Madonna's Parents: From Losing Her Mom When She Was 5 to Rocky Relationship with Dad

The American songstress, and widely acclaimed Queen of Pop, Madonna Louise Ciccone, lost her mother early in life. It carved the person she grew into & gave rise to emotional detachment and sour feelings toward her father.

Born and raised in Michigan, Madonna was one of seven children in a big Italian family named after her French-Canadian mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone, who died at 30 from breast cancer. The loss changed the Material girl's life forever.

As her mother's death drew near, Madonna noticed the difference in her but was too young to understand what was happening. The singer feels that her mother's death has played a part in her thought process and that her passing created a void that Madonna herself or her stepmother have never been able to fill.

How Mom's Death Affected Madonna

The loss of her mother took a toll on the singer and instigated feelings of abandonment and the idea that everyone she chose to love would leave her. In a Billboard interview, Madonna described how losing her mother has heightened her obsession with control;

" My mother dying and me not being told, and a sense of loss and betrayal and surprise. Then feeling out of control for the majority of my childhood, and becoming an artist and saying that I will control everything."

The death of her mother spawned the perfectionism and drive she exudes. In memory of her late mother, Madonna got a tattoo of the french word "Maman" on her right wrist, which translates to mother in English. She posted a video on Instagram on April 4, showcasing her symbolic ink that signifies her bleeding for her mother.

When little Madonna's mother died, she could not think of a different way to express herself outside of shedding tears. The singer cried for days on end, making the neighbors' efforts to comfort her reach expiration.

In her Song "Mother and Father," from her album "American Life," Madonna sings about her emotional reaction to the telling loss, "I cried and cried and cried all day, until the neighbors went away. They couldn't take my loneliness. I couldn't take their phoniness."

After years of the silent divide, she found her way back to her "first love," even bringing him on stage on his birthday.

Madonna's Dad Broke Her Heart

Madonna became attached to her father, Silvio when her mother died. Silvio married their domestic helper, Joan Gustafson, three years after her mom's death, and it broke the singer's heart. Feelings of resentment towards him grew, which she later addressed in "Mother and Father;"

"My father had to go to work. I used to think he was a jerk. I didn't know his heart was broken."

The singer couldn't make peace with her father's decision, and she harbored feelings of hatred toward him for years. The "Like a Prayer" singer said she had not visited her mother's grave for years after Silvio remarried. These experiences incited rebellion in Madonna, causing her to turn away from religion and demand the right to liberation in all aspects of life.

Madonna and Her Father Mended Their Relationship

The pop star kept a distance between herself and her father for almost 15 years. The rockiness in their relationship ended when they supported Madonna's brother, Martin Ciccone, who had been suffering from alcohol addiction and spent seven years homeless.

After years of the silent divide, she found her way back to her "first love," even bringing him on stage on his birthday. The Queen of Pop has reached extreme heights in her career, spending more than 30 years at the top of the charts. However, the tragic experiences in her life drove her away from her family.

Today, her relationship with her Italian father is healing. He is now a part of the life she built with her blended family. Recently, Madonna took her children to his vineyard to celebrate his 90th birthday.