Her manager, Guy Oseary, announced in a statement published to Instagram that Madonna, 64, had suffered serious health issues that will impact her upcoming world tour, where she planned to perform her greatest hits from her 1983 self-titled debut through her 2019 album, Madame X.
“On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which lead to a several-day stay in the ICU,” he wrote. “Her health is improving; however she is still under medical care,” he wrote.
“A full recovery is expected. At this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour,” the statement continued. Madonna was preparing to kick off her Celebration World Tour next month, commemorating the 40-year anniversary of her career. We will share more details with you soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.” A source later added to People: “She is out of the ICU now and recovering.”
According to Page Six, the music legend was rushed to hospital after being found unresponsive and was intubated for at least one night before having the tube removed.
IMAGE: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES FOR DCP.
Madonna’s last health scare was in 2020 when she had to undergo replacement surgery almost a year after an injury she sustained on her Madame X tour forced her to cancel several North American shows. During her Madame X Presents: Madame Xtra Q&A special in 2021, “Let me be really honest with you—I used to be, like, a fitness/workout maniac,” she said at the time. “You probably know that right?… During my [2019 Madame X] tour—I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but I’m limping a lot—I was in more pain than I’ve ever been in in my life. I’m a bionic woman—I had hip replacement surgery.
“So, how do I stay in shape? It’s all in your head… It’s called will, it’s called no one’s gonna stop me, and how I stay in shape is no one’s gonna stop me. And how I stay in shape is I don’t believe in limitations,” Madonna added.
In an interview with Paper in August 2022, Madonna explained the message behind her music. “If you think about all the songs, whether it’s ‘Like a Virgin’ or ‘Material Girl’ or ‘Express Yourself’ or ‘Papa Don’t Preach,’ I was very much invested in empowering women…and that was a very big part of the storytelling,” she said. “Because I think, while women were making great dance records, I feel like in the early days, while the songs and melodies are really strong and the singers are really good, they weren’t really invested in making women think, ‘Wow, I don’t have to live in a man’s world, living under the male gaze for the rest of my life. I can look at life in a different way and not settle. I can have my own voice and my own vision.’ So that was an important element.”
Madonna also told Variety in 2019 about her plans for her music at the time. “I’m just looking for interesting, fun ways to rerelease my catalog and introduce my music to a new generation. I’m focused on that and I’ve been writing a screenplay for my film for the last couple of years. The whole thing with Frozen was so fun, but I woke up one day and went, ‘I’m sick of living in the past!’ I want to go on tour again, I’m a creature of the stage. That is my happy place,” she said.
Madonna, who is also working on a biopic movie about her life and career starring Julia Garner, also told Variety why she wanted to create the film. “I have a very long script that is really hard for me to make shorter. I’ve been whittling away at it, but it’s like hacking off my limbs,” she said. “I’ve had an extraordinary life, I must make an extraordinary film. It was also a preemptive strike because a lot of people were trying to make movies about me. Mostly misogynistic men. So I put my foot in the door and said, ‘No one’s going to tell my story, but me.’”
Rest in peace Madonna Louise Ciccone