(Credit: Wikipedia)

Retired opera singer  Patricia Carey has died at the age of 87.

Superstar singer Mariah Carey, daughter of Patricia released a statement stating, “My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. 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 was born on Feb. 15, 1937, in Virgin, Utah, in Springfield Illinois. Her mother was an Irish Catholic woman and her father passed away while her mom was pregnant with her.

Carey’s love for music grew from listening to a classical music station on the radio and fell in love with opera when she heard an “aria.” She went on to move to New York City where she won a scholarship to “Juilliard School for Music.”

She went on to perform with the New York City Opera and became a vocal coach. In 1977, she recorded the album “To Start Again” featuring 13 tracks.

However, she retired as she was raising her three children.

Later in her life, Carey made high-profile appearances alongside her daughter Mariah on Oprah and also collaborated on a holiday classic song “O Come All Ye Faithful” for Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas II You holiday album in 2010.