Christopher Ciccone (born November 22, 1960) is an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...

, and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. He is the younger brother of singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

. Ciccone began his professional career as a dancer with La Groupe de La Place Royal. He was a dancer for his sister Madonna early in her career. He eventually became the art director for Madonna's

Blond Ambition World Tour The Blond Ambition World Tour (billed as Blond Ambition World Tour 90) was the third concert tour by American singer Madonna. It supported her fourth studio album '' Like a Prayer'' (1989), and the soundtrack album to the 1990 film ''Dick Tracy ...

in 1990 and he was the tour director for her tour, The Girlie Show, in 1993. Ciccone has also directed music videos for

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

among others. In 2008, he released ''The New York Times'' Best Seller book, ''

Life with My Sister Madonna ''Life with My Sister Madonna'' is an autobiography by American artist, designer and interior decorator Christopher Ciccone and author Wendy Leigh. The book is a memoir about Ciccone's relationship with his sister, American singer Madonna, and ...

''. In 2012, he launched a footwear line, Ciccone Collection.

Life and career

Ciccone was born on November 22, 1960, in

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...

, to

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parents Madonna Louise Ciccone (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Fortin) and Silvio "Tony" Ciccone. His father's parents were Italian emigrants from

Pacentro Pacentro is a ''comune'' of 1,279 inhabitants of the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. It is a well-preserved historic medieval village located in central Italy, several kilometers from the City of Sulmona about east of Rome. Pacentro has ...

while his mother was of

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

descent. In 1963, Ciccone's mother died from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

at age thirty. His father remarried Joan Ciccone (née Gustafson) in 1966. His siblings are Anthony (b. 1956), Martin (b. 1957), Madonna (b. 1958), Paula (b. 1959), Melanie (b. 1962), Jennifer (b. 1968), and Mario (b. 1969). After graduating from high school, Ciccone attended

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

and then transferred to

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

where he took dance classes. In 1980, he began his career as a dancer with Le Groupe de La Place Royale in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. In 1982, he moved to New York to support his sister Madonna's career as her backup dancer. Ciccone appeared in the music video for her single " Lucky Star" in 1984 and performed on her early television performances. Around this time, he worked at the Italian boutique,

Fiorucci Fiorucci () is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first Fiorucci shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and to American classics such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s, the direction of stylis ...

. Ciccone always had an interest in art and in 1984, he was hired as a receptionist at the Diane Brown Gallery in

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variet ...

. As Madonna's fame grew and she embarked on arena tours, Ciccone was her "dresser". He created the artwork for the 12" version of her single " Like a Prayer" in 1989. Ciccone was the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

for Madonna's

in 1990. He also was the tour director for her The Girlie Show tour in 1993. Ciccone stated that Madonna demeaned and underpaid him throughout their working relationship. Ciccone ventured into interior design when Madonna asked him to buy furniture for her new apartment in 1985. He also designed Madonna's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

apartment in Manhattan, which was featured on the cover of ''

Architectural Digest ''Architectural Digest'' is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast, which also publishes internati ...

'' in 1991. In November 1991, he had his first solo New York

art show An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...

at the

Wessel + O'Connor Fine Art Wessel may refer to: * Wessel (name), including a list of people with the name * Wessel Islands, a group of islands forming part of the Northern Territory, Australia, named after the Dutch ship ''Wesel'' in 1636 ** Cape Wessel, the most northerly ...

gallery in SoHo. He exhibited seventeen paintings with prices starting at $3,500. In 1994, Ciccone moved to Los Angeles where he indulged in the partying lifestyle and he began using cocaine. Ciccone directed the music video for Dolly Parton's single "

Peace Train "Peace Train" is a 1971 song by Cat Stevens, taken from his album ''Teaser and the Firecat''. The song climbed to No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart during the week of November 6, 1971, becoming Stevens' first US Top 10 hit. The song also ...

" and

's rendition of " God Bless the Child" in 1997. That year, he formed a friendship with actress

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...

and he was her date to the

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...

evening for AIDS Project LA. Ciccone is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. He stated that Madonna

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

him in her interview with '' The Advocate'' in 1991. Their relationship became strained when she married English director

Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr. Ritchie left school at age 15 and wor ...

in 2000. According to Ciccone, he didn't get along with Ritchie, who he claimed is

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

. "It was...very apparent at the wedding in Scotland, just in the way that his friends made their toast with his gay references. I mean had it been any other word, you know Jew or a black person...anyone would find if 'sic''offensive and I have a thick skin", said Ciccone. However, Ciccone's biggest rift with Madonna was over finances. In addition, Madonna appointed a different director and choreographer—

Jamie King Jamie King (born 1972) is an American creative director, choreographer, and producer. His work directing concert tours for pop stars has grossed over $2 billion. Early career King started his career in entertainment as a dancer. He appeared on ...

—for her

Drowned World Tour 2001 The Drowned World Tour (billed as Drowned World Tour 2001) was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums ''Ray of Light'' (1998) and ''Music'' (2000), respectively. The tou ...

and didn't tell Ciccone. Ciccone befriended actress Farrah Fawcett and they bonded over their love of art. They attended '' Vanity Fair'''s

Oscar party An Oscar party is any of the several parties, usually held by entertainment-media corporations, immediately following the broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony. Some sponsors, such as '' Vanity Fair'', are known for holding such a party every yea ...

together in 2002. In 2008, Ciccone released his autobiography, ''Life with My Sister Madonna'', which debuted at No. 2 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. The book fractured their relationship and Ciccone asserts that Madonna had him blacklisted from Hollywood. Ciccone also filmed a pilot for an interior design show called ''Pardon My Decor'' in 2008. He also made an appearance on the reality show, ''

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency ''The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency'', or ''TJDMA'', was a reality television series that debuted on Oxygen on June 6, 2006. The show completed four seasons, through which it followed the self-proclaimed world's first supermodel Janice Dickinso ...

'', to design a new sleeping quarter. In September 2012, Ciccone debuted a footwear line, Ciccone Collection, during

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

. While doing press for his shoe collection, Ciccone revealed that he and Madonna are on "personable" terms. "We're back to being a brother and sister. I don't work for her, and it's better this way", he said.

Bibliography

References

External links

Official website

Christopher Ciccone
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciccone, Christopher 1960 births Artists from Michigan Gay artists American interior designers American fashion designers LGBT fashion designers People from Bay City, Michigan American art directors American male painters LGBT people from Michigan American music video directors Living people Western Michigan University alumni Oakland University alumni American people of French-Canadian descent American people of Italian descent American male dancers Madonna