Mac Sinise

Mac Sinise was taken to hospital on 30 December 2023 with difficulty breathing. He died on 5 January 2024 in Los Angeles, aged 33, with his family around him. The cause was chordoma. The Gary Sinise Foundation announced his death with the message In Honor and Memory of McCanna Mac Sinise 1990 to 2024. He was laid to rest on 23 January 2024.

He was survived by his parents, his sisters Sophie and Ella and their families, and his wider family and caregivers.

McCanna Anthony Sinise was born on 10 November 1990, the son of the actor Gary Sinise and the actress Moira Harris. He grew up with two sisters, Sophie and Ella. He began playing drums when he was nine and went on to study music at the University of Southern California.

Mac became an accomplished drummer, composer and songwriter. He sometimes played with the Lt. Dan Band, which his father leads to perform for service members and veterans.

At the Gary Sinise Foundation, which supports veterans, first responders and their families, he served as music manager and created the Gary Sinise Foundation Podcast.

His recorded work included: - Resurrection and Revival, an album he wrote and produced during his illness, with all proceeds given to the foundation at his request - Resurrection and Revival: Part Two, compiled after his death from songs he had written but never shared, also sold to benefit the foundation

In June 2018 his mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. On 8 August 2018, aged 27, Mac was diagnosed with chordoma, a rare cancer that starts in the spine and affects about one in a million people. His mother recovered, but although his first tumour was removed in September 2018, a scan in May 2019 showed the cancer had returned and was spreading.

He underwent further spinal surgery and many courses of treatment. Gary Sinise later said his son tried 25 different drugs. The disease left him more and more disabled, yet he continued to come into the foundation's office for much of 2019 and kept writing and recording music. His sister Ella later told People that his body was destroyed but that he was still a beautiful person who did not let it stop him.

Mac's music continues to raise money for the Gary Sinise Foundation through his two albums. His father has spoken often about him, saying that the family did not get the miracle they prayed for but that there were other miracles, like the way Mac lived his life.

In November 2026 Gary Sinise published Graceful Warrior: The True Story of a Son, a Father, and a Family Who Carried Each Other Through, written about Mac and released on 10 November, Mac's birthday.