A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on Jan 25, 2020 at 10:30am PST

In November, I wrote that Madonna was being sued by a fan who would be unable to see her December 17th Madame X concert in Miami after the start time was pushed back two hours. He lost over $1,000 on his tickets. In response, Madonna said, “The queen is never late.” The lawsuit stated that Madonna often pushed back the start time of her shows. More recently, Madonna has had to completely cancel concerts due to injuries that she is being treated for.

On Saturday, she posted on Instagram about needing to cancel the concert scheduled for Monday in London on the advice of her doctors. They have told her to rest while dealing with undisclosed injuries that she said “have plagued [her] since the beginning of the tour.” She said that her London show on Wednesday would go on as scheduled. In the accompanying picture, she is resting her hands on the handle of a cane. That’s above and here’s what she wrote in the caption:

I am deeply sorry that I have to cancel my concert scheduled for Monday January 27th in London. Under doctors guidance I have been told to rest for a few days.
As you all know, I have injuries that have plagued me since the beginning of the tour but I must always listen to my body and put my health first.
The last thing I want to do is disappoint my fans or compromise the integrity of my show.
So I will keep going until I cannot.
As always- anyone who purchased a ticket will be refunded for tickets purchased that evening.
The show on Wednesday January 29th will go as scheduled.
Again I am deeply sorry to disappoint anyone and please know that it hurts me more than you can imagine to have to cancel any shows.
Thank you again for your understanding. ??.

[From Instagram]

Just over a week ago, she had to cancel a show in Lisbon:

Thank you again Lisbon! ?? Sorry I had to cancel tonight but I must listen to my body and rest!! That white Port.? got me through the rest of the show! See you on Tuesday fingers crossed ?? @dinodsantiago #madamextheatre #lisboa #coliseu

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on Jan 19, 2020 at 1:58pm PST

People mentioned in its coverage of the latest cancellation that Madonna also had to cancel her final North American show in Miami in December, and had to cancel three concerts in Boston in November. While writing this, I realized that I completely somehow missed that the concert Nate was suing Madonna over hadn’t actually taken place yet.

Madonna can be rude, arrogant, and obnoxious, and pushing back the start time of concerts or canceling them for no good reason is awful. Chronic illness and pain are no joke, however, and pushing yourself when you are already injured/feeling terrible makes things even worse. I am wondering now whether her injuries are the reason for the delayed starts that everyone was (understandably) upset about. Madonna is used to people coming after her (rightly or wrongly), so perhaps there’s more to the delays and cancellations than she has told anyone. She’s probably reached a point in her life and career where she doesn’t care about the negative reactions as much and doesn’t have the energy to go into great detail about her health (which is, of course no one’s business). Whatever is going on, I hope she’s able to rest and recover.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images