Mariah Carey Announces the Tragic Deaths of Her Mother Patricia and Sister Alison on the Same Day: 'My Heart Is Broken'

Mariah Carey Announces the Tragic Deaths of Her Mother Patricia and Sister Alison on the Same Day: 'My Heart Is Broken'

Mariah Carey’s mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, both passed away on the same day over the weekend, PEOPLE has confirmed.

In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, the Grammy-winning singer, 55, shared, "My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Tragically, my sister also passed away on the same day."

Mariah continued, "I feel blessed to have spent the last week with my mom before she passed. I am grateful for everyone’s love and support and request privacy during this incredibly difficult time."

Details regarding the causes of death for Patricia and Alison have not been disclosed.

Patricia, a Juilliard-trained opera singer and vocal coach, was previously married to Alfred Roy Carey. The couple had Alison, Mariah, and their son Morgan before divorcing when Mariah was just three years old. Mariah's relationship with her mother, from whom she inherited her vocal talent, was complex throughout her life.

"Like many aspects of my life, my journey with my mother has been full of contradictions and competing realities. It's never been only black-and-white — it's been a whole rainbow of emotions," she wrote in her 2020 memoir, 

The Meaning of Mariah Carey. "Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment," continued Mariah in the book. "A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother's."

Despite their challenges, Mariah Carey maintained a relationship with her mother. In 2010, they reunited for ABC's *Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You* special, where they performed a heartfelt mother-daughter duet of "O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus."

Mariah 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."

Mariah's relationship with her sister Alison was similarly complex. In her memoir, Mariah revealed that it was "emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact" with Alison or their brother Morgan at that time.