The music icon’s expected to make a full recovery.
Madonna’s currently on the mend after suffering an unexpected health scare. Two weeks after she was rushed to the hospital for a bacterial infection, the Queen of Pop shared an update about her recovery and thanked fans for their support.
“My focus now is my health and getting stronger and I assure you, I’ll be back with you as soon as I can!” she wrote in an Instagram post on Monday.
Though she expressed regret about potentially letting down fans, she also announced that the first leg of her highly anticipated Celebration Tour, which was scheduled to start on July 15, will be postponed. It included stop-offs in more than 20 cities across the U.S., including Chicago, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles before making its way to London and other European cities.
As the situation develops, here’s what we know about Madonna’s hospitalization, how recovery is going, and what it means for her upcoming tour.
Why was Madonna hospitalized?
Madonna was hospitalized on June 24 after she was found unresponsive due to a “serious bacterial infection.” Her talent manager and producer Guy Oseary said she spent several days in the ICU. At one point, there were also reports that she had to be intubated or have a breathing tube inserted through her mouth.
“Her health is improving, however, she is still under medical care,” Oseary in a statement on Instagram confirming the news. “A full recovery is expected.”
While details about her condition remain unknown, sources told People that she hadn’t been feeling well in the lead-up to her tour and had been pushing herself especially hard. “She ignored some symptoms of illness for quite a while because she thought they would go away,” one unnamed industry insider said. “But she didn’t want to take time away from rehearsals.”
Has Madonna faced other health issues?
This recent hospital stay isn’t the pop star’s only recent setback. She suffered several injuries throughout her last Madame X Tour, which stretched from September 2019 to March 2020. During that period, she still tried to continue to perform, even undergoing surgeries for her hip and knee. But she ultimately had to cancel the last show due to “indescribable pain.”
“With every song I sang, I said a prayer that I would make it to the next and get through the show,” she said at the time.
Madonna has been pretty candid about her struggles with her performances. During a Q&A special with Extra in 2021, she acknowledged that she had been “limping a lot” during her previous tour but proudly called herself a “bionic” woman for getting a hip replacement. She has attributed a lot of her comebacks to staying fit. “How I stay in shape is I don’t believe in limitations,” she said during the same interview.
Will Madonna’s tour be postponed?
Earlier this year, Madonna announced she would launch her Celebration Tour in honor of the 40th anniversary of her music career. But she has since postponed these plans in light of her illness: “The current plan is to reschedule the North American leg of the tour and to begin in October in Europe.”
Meanwhile, several fans, including fellow musicians like Diplo, sent the seven-time Grammy winner their well wishes. “We love you so much,” he wrote in the comments section on her Instagram announcement of the news.
