Madonna is feared to have been stricken with her "serious bacterial infection" after she tried to keep up with dancers a fraction of her age.

The Queen of Pop, 64, is recovering at home after being rushed to an intensive care unit with the illness at the weekend, and was putting in epic hours in preparation for her upcoming Celebration Tour at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum for weeks before she was said to have been found unresponsive and reportedly intubated by medics in an intensive care unit.

One of her friends told Page Six about her battle to keep up with her younger tour backing dancers: "She is the one constantly pushing herself, but she has to realise that, while she is as good as the people she is working with, many of them are a fraction of her age and without her history of injuries."

"Of course, there are other acts older than her still on the road, but they aren't dancing and performing like she does."

The insider added "this sort of illness could affect anyone of any age" and said, "Madonna certainly did not bring this on herself".

But they said about it being a potential warning sign she needs to slow down: "It is also a reminder that she is as human and as frail as the rest of us."

The insider added about her quest for perfection on stage: "She knows how much her fans have been looking forward to this retrospective tour - it's sold out around the world - and she wanted to give them her best.

"Seeing how well the tickets had sold had really motivated her because it showed how much people wanted to see her.

"She really led the way for shows which were as aesthetically entertaining as musically and she doesn't want to disappoint her fans.

"But she maybe has to learn that while she has incredible stamina, she demands too much from herself."

Mum-of-six Madonna is now recovering at her home in Manhattan, where her sons David Banda, 17, and Rocco Ritchie, 22, have been seen coming and going from her Upper East Side townhouse.

Madonna's eldest daughter Lourdes Leon, 26, has also reportedly been by the singer's side throughout her health ordeal.

The Celebration Tour was supposed to kick off July 15 in Vancouver but is now on hold.

Knee and hip problems saw Madonna cancel 14 of her Madame X Tour dates in 2019 and 2020, and she injured her coccyx during a performance after a chair was pulled out from under her on stage.

She said on Instagram at the time: "If only knees didn't twist and cartilage didn't tear and nothing hurt and tears never fell out of our eyes."

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Source: Bang