Madonna ‘on road to recovery’ following infection that required intensive care

Madonna has said she is “on the road to recovery” following a serious illness that left her in intensive care last month, and intends to begin touring again in October.

The singer posted on Instagram:

Thank you for your positive energy, prayers and words of healing and encouragement. I have felt your love. I’m on the road to recovery and incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life.

My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children. My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone. My focus is now my health and getting stronger and I can assure you, I’ll be back with you as soon as I can!

She said that her current plan is to reschedule the North American tour that was due to start later this week, and to continue with her European tour as planned, which is scheduled to open 14 October with four nights at London’s O2 Arena before visiting 10 other cities.

On 28 June, her manager Guy Oseary announced: “On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection, which led to a several-day stay in the ICU. Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected. At this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour.”

She was discharged from hospital the following day and has been recovering at home in New York.

Her Celebration tour, marking 40 years since her debut self-titled album, intends to take in 45 cities overall, and is a larger-scale venture than her previous tour for the album Madame X, which was performed in a series of theatre residencies.

She was injured during that tour and had a hip replacement following it. “I was in more pain than I’ve ever been in in my life,” she later said of the injury. “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.”