Mariah Carey's mum Patricia and sister Alison die on the same day

The million-selling pop star has told American magazine People about the “tragic turn of events” involving mum Patricia and sister Alison. People says their causes of death are not yet known.

Carey, 55, said in a statement: "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.

"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."

Carey has had 19 Billboard number ones in the US - the record for a solo artist. Her debut single Vision of Love topped the charts in 1990. She now has an estimated net worth of about $350m, topped up handsomely each year by the perennial heavy rotation of All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Former opera singer and vocal coach Patricia is believed to have been 87, while old sister Alison was 63. There is a third sibling, Mariah’s brother Morgan. Patricia (nee Hickey) married Alfred Carey in 1960. He died in 1973.

Carey detailed her complicated relationship with her mother in her 2020 memoir "The Meaning Of Mariah Carey".

She wrote: "Like many aspects of my life, my journey with my mother has been full of contradictions and competing realities. It's never been only black-and-white - it's been a whole rainbow of emotions. Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment. A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother's."