The US pop icon's manager, Guy Oseary, said in a statement: "On Saturday June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which lead to a several day stay in the ICU.

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

"At this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour.

"We will share more details with you soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows."

The 64-year-old hitmaker was due to kick off the North America leg of her "Celebration" world tour, to mark the 40th anniversary of her musical career, in Vancouver, Canada, on 15 July.

Performances also include two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York in August, along with Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago.

Her entourage was later scheduled to travel to London for four sold-out shows at the O2 Arena from 14 October to begin the European leg of the tour - which also includes stops in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Material Girl is then booked for two more dates at the O2 Arena in December.

She called on fans to help her choose which songs make the Celebration Tour setlist, asking on social media: "What song would you like to dance to at my show?"

In a statement to Sky News, she said: "I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for."

Just one week ago, Madonna shared a series of images with her 18.9m Instagram followers which appeared to show her in rehearsals, in a post captioned "The Calm Before The Storm".

Mr Oseary's Instagram post was liked by thousands of fans within minutes of him sharing the update on Wednesday evening.

Among the messages of support, one fan wrote: "The tour can wait. We aren't going anywhere! Health before time. We love you."

Another posted: "Wishing the best for Madonna and a speedy recovery! We will always be here for her when she's ready to go!".

American events promoter, Live Nation, has since confirmed the tour had been postponed, citing Mr Oseary's statement.

In 2019, the Lucky Star singer cancelled dates on her Madame X tour on "doctors' orders" after suffering "overwhelming pain".

She told fans at the time: "Doing my show every night brings me so much joy and to cancel is a kind of punishment for me but the pain I'm in right now is overwhelming and I must rest and follow doctors' orders so I can come back stronger and better and continue the Madame X journey with all of you."

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The star later pulled out of the first London show of the Madame X tour, scheduled for 27 January 2020, after revealing she had been "plagued" with injury since the beginning of the tour, and was seen wearing knee supports.

She posted on social media that she "must always listen to my body and put my health first."

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