Madonna's relatives worry that the Queen of Pop danced herself all the way to intensive care in an attempt to compete with young stars like Taylor Swift and Pink.
Madonna, 64, pushed the boundaries ahead of her long-awaited "Celebration" tour, which led to her sudden collapse and several days of intubation, people close to the Sun told The Sun.
"The countdown to the tour started well. Madonna had all the cards in hand, but she worked overtime and clearly killed herself, even though people around her politely reminded her that she was no longer 25, let alone 45. She pushed herself in training in a very dangerous way."
Both Swift, 33, and Pink, 43, have embarked on tours characterized by extraordinary physical fitness that manifests itself on stage. Swift manages to last four hours on stage while Pink dazzles her fans with hundreds of feet of aerial stunts. To compete, people close to the singer say, she forced herself to rehearse for 12 hours a day, which took a toll on her health.
Insiders noticed her physical exertion and feared it could lead to a fate similar to that of Michael Jackson, who died ahead of his This Is It tour in 2009.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)
"Madonna was in good spirits before the health breakdown, but some friends tried to encourage her to take time to rest as well," a source told The Sun.
"We think the comments about her age from the media have put pressure on her. We were very worried about her. No one would say it out loud, but we were definitely worried that she would end up like Michael Jackson if she didn't slow down. Few of her friends were brave enough to tell her they were worried," the source added.
Madonna was rushed to intensive care and stayed there for several days after being diagnosed with a "bacterial infection," and doctors believe Madonna had been suffering from an unreported high fever for the past month in order not to stop rehearsals. Meanwhile, the tour, which was scheduled to kick off on July 15, has been postponed.
"Her condition is completely curable and she is being monitored by the best doctors to strengthen her immune system. She'll come back, I'm 100% sure of that," the insider said.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us