Pop star Mariah Carey, recognized for her five-octave vocal range, is enduring a significant personal loss. The singer’s mother, Patricia Carey, and her sister, Alison Carey, both died on the same day over the recent weekend. The unfortunate news has been verified in a private statement Carey provided to “People.”
“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” Carey, 55, stated. “I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”
The specific causes for Patricia and Alison Carey’s deaths have yet to be revealed, leading to speculation among fans and the public. Patricia Carey, an 87-year-old opera singer and vocal coach trained at Juilliard, had a significant impact on her daughter’s music career. Alison Carey, 63, led a troubled life filled with substance abuse challenges and a complicated relationship with Mariah.
In her memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” released in 2020, Carey openly discussed her complex relationship with her mother, describing it as “a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration, and disappointment.” Despite the challenges, a section of her memoir is dedicated to her mother, wherein Carey concedes that “through it all, I do believe she actually did the best she could.”
Mariah and her sister Alison had a more strained relationship. Alison, who filed a $1.25 million defamation lawsuit against Mariah in 2020, regarding allegations in the memoir, dealt with health issues and personal hardships in later years. The lawsuit, which claimed that Alison had exposed Mariah to traumatic childhood experiences, further strained their relationship.
Patricia Carey was married to Alfred Roy Carey, and together they had three children: Alison, Mariah, and Morgan. The couple divorced when Mariah was only three. Patricia’s opera career took a backseat as she prioritized raising her children, though her influence on Mariah’s musical career is evident. They even performed a mother-daughter duet of “O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus” during ABC’s “Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You” special in 2010.
Alison Carey’s life was fraught with challenges, including a brain injury from a home invasion in 2015 that caused short-term memory loss, homelessness, and continued substance use disorder struggles. Before her death, Alison was in hospice care in New York, where her children visited her for the last time. “Despite everything, she was still my sister, and I wish things could have been different,” Mariah Carey said in a previous interview about their relationship.
Being a public figure, Mariah Carey’s grief is amplified by constant media scrutiny. However, in her mourning period, she requests respect and privacy as she copes with the loss of two important people in her life.
