Madonna postpones ‘Celebration’ tour after ‘serious bacterial infection’

Madonna was hospitalized for several days with a “serious bacterial infection,” forcing her to postpone her forthcoming “Celebration” tour, her manager said Wednesday.

The 64-year-old pop icon developed the infection Saturday, leading to a stay in an intensive care unit, her manager, Guy Oseary, wrote on Instagram.

“Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care,” he said. “A full recovery is expected.”

Madonna’s world tour was set to begin July 15 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and to last seven months, highlighting songs from the past 40 years of her career.

A new start date for her tour has not been announced.

Also Read | Madonna announces music tour celebrating 40 years of hits

Madonna announced her tour, which would be her 12th, in January, with a five-minute black-and-white video that showed her speaking at a dinner party with a group of famous friends. Her conversation and party games made references to her some of her songs, like “S.E.X.” and “La Isla Bonita,” as well as her documentary and concert film “Truth or Dare.”

“I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” Madonna said in the video.

Tickets for her “Celebration” shows in New York, London, Paris and Amsterdam sold out in minutes, according to Billboard.

The tour, produced by Live Nation, was to span about 40 cities before concluding in Mexico City on Jan. 30.

In North America, she had stops planned in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami and Los Angeles. In Europe, she was scheduled to perform in London, Barcelona, Spain, Paris and Stockholm.

Caldwell Tidicue, a New York comedian better known as Bob the Drag Queen, was slated to appear as a guest on all dates of the tour.

“The Celebration Tour will take us on Madonna’s artistic journey through four decades,” the tour announcement said.

After announcing the tour, Madonna collaborated with pop and R&B singer The Weeknd and rapper Playboi Carti on the single “Popular.” The collaboration brought her back to Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for the first time in years.