Madonna Breaks Silence on Death of Brother Anthony Ciccone: “You Planted Many Important Seeds”

Madonna thanked her brother, who died over the weekend, for introducing her to literary and musical greats Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan and Jack Kerouac.

Madonna offered gratitude to her late brother Anthony Ciccone on Instagram on Monday, three days after his death at 66 years old.

"Thank you for blowing my mind as a young girl and introducing me to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Buddhism, Taoism, Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan, Jack Kerouac, Expansive Thinking Outside the Box," the queen of pop shared on Instagram Stories (and captured by Rhino Records below). "You planted many important seeds."

#Madonna pays tribute to her older brother Anthony on IG Stories: "You planted many important seeds" #RIP ? pic.twitter.com/SQtPLwJCZ6

Madonna's brother-in-law, Joe Henry, announced Ciccone's passing over the weekend, also on Instagram. "I've known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone. As brother Dave Henry (who took this photograph) notes here, Anthony was a complex character; and god knows: we tangled in moments, as true brothers can," shared Henry, who is married to Madonna's sister Melanie. "But I loved him and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on. But trouble fades; and family remains -- with hands reached across the table. Farewell, then, brother Anthony."

Related Stories

Madonna&'s Older Brother Anthony Ciccone Dies at 66

Four Super-Stylists On What It Takes to Fashion a Super Bowl Halftime Show for Beyonce, Madonna and Shakira

Earlier Tuesday, TMZ reported that Madonna had been paying for Ciccone's stay at a rehab facility in Michigan where he was seeking care for health and substance abuse issues. He had experienced homelessness amid his addiction battle, and TMZ cites family sources by saying that Ciccone "removed the feeding/breathing tubes doctors had him using."

Ciccone's death comes as Madonna is in rehearsals for a return to the stage on the global Celebration Tour. Produced by Live Nation, the 35-city tour kicks off at Vancouver's Rogers Arena on July 15.