Madonna, who celebrated her 65th birthday in Lisbon, Portugal, last week with her six children, is getting back to rehearsals for her tour

Madonna ‘wants newly-single Britney Spears to join her onstage for Celebration Tour’(Photo Credit: Bang Showbiz)
Madonna reportedly wants newly-single Britney Spears to join her onstage on her upcoming ‘Celebration Tour’.

The Queen of Pop, 65, is planning to get her shows back on the road by October after they were postponed due to her being stricken with a “serious bacterial infection” that left her hospitalised, and a source has said reuniting with Britney, 41, is part of her plan to please fans.

Madonna and Britney have been long-time friends, share the same agent – and famously kissed during a 2003 performance – and an insider has now told Page Six: “Madonna originally wanted Britney to join her on tour this year. Everything was pushed back because of her illness, but she still wants Britney to join her at the Kia Forum.”

Madonna is due to play the Kia arena in Inglewood, California, in March 2024 as part of her greatest hits tour.

Sources added Madonna “particularly wants to use her tour to mark the 20th anniversary of her and Britney’s hit collaboration ‘Me Against the Music’”, which was released in October 2003.

An insider also told Page Six the ‘Material Girl’ icon duetted with Britney at her ill-fated 2022 wedding to Sam Asghari, 29, who has left the ‘Toxic’ singer stunned after he filed for divorce from her on 16 August, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

Madonna, who celebrated her 65th birthday in Lisbon, Portugal, last week with her six children, is getting back to rehearsals for her tour after being rushed to a New York City intensive care unit earlier this summer.

She and Britney famously smooched as they performed at the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2003, during which the Queen of Pop also kissed their co-performer Christina Aguilera, 42.

Britney – dubbed the Princess of Pop – last joined Madonna onstage during the latter’s 2008 ‘Sticky and Sweet Tour’, one year after she divorced second husband Kevin Federline, 45, with whom she has sons Sean Preston, 17, and 16-year-old Jayden James.

The singer has not performed in public since October 2018, but sources say she is now planning to release new music to coincide with the release of her ‘The Woman in Me’ autobiography, due out on 24 October.

Page Six added its Madonna source said she was “extremely healthy” following her hospitalisation and is getting ready to fly her entire crew over to London next month to prepare for her greatest-hits tour launch on 14 October at the O2 Arena.

They added: “Madonna’s entire tour crew are heading to London in the last week of September to start rehearsing in Brixton.

“They will also be given access to the O2 a day early on 13 October to set up and do a full dress rehearsal.”