Madonna Opens Up About Hospitalization, Calls Surviving Bacterial Infection “a Fucking Miracle”

Madonna performed last night (October 21) in Belgium as part of her ongoing Celebration Tour, which was postponed earlier this year when she was hospitalized for a serious bacterial infection. During the show, she became visibly emotional and opened up about her hospitalization, calling it a “fucking miracle that I’m here right now,” NME reports. She also said she wasn’t feeling well during the performance. There’s video of the moment on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Less than four months ago, I was in the hospital and I was unconscious and people were thinking, predicting that I might not make it,” she told the audience. “It’s a fucking miracle that I’m here right now. My mother, god bless her, she must be watching over me, she said, ‘Girl, it’s not your time to go.”

Madonna’s mother died of breast cancer when she was 5 years old. “I had this strange thought. I suddenly had sympathy for my mother, not about the dying part but how lonely she must have felt being in hospital, knowing that she wasn’t going to live,” she said. “And I was given another chance, so I’m very grateful for that. I must tell you that I don’t feel very well right now, but I can’t complain, because I’m alive. Thank god for my children and all of your love and support.”