After the surprising death of her brother Anthony Gerard Ciccone, Madonna (63) has now broken her silence. In an Instagram story, she mourns the loss of her family member, who died at the age of just 66.

Alongside a black and white group photo of Madonna and her brother celebrating around a table with many friends, she wrote: "Thank you for overwhelming me as a young girl and reminding me of Charles Parker, Miles Davis, Buddhism, Taoism, Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan, Jack Kerouac, introduced far-sighted and 'out of the box' thinking. You have laid many important groundwork for me."

Details of Anthony's death are still unknown. Songwriter, guitarist and producer Joe Henry (62), who has been married to Madonna's sister Melanie Ciccone (61) since 1987, first reported the 66-year-old's death on Instagram: "My brother-in-law Anthony Gerard Ciccone found this planet last night leave."

Anthony was Madonna's eldest brother, after Martin Ciccone (65) she is the third eldest of a total of six children by Silvio (91) and Madonna Louise Fortin (1933-1963) - Madonna's mother died of breast cancer at the age of 30. With his second wife Joan, whom he married in 1966, Silvio Ciccone has two more children.