Madonna Reveals She Was in a Coma During Summer Illness

Bridgehamptonite Madonna encountered technical difficulties and shared distressing news about her summer health scare and at her kickoff of the North America leg of her Celebration Tour on December 13 and 16 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

A source told People that the Queen of Pop faced “issues during the soundtrack that caused the schedule to get delayed by an hour.”

Prior to performing in front of the sold-out show of 14,000 fans, Madonna was “sound-checking until the moment” the issues were resolved. Madonna’s repertoire included fan favorites “Like A Prayer” and her 1990 classic hit “Vogue,” for which she brought her boxing coach boyfriend Josh Popper onstage to be a judge and planted a kiss on his lips.

Also during the Barclays tour stops, as seen on a fan-filmed video shared on X December 17, 65-year-old Madonna revealed during her December 16 show that she spent 48 hours in an induced coma while hospitalized for a severe bacterial infection in June.

While in the coma, Madonna said the only voice she heard was that of her Kabbalah teacher.

“I heard him say, ‘squeeze my hand,’ that’s it,” she told the rapt crowd. She also recalled regaining consciousness and seeing her six children at her bedside, quipping, “By the way, I had to almost die to get all my kids in one room.”

Madonna’s tour was postponed due to her bout of illness, but the dates were rescheduled and she’s back in action and celebrating the 40th anniversary of her first eponymous album, released in July of 1983.