At 64, Madonna Hospitalized In ICU, Tour Postponed

Jun 29, 2023

Just weeks ahead of the start of her Celebration Tour, Madonna was rushed to a hospital in New York City and placed in its intensive care unit (ICU) on June 24, 2023.

According to her long-time manager Guy Oseary, the Queen of Pop suffered a “serious bacterial infection which lead (sic) to a several day stay in the ICU.” He added while her “health is improving,” she remains “under medical care.”

“A full recovery is expected,” he added. 

Oseary did not elaborate on what kind of bacterial infection Madonna was suffering from. According to the Cleveland Clinic, bacterial infections can “affect your skin, lungs, brain, blood and other parts of your body.” The most common bacterial diseases include urinary tract infections, food poisoning, sexually transmitted infections and skin, sinus and ear infections. Such infections are usually treated with antibiotics.

Due to the serious nature of her illness, however, Oseary stated that the start of her tour would be postponed.

“At this time, we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour,” he told fans and added that their team would share more details about the amended tour dates and rescheduled shows in due time.

Madonna’s Celebration Tour is set to be a showcase of her greatest hits and had been due to start on July 15, 2023, in Vancouver, Canada. It was to run from then up until January 2024 and stop at 84 venues across Europe and North America, including cities such as Chicago and Dallas in the United States and London, Paris and Berlin in Europe.  

According to Page Six, Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes Leon, was by her side during the ordeal. The outlet also claimed that the 64-year-old singer had been found “unresponsive” and needed to be intubated for at least a night until the tube could be removed. It cited a source as saying the singer was already “out of the ICU” and currently awake and responsive.

Just days before Madonna was rushed to hospital, she had taken to Instagram to give fans a sneak peek into preparations for her first major headlining concert since 2019-2020’s Madame X Tour. As the upcoming Celebration Tour was to revisit all of the pop diva’s greatest hits since the start of her career in the early ’80s, fans had been debating over which of her many chart-toppers would make the setlist. Among some of their best guesses were her older hits “Like A Virgin,” “Vogue,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” and “Causing A Commotion,” as well as her more contemporary songs such as “Ray of Light” “Frozen” and “Music.”

Madonna had pulled out all the stops to ensure her show would be nothing short of spectacular, as shown in the photos she shared on Instagram on June 20, 2023. One photo in the series showed a close-up of Madonna’s face, with her long blond hair cascading down around her. Other snaps showed her hair dyed a strawberry red shade. With dark roots, the straight red hair looked gorgeous on the music icon, who seemed to have defied the aging process and looked years younger than she really is. 

This was also the case for another photo of her, which was a selfie she took with cherry red lipstick on as she had her long blond locks curled. Madonna captioned the post:

“The Calm Before The Storm……….”

Earlier this year, Madonna caused a stir when she appeared on stage at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in February. Although causing a stir with her dramatic entrances or fashion choices is nothing new for Madonna, this time, it wasn’t her fashion and make-up choices that stole the spotlight. Instead, fans and the media quickly took to social media to decry just how unrecognizable the “Holiday” singer’s face – with not a wrinkle in sight and puffed-up cheeks – looked. Many slammed the pop star for what they speculated was her overzealous attempt to look young through cosmetic procedures that resulted in the unwelcome transformation.

Madonna didn’t hold back in responding to the wave of criticism. On Instagram, she shared a video of the night and posted a lengthy statement that read:

“Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam (Smith) and Kim (Petras) - Many people chose to only talk about Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone’s face!!”

She chalked up the criticism to living in a “world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous.” She continued:

“I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come,” she said. Madonna ended the message with:

“I look forward to many more years of subversive behavior - pushing boundaries - Standing up to the patriarchy - and Most of all enjoying my life.”

We wish Madonna all the best during her road to recovery. Which of her songs has inspired you the most? Let us know and pass this on to friends and family who are huge fans of the Queen of Pop, too.