Madonna is pictured in New York for ONE DAY before being rushed to the ICU

Madonna is pictured strolling around New York City visiting a fashion show with friends just a day before she “became unresponsive” and had to be rushed to ICU, where she was reportedly “intubated” with a serious bacterial infection .

In exclusive footage obtained by DailyMail.com, the 64-year-old singer can be seen visiting the Karl Lagerfeld exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan with her assistant and one of her dancers – just hours before she was said to have ‘collapsed’ .

While Madonna looks relaxed and comfortable in the footage – which shows her in an incognito ensemble of sweatpants, sneakers, sunglasses and a baseball cap – sources today claimed that TMZ that the singer “had a mild fever for a month” before being admitted to hospital.

According to the outlet, the pop icon “mostly ignored her symptoms and was never seen by a doctor because she was focused on her upcoming tour,” which she had to postpone due to her health issues.

“We’ve been told her doctors believe the unreported fever was a sign of the infection, which was worsening because it was left untreated,” TMZ claims, adding that the singer’s medical team – as well as “those around her” are concerned being that she will “go against the doctor’s orders and push to start her tour as soon as possible.”

Madonna has certainly followed a rigorous rehearsal schedule leading up to her tour, with her former backup dancer, Jose Xtravaganza, telling DailyMail.com that the mother-of-six has been rehearsing six days a week for months now. to ensure that every element of the Celebration shows is perfect.

“Rehearsals are six days a week from what I hear… the only day off is Sunday,” said Jose – who is credited with inventing the dance style on which Madonna based her Vogue music video.

“I think it’s going to be a great show, full of costumes. There is a lot of dancing. The dance group is big. When we went on tour, there were seven of us. I think there are at least somewhere between 15 and 20 now.

“They are trained in different areas of dance and different types of artistic expression that will be showcased in the show. I believe there will be many martial arts, such as boxing. She really likes boxing and things like that. So I think she’s going to revisit a lot of those things that she’s shown in the past. It is certainly not to be missed.’

In April, an insider revealed to DailyMail.com that Madonna had “driven everyone up against the wall with her perfectionism” leading up to the highly anticipated tour, saying, “It may be her last tour so she wants to make it perfect.” She is in incredible shape and her body is sick.

This is her labor of love. Her perfectionism drives everyone to the wall, but she doesn’t care. The crew is working their ass off because everyone wants to make her happy.

“She has no problem firing someone just like that.”

Madonna has yet to publicly comment on her hospitalization — which was revealed to the world in an Instagram post on Wednesday by her longtime manager Guy Oseary.

In a statement shared on her own account, Oseary – who has worked with the singer for years – confirmed that she had been diagnosed with a “serious bacterial infection” and had been taken to the ICU for treatment.

“On Saturday, June 24, Madonna contracted a serious bacterial infection that led to a several-day stay in ICU,” he wrote.

“Her health is improving, but she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.”

Madonna then returned home on Thursday, with sources reporting she is “feeling better” – however, it remains unclear when her 35-city tour will now kick off as she was due to kick off in Vancouver on July 15.

While she now appears to be on the mend, a family member admitted to DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Madonna’s family had “prepared for the worst” during her hospitalization and were unsure if she would make it.

“For the past few days, no one really knew which way this was going to go and her family prepared for the worst,” the relative said.

“That’s why it was kept secret since Saturday. Everyone believed we could lose her and that’s the reality of the situation.”

Sources also revealed to DailyMail.com that Madonna’s management team held a crisis meeting on Zoom one day after she was hospitalized, fearing she wouldn’t survive.

It was during this meeting that the group – many of whom had worked with Madonna for decades – made the decision to postpone her highly anticipated 40th anniversary tour and plans were set in motion soon after.

A source said: ‘The simple fact is that nobody knew at this point how it would all turn out. Madonna was very ill and the worst is always feared in these situations.

“Realizing that someone is in intensive care is scary, so there was a lot of worry and upset, these people had been her good friends for a while. But they had to be fair to fans, and with the tour getting closer and closer, they made the decision to postpone almost immediately, so plans got underway.

“Even if she recovered quickly, she would be very behind on her rehearsal schedule and no one wanted to pressure her.”

Madonna is a mother of six: Lourdes, 26; Rocco, 22; David, 17; Grace, 17; and 10-year-old twins Stella and Estere.

She regularly posts tributes to her 92-year-old father, Silvio Ciccone, and is close to several of her siblings.

Madonna has three sisters – Paula, Melanie and Jennifer – and four brothers: Anthony, Martin, Christopher and Mario.

Anthony passed away in February at the age of 66 from throat cancer and respiratory failure.

The Ciccone siblings all keep a low profile and let their megastar relationship take the spotlight.