She will always be the Queen of Pop, but there’s no denying it’s been a difficult reign for Madonna in recent months. Last week the megastar admitted she felt “lucky” to be back on her feet after her terrifying hospital stay and delays to her Celebration tour. Now, as she focuses on her health and recovery, friends admit there was more to her illness than just a bacterial infection, after the singer spent years pushing herself to the brink – physically and mentally.

“In the weeks leading up to Madonna landing in hospital, everyone was begging her to slow down,” says an insider close to the legendary Vogue performer, who is a mum-of-six to Lourdes, 26, Rocco, 22, David, 17, Mercy, 17, plus 10-year-old twins, Stella and Estere. “Between her obsessive habits and the pressure she was putting on herself to live up to insane standards with this tour, she was living a superhuman life. She’s always struggled with insomnia, but it was the worst it’s ever been. She was going days without sleep and getting frustrated and volatile if people weren’t up at 4am to answer her emails. She’s demanding at the best of times, but with all this pressure and no sleep, her fuse was non-existent. The way she was treating people – and her own body – was beyond unhealthy and not sustainable. Her illness was like a warning from her body to stop all of this and take a step back.”

Madonna, who turns 65 this month, shared a short video with her 19million followers last week. Dancing for the camera, she revealed, “To be able to move my body and dance just a little bit makes me feel like the Luckiest Star in the world! Thank you to all of my fans and friends! You must be my lucky stars too!” Honouring her 1983 album Lucky Stars, she added, “And Happy 40th Birthday to my very First Album”. Her celeb fans and friends all rushed to celebrate her recovery, with designer Donatella Versace commenting, “Loookinnnnggg great!!” RuPaul’s Drag Race judge – and Madonna superfan – Michelle Visage added, “YES YES YES!!!! Move that body queeeeeennnnn!! We are here rooting, praying and rejoicing!!!” Goodfellas actress, Debi Mazar added a dancing emoji while supermodel and former French First Lady Carla Bruni wrote, “The Queen is back! So happy to see you well again!” Fans were also overjoyed to see Madonna back on form, with one writing, “You look so great! It’s so good to see you looking so fit & healthy!” A second said, “Everything happens for a reason and from the darkest time can grow the brightest light ever. All of this happening when your career turns exactly 40 is no coincidence. The universe just wanna give your an amazing present. It will be a rebirth for you, mark my words”, while one more added, “Thank you for the last 40 years. For giving us everything. You are such a huge part of our lives and you don’t even know it, You will always be my Lucky Star. Keep up your strength and keep disturbing the peace.”

Sources say the superstar’s ill health and workaholic habits began during the pandemic – and it’s only gotten worse. We’re told, “Madonna admits privately that Covid and lockdown turned her world upside down. She felt like it made her a prisoner in her own home, and cut her off from her support system. She wasn’t built for that kind of lifestyle and started developing unhealthy habits, like sitting on her computer for ten, twelve hours at a time, doing Zoom calls, endlessly obsessing over details around her show, and loading up her team with complex tasks. It had to come crashing down eventually and her body just shut down.”

Madonna’s tour manager, Guy Oseary, broke the bad news in June, revealing how the superstar had ended up in intensive care for a “several-day stay” after developing a deadly infection. He confirmed her much-anticipated tour – due to start on 15 July in Canada – was on pause. The postponement was a massive blow to the Like A Virgin icon, who announced her 79-date tour in January inviting everyone to, “Come join the party”, as she celebrated 40 years in the biz.

Originally only intended as 35 dates, Madonna was forced to add more concerts, after selling more than 600,000 tickets on the first day of general sale alone. Last month the singer promised to re-launch the tour in October, admitting she was sad to “let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show”. She told her devoted fanbase that she was “on the road to recovery”, revealing that her “focus now is my health and getting stronger”, and adding, “I have felt your love. I’m incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life.” And sources tell [heat] this has been the wake-up call Madonna needed. “She was very sick and there’s no doubt it has been a huge shock to her,” says the insider. “It’s been very sobering for her and she’s been humbled. She finally admitted that she needs to make changes and is taking some much needed time out to work on her health. And it’s actually doing her some good! She’s getting physically better and looking after herself properly. She’s sleeping a ton to help her body get healthy and is doing restorative yoga and meditating, while eating proper, nourishing foods.”

And thankfully, we’re told Madonna’s children are stepping up to ensure she sticks to this new regime of self-care. “She is very fortunate that her kids are all such level-headed people,” says our source. They’ve really stepped up in this health crisis and are making sure their mum sticks to her promise to take care of herself. They were terrified when she ended up in hospital. They’re not used to seeing her sick and have all begged her not to let it happen again. She’s a very devoted mum, and doesn’t want her kids to worry. But of course she is itching to get her tour going again. She still has a lot to prove – the hunger is still there. Everyone keeps reminding her that the tour, which is ambitious as hell, is going to benefit from Madonna giving herself a break for a while… at least that’s the plan!”