PHOTOS6 Things to Know About Mariah Carey's Tragic Family Life: From Her Mother and Sister's Deaths to Her Relationship With Them and More
Mariah Carey went through an emotional minefield due to her hard family life.
Mariah Carey's Mother and Sister Died on the Same Day
In an exclusive statement to People in August, Mariah Carey confirmed the deaths of her mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison.
"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," she said. "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 "We Belong Together" singer did not disclose the cause of the deaths, but she soon opened up about her rough weeks after the loss.
Mariah Carey Had Been Estranged From Her Sister
The Grammy winner had not seen her sister before her death, Alison's friend David Baker said.
"We saw it coming, but it's still a shock," David revealed, adding his late pal had "a tough life" prior to her demise. "She got ill fairly quickly and a month later, she's gone."
After their parents, Patricia and Alfred, divorced, Mariah stayed with the matriarch while her siblings began living with their father. Growing up, the "It's a Wrap" singer thought Alison and their brother, Morgan, resented her as they felt her life was easier because she grew up with their mother.
In her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the 55-year-old songstress called Alison "the most brilliant and broken person I have ever known" and the "deeply wounded." She alleged her sister was a drug addict who encouraged her to try substances as a child.
They grew farther away from each other when Alison sued Mariah in 2021, accusing her of causing immense emotional distress due to the baseless allegations in the book.
The court documents read, "Already struggling with the unspeakable trauma of her childhood and having her own children abandon her, she has become severely depressed and uncharacteristically tearful since the publication of defendant's book and now struggles, after a long time clean, with alcohol abuse."
Her Brother Morgan Also Sued Her
Even Morgan filed a lawsuit against Mariah for being "falsely characterized" in the memoir.
The defamation case read, "Her attempt to falsely characterize plaintiff as equally violent as their father, and her subsequent commentary on police relations with Black people was only the beginning of defendant Mariah Carey's desperate attempt to vilify plaintiff, play the victim card and curry favor with the Black Lives Matter movement."
After a judge dismissed most of the claims, Morgan has remained estranged from Mariah.
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Mariah Carey Faced Hurtful Moments During Childhood
The "All I Want for Christmas Is You" hitmaker detailed her painful and traumatic childhood both in her memoir and during her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey on the Apple TV+ series The Oprah Conversation.
One of her revelations was about her mother telling her, "You will never be as good as me" as a child.
Mariah also revisited the moment she found herself in the backseat of a police car after her mother called 911 and asked them to take her to a facility.
"Bottom line is, there was a code-switching that happened, and a power shift that was immediate. It was immediate and she was in charge," she recalled. "And rather than say, 'You know what, we're OK, I am here, taking care of my daughter, she's tired, somebody called the cops by mistake, whatever,' it was like, 'No, because you defied me, this is what is going to happen.'"
She Developed a Complex Bond With Her Mother
"Ours is a story of betrayal and beauty. Of love and abandonment. Of sacrifice and survival," Mariah wrote about her relationship with her mother in her memoir. "I've emancipated myself from bondage several times, but there is a cloud of sadness that I suspect will always hang over me, not simply because of my mother but because of our complicated journey together."
She described her journey with Patricia as something "full of contradictions and competing realities." She also said their bond was "a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment."
Mariah Carey Initially Did Not Have a Close Relationship With Her Father
Speaking with People in 1993, Mariah revealed she began having a good relationship with her father after her parents' divorce. Alfred reportedly spent his weekends with her, but the setup changed when her career took off.
"Gradually, ‘next Sunday' turned into a month of Sundays. I had to let go of our Sundays so I could manifest my own day in the sun," she said.
Alfred died of bile duct cancer in July 2002.
