Mariah Carey's mother Patricia and her sister Alison died on the same day over the weekend, the US singer said in a statement.
“I am heartbroken to have lost my mother this past weekend,” Carey said Monday. “Unfortunately, in a tragic turn of events, my sister also lost her life that same day.”
The Grammy winner said she felt blessed to be able to spend time with her mother in the week before her death and asked for privacy.
Further details on the cause of death were not disclosed.
Patricia, 87, was a former opera singer and singing teacher of Irish-American descent.
In Carey's 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” the five-time Grammy winner described her complicated relationship with her mother, saying it caused her “so much pain and confusion.”
Carey, 55, said competition had developed between them. Professional jealousy “is part of success, but when it's your own mother and the jealousy comes out at such a young age, it's especially painful,” she added.
But she also spoke of the deep love she felt for her mother, writing in the dedication: “For Pat, my mother, who despite everything, I believe, actually did her best. I will always love you as much as I can.”
In an interview with Gayle King in 2022, the singer said she was “definitely” shaped by her mother's criticism during her childhood.
She added that she always had her mother to thank for her exposure to music.
Carey's relationship with her older sister Alison, 63, was also complex.
In her memoir, she wrote about her and her brother Morgan's estrangement, saying that it was “emotionally and physically safer for me to have no contact.”
Alison sued Carey for $1.2 million (£909,780) after the memoir was published, claiming she had caused “immense emotional distress” and calling the memoir “vindictive.”
The singer's father, Alfred, died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 72.
Carey is considered one of the most successful singers in the world.
Her Christmas single “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is the best-selling Christmas song by a female artist of all time.
She holds the record for most number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist with 19 songs, has sold over 220 million records worldwide, and has served as a judge on the competition show American Idol.
