Madonna has faced family tragedy as her stepmother passed away battling an "aggressive" form of cancer.
The family of the chart-topping singer, 66, shared the sad news of the death of Joan Clare Ciccone, who married Madonna's father Silvio Tony Ciccone in 1966, in an obituary on Thursday.
Revealing Joan had passed away on Tuesday, the statement explained she had endured a health battle before she died at the age of 81.
The obituary reads, "Joan Clare Ciccone passed away peacefully early in the morning of September 24th, 2024, after a brief encounter with a very aggressive cancer.
"She will be terribly missed by her family and friends whose lives she enriched with her enthusiasm, joy and love."
The obituary described Tony, Madonna, and the singer's five other siblings as "an instant family" for Joan as she married Tony following the death of his first wife, Madonna Louise - who died of breast cancer in December 1963.
Like A Prayer singer Madonna had a difficult relationship with her stepmother after being left devastated by her mother's death.
In a 2002 interview with Larry King, the singer made a rare comment about her stepmother and signalled she had warmed to her over the years.
Acknowledging that she had found it difficult to welcome a new woman into her family after losing her mother when she was just five, Madonna said of Joan, "She was trying."
