On Monday night, at the opening of a five-night stand at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles,
Madonna
was in good spirits and wanted to talk about the severity of her health emergency last year.
She thanked the doctor and the rest of the medical staff who were in the audience, who helped her.
during and after
the days she spent in an induced coma
.
Madonna, dazzling on her successful "Celebration Tour."
Photo: IG
The singer revealed that it was a well-known doctor, Dr. David Agus, who helped her overcome the crisis.
He and other members of his support team and immediate family were present at the concert and were mentioned during a funny, direct and seemingly improvised nine-minute speech he gave at the end of the show, before a guitar-driven version of
Express
Yourself
. acoustics.
A detailed description
"It was a strange thing not to feel like I was in control," she told the audience, of being sidelined by the drastic effects of
a bacterial infection
that landed her in intensive care last June.
God himself appeared in the story of what she called an NDE, although she did not directly remember a divine presence, only inferring it from what she said after waking up for the first time after being put into a deep sleep to relieve the crisis.
Madonna in one of the self-portraits that she usually publishes on her social networks.
Photo: IG
As the story began, he said, “I fell off many horses and broke many bones.
I have a titanium hip.
I mean, the list goes on and on, but nothing can stop me.”
There she briefly interrupted his story to sing a cappella a fragment of one of his most famous songs: “Don't tell me to stop…”
Madonna continued: “This summer I had a surprise.
It's called... um...
a near-death experience
.
Yes, and I'm not kidding!
It was quite scary.
Obviously I didn't know for four days, because I was in an induced coma.
But when I woke up, the first word I said was 'No'.
That's what my assistant tells me.
And I'm pretty sure God was saying to me, 'Do you want to come with us?
Do you want to come with me?
Do you want to go this way?'
And I said, 'No.
No.'".
She added one more for emphasis: “No!”
Grateful to your doctor
Madonna continued by sending her thanks to “a very special man in the audience tonight,” Dr. Agus.
“He has endured so many phone calls from me.
When I was sick this summer and
literally couldn't walk from my bed to the bathroom
, I called him every other day and asked him why I had no energy.
When would my energy return?
When would I feel like myself again?
When could you go on tour again?
When, when, when, when, when, when, when?
And all he said was, 'I went out into the sun.'"
Madonna at one of her shows in Belgium.
Photo: IG
The singer, who was not a sun worshiper, said she responded: "Have you seen my skin?"
Her response: “I went out into the sun.
You need vitamin D to keep your kidneys working
.”
And she continued: “I hate the sun, but I did it anyway, and it was very difficult for me to walk from my house to the backyard and sit in the sun.
I know it sounds crazy, but it was hard and I didn't know when I could get up again, when I could be myself again, and when I would get my energy back.
It was a strange thing to finally not feel like I was in control.
And that was my lesson in letting go.”
The star also thanked “everyone who is here and who took care of me and listened to all my endless complaints and my need for predictions that I couldn't have.
You are patient and kind, and still are.
You still help me take care of everyone I know who is sick.
Thank you very much, wherever you are.”
He addressed the topic of how brief the suspension of his current stadium tour was, just three months.
Madonna referred to manager Guy Oseary, who she imagined would “probably be right next to Dr. Agus right now.”
They're planning... they have a new plot to almost kill me again.
When he said, 'Well, when do you think you want to get back on tour?'... I took the oxygen out of my nose, looked at him and said, 'In two fucking months!'... I swear to God." .
At that point in the story, Los Angeles was in his pocket.
Madonna
also thanked her children
, including several who performed with her during Monday night's show, including Mercy, who played piano in support of her mother on
Bad Girl
, and David, who played acoustic guitar on
Mother
and
Father
Estere also appears each night during the mock dance competition at
Vogue
.
Madonna live in London.
Photo: IG
“My children are the ones who really helped me get ahead, because they worked very hard and… I didn't want to disappoint them.
So I just set a date and that date became a reality.
And I didn't want to disappoint my fans.
Never."
Offering a personal maxim, Madonna added: “I want to provoke.
I want to masturbate.
But I don't want to disappoint my fans."
The loyalty of his fans
He continued: “My life has obviously been a roller coaster… artistically, emotionally, mentally and physically.
And this show every night is not so hard on me physically;
It's harder for me emotionally because I'm really telling you my life story.
“My heart is on my sleeve,” he said, as the crowd drowned out part of his speech with cheers.
“But how grateful I am that you're all here and that you've all supported me... for four damn decades!”
Madonna at 65 years old.
Photo: IG
Setting the tone for a production that explores his origins as well as his progression to stardom, he said: “I'm about to tell you the story of my life.
It's like reading my personal diary through music, dance, art, videos.
I hope they can handle it.”
Madonna's tour continues with more shows at the Forum until next Monday.
She will then remain in the Southern California area, but moves to Palm Springs' Acrisure Arena for a concert on March 13.
The tour will continue through the southwestern and southern states before concluding its US leg in Austin on April 15.
He will go to Mexico City for five nights at the end of April, ending the international excursion.
The "Celebration" tour, which was originally scheduled to begin in the United States in July, ended up starting with four shows in London in October, with a North American leg kicking off in December in Brooklyn.