At a recent live show, Madonna paid tribute to the friend who “saved her life” earlier this year.
The moment took place at the singer’s recent show in New York over the weekend (December 16), when she told the crowd at the Barclays Center that there was “a very important woman” who was in attendance – the friend who helped her when she was taken ill over the summer.
It comes after the singer was forced to postpone her US shows earlier this year, following a “serious bacterial infection” that led her to being admitted to ICU.
“There are some very important people in the room tonight that were with me at the hospital. There’s one very important woman who dragged me to the hospital,” she said (via Music News). “I don’t even remember; I passed out on my bathroom floor and woke up in the ICU.”
As shared by a fan account, Madonna later gave a shout-out to the friend, named Shavawn, later, adding that “she saved my life”.
Madonna spoke about her near death experience, and said Shavawn saved her life 😮
Shavawn is the nanny! pic.twitter.com/9rxkTUGB46— SAGARRAJO (@sagarrajo) December 17, 2023
Elsewhere at the show at Barclays Centre, the Queen of Pop shared more details about her stay in hospital back in June, adding that she was put in an induced coma for two days and the “only voice” she heard during this time was that of her Kabbalah teacher.
She also explained that it felt like “a fucking miracle” to be able to continue with her tour following the hospitalisation, and made light of the situation by saying that she “had to almost die” in order to get all six of her children in the same room.
Following the postponed US dates earlier this year, Madonna kicked off the long-awaited ‘Celebration’ tour with a run of UK and European dates. This included multiple sold-out stops at The O2 in London – which were given a five-star review by NME, which described the opening gig as showcasing “a series of spectacular set-pieces referencing iconic highlights from Madonna’s reign”.
Addressing the health scare in London, Madonna told fans that she “didn’t think I would make it”.
In other Madonna news, the pop singer kicked off the run of shows in New York on December 13, and played ‘I Love New York’ for the first time in 15 years in the city.