Mariah Carey is grappling with unimaginable grief after losing both her mother, Patricia, and her sister, Alison, on the same day over the weekend.
“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,” the Grammy-winning artist shared in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE.
Carey, 55, expressed her gratitude for the time she spent with her mother in the days leading up to her passing. “I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed,” she added. “I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”
Details surrounding the deaths of Patricia and Alison have not yet been disclosed.
Patricia Carey, a Juilliard-trained opera singer and vocal coach, was previously married to Alfred Roy Carey, with whom she had three children: Alison, Mariah, and Morgan. The couple divorced when Mariah was just 3 years old.
Mariah has been open about her complicated relationship with her mother, acknowledging the blend of pride, pain, and love that characterized their bond. In her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, she described their relationship as “a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment.”
Despite their complex history, Mariah maintained a connection with her mother and even performed a duet together in 2010 for ABC’s Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You special. The singer also dedicated part of her memoir to Patricia, writing, “And to Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I do believe actually did the best she could. I will love you the best I can, always.”
Her relationship with her sister Alison was similarly fraught, with Mariah revealing in her memoir that it was “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact” with her or their brother Morgan at the time. Despite the distance, the loss of both women on the same day is undoubtedly a profound and devastating blow.