Madonna 'Absent' From Late Stepmom Joan Ciccone’s Intimate Family Memorial Service As Tributes Flood Remembrance Site: 'It's a Sad End to a Troubled Relationship'
Oct. 3 2024, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Madonna's late stepmother's memorial service was held today – without the singer in attendance.
The diva, 66, is said to be left devastated by stepmother Joan Ciccone's death, RadarOnline.com can reveal, but a source told us there was "no chance" she was going to attend the intimate family service.
Visitation was held on October 3 at Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home in Traverse City, Michigan.
Guests who were not able to attend the service flooded Ciccone's online obituary with tributes.
At the visitation, Madonna's family prayed the rosary for Ciccone, 81, at 6:30 PM.
Loved ones expressed their condolences and shared heartfelt memories of online.
One mourner wrote: "Very sorry to hear of Joan’s death. She was a very sweet lady. Prayers for Joan and her extended family."
Another commented: "May peace be with Joan now and God watch over Tony and the rest of Madonna's family."
According to the obituary, Ciccone passed away on September 24, aged 81, after a "brief encounter with a very aggressive cancer".
At the time, Ciccone was taking care of Madonna's father, Silvio 'Tony' Ciccone, who suffers from Parkinson's disease.
Despite Ciccone becoming the Like a Virgin singer's stepmother when she was eight-years-old, the two had a complicated relationship – one that Madonna still grappled with after the 81-year-old's death.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the singer was said to be "in bits" over Ciccone's death and its impact on her family.
A source revealed: "She and Joan had their very, very well-known differences and a really, really troubled relationship.
"But Madonna sees her death as a part of her family slipping away and it's put her mortality in focus.
"She had her own brutal health scare that nearly killed her, and this is making her reclusive and depressed.
"Everyone around her is doing their best to take care of her, but they're really worried about how she will cope."
A Mass of Christian Burial was scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 4 at 11 AM, but Madge isn't expected to attend.
An insider told us: "Madonna is shattered by this loss, but she and Joan had a very stormy relationship and no one really expected her to turn up at this service.
"Family and well-wishers would have been stunned if she had, but she would not have wanted to spoil it given all the fan attention that would have come if she had gone."
The source added Madonna "has paid her respects in a private way".
RadarOnline.com has reached out to Madonna's reps for comment.
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