ciccone"
.
myheritage.com
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
a
b
Wayne, George (2008-07-31).
"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
"The Greatest Pop Songs In History - No. 3: Madonna, 'Like A Prayer'
"
.
NME
. 2011-12-19
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
Sawyer, Miranda (January 3, 2009).
"Miranda Sawyer interviews Christopher Ciccone"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
Graff, Gary (October 15, 1993).
"Madonna the Toast of Her Own "Girlie Show'
"
.
Tulsa World
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
a
b
"Christopher Ciccone: No one sees Madonna's children. My parents"
.
Evening Standard
. September 14, 2012
. Retrieved
2022-03-26
.
- ^
Manning, Jillian (July 11, 2020).
"Designer Christopher Ciccone"
.
northernexpress.com
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
Gimelson, Deborah (October 31, 1991).
"Madonna's New York City Apartment"
.
Architectural Digest
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
a
b
"The Family Way"
.
New York
: 33. November 11, 1991.
- ^
"Twirlin' With Dolly"
.
Billboard
. April 19, 1997. p. 28.
- ^
Bessman, Jim (February 22, 1997).
"Tony Bennett Gets Arty With Billie Holiday Clip"
.
Billboard
. p. 90.
- ^
a
b
c
"
'GMA' Exclusive: Madonna's Brother on His Strained Relationship with the Star"
.
ABC News
. July 15, 2008
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
Team, Cosmo (2008-08-26).
"Guy on Madge's bro"
.
Cosmopolitan
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
"Best Sellers - Books - Aug. 3, 2008 - The New York Times"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
McDowell, Erin.
"18 of the most epic sibling rivalries of all time"
.
Business Insider
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
"Live To Tell-All"
.
out.com
. 2008-08-27
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
"Madonna's brother eyeing TV appearance"
.
United Press International
. July 4, 2008
. Retrieved
2022-03-26
.
- ^
Alexander, Ella (2012-07-20).
"In The Family"
.
British Vogue
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
- ^
Wilkinson, Isabel (2012-09-13).
"Christopher Ciccone, Madonna's Brother, Debuts a Shoe Line"
.
The Daily Beast
. Retrieved
2022-03-25
.
External links
[
edit
]