Madonna's Stepmother's Agonizing Last Days: Winemaker Joan Ciccone Died 'Racked with Pain' Looking After Singer's Parkinson's-Stricken Dad
Sept. 27 2024, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
Madonna's step-mother, Joan Ciccone, has died aged 81 after a brief battle with "a very aggressive cancer".
RadarOnline.com can reveal Joan spent her final days not only fighting her own health battle, but was steeped in emotional turmoil as she cared for the pop star's father, Silvio "Tony" Ciccone, who suffers from Parkinson's disease.
While Madonna topped the charts, Joan and Tony, 92, lived a life outside of the spotlight operating a winery in Michigan for 30 years.
Joan spent her final days caring for Tony amid his Parkinson's battle.
A source exclusively told us: "Joan's last days were full of pain – not only for herself, but for Madonna's father, who is battling Parkinson’s."
Joan recently opened up about her life making wine with Tony as his disease progressed.
She told The Detroit News: "He manages. It's hard for him to walk. But he's certainly not the limber fellow he used to be."
According to her obituary, Joan "took special joy in her grandkids later in life and with the grim cancer prognosis lamented that she was sad she would not see them marry and have kids of their own."
A source told us Joan's final days were 'full of pain' due to her and Tony's health battles.
While Joan became Madonna's step-mother when she was eight-years-old, the pair had a complicated relationship over the years. Prior to marrying Tony, Joan worked as the family's housekeeper.
Then, when Madonna was five-years-old, her mother, whose name was also Madonna, passed away at age 30 after a battle with breast cancer.
During an interview with Larry King in 2002, the singer admitted she "sometimes suffered" amid "moments of chaos" in her childhood.
She elaborated: "My mother died when I was little and that was difficult for me for a while.
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Joan became Madonna's step-mother when she was eight-years-old.
"I mean truthfully, I didn't accept my stepmother when I was growing up. In retrospect, I think that was really hard on her.
"She was (trying)... I'm very close to my father and I didn’t want to accept change in my life."
Years later, in a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna said she "didn’t have any relationship" with her step-mother and had "no role model" to look up to.
Joan's death comes a year and a half after Madonna's brother Anthony died aged 66.
Madonna has seven siblings, including three sisters – Paula, Melanie and Jennifer – and three brothers, Martin, Christopher, Mario and Anthony.
Joan's death comes a year and half after Madonna lost her brother Anthony from throat cancer and respiratory failure in February 2022.
Anthony lived in Michigan and worked for his father before he experienced a stint of homelessness amid a battle with alcoholism.
His ex-girlfriend, Carolina Gengo, previously opened up about how his sister's fame affected him.
She revealed: "He talked about what it was like being the brother of Madonna, he didn't like being known as the brother of Madonna."
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