Madonna took to social media on Monday to eulogize her older brother Anthony Ciccone, remembering him for his “important” influence on her after his death this weekend. “Thank you for blowing my mind as a young girl,” the singer wrote on her Instagram Story alongside a photo of the two of them. She credited Ciccone with introducing her to jazz musicians Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, the writers Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan, and Jack Kerouac—as well as Buddhism and Taoism. “You planted many important seeds,” she concluded. Ciccone’s death on Friday at age 66 was announced by Madonna’s brother-in-law Joe Henry. A cause of death was not immediately shared, but a source close to the family told Page Six on Monday that Ciccone had recently refused help for long-standing issues with substance abuse. “During his final months, he was in contact with family and Madonna, but this past week, he refused the support the rehab facility offered, and it was clear he was ready to move on,” the insider said.
