Madonna is recovering after falling ill with a serious bacterial infection that landed her in an intensive care unit for several days, her manager Guy Oseary said in a statement Wednesday.

Her health is improving, however, she is still under medical care, he said. A full recovery is expected.

Oseary said the 64-year-old pop icons Celebrations tour, due to start July 15 in Vancouver, Canada, was postponed until further notice.

The global, nearly sold-out tour was billed as paying homage to her more than four-decade-long career.

Stops in the United States were to include Detroit, Chicago, Miami and New York, the city where her storied rise to superstardom began.

She was then slated to continue in Europe into the fall, with dates in London, Barcelona and Paris.

The Grammy-winning megastar behind classics including Like a Virgin has asserted incalculable influence over her stellar career as one of musics top stars.

In his statement on social media, her manager vowed to provide more information when available, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.

In 2020 Madonna underwent hip replacement surgery following an injury sustained on her Madame X tour.

“ ˜Material Girl “

Born in 1958, the Catholic-educated artist headed to New York in 1977 with just 35 dollars in her pocket.

She scraped a living through everything from nude modelling to selling doughnuts.

Her first big single was Everybody in 1982, followed by a string of hits including Lucky Star, Borderline, and Holiday.

The 1984 release of Like A Virgin propelled Madonna onto the international stage.

She followed up in 1985 with another disco anthem, Material Girl.

The early 1990s saw her don infamous pointy cone-shaped bras on her Blond Ambition Tour in 1990.

She also released a racy book called Sex, filled with photographs of sexual acts that were released to accompany her 1992 album Erotica.

In the late 1990s, her music took off in a new direction, thumping to a new dance-flavoured beat on her multi-award-winning 1998 album Ray of Light.

She has maintained the provocative streak that she is both beloved and notorious for well past middle age.

In 2003 she grabbed the showbiz worlds attention by clinching pop princess Britney Spears in a lingering kiss on stage at that years MTV Music Video Awards.

She dropped news of her forthcoming tour in a video nodding to her 1991 documentary Truth or Dare.

In the clip, the Queen of Pop plays the classic sleepover game with fellow celebrities, all with risque undertones. (AFP via Channels)