American pop star Madonna has posted on social media a loving tribute to her son Rocco Ritchie, who turned 23 last Friday.
The singer also posted a rare montage of family photos featuring him and her other children, with the post set to The Beatles song, Here Comes The Sun.
Madonna has five other children: Lourdes Leon, 26; David Banda and Mercy James, both 17; and twins Stella and Estere, who turn 11 later this month. Rocco is her son with her ex-husband, English film director Guy Ritchie, 54.
“Happy birthday, dearest Rocco,” Madonna wrote. “From the day you were conceived, life with you has been an adventure. From your premature birth to your love of skateboarding, dirt bikes, break dancing, parkour, graffiti and all adrenaline-provoking activities.”
She said her son, a painter under the pseudonym Rhed, had made her worry, possibly more than any other person on the planet.
“But you have taken the road less travelled by and that will make all the difference. Nothing gives me more joy than to watch you grow as an artist,” she said.
Quoting Rocco’s favourite painter Lucian Freud, “What do I ask of a painting?”, she wrote: “I ask it to astonish, disturb, seduce, convince. Keep walking down your own road. I’m so proud of you.”
Her post came more than a month after she was hospitalised on June 24 for a serious bacterial infection. She was in the intensive care unit for several days, according to a statement by her manager Guy Oseary on June 29.
In a social media post on July 30, Madonna, who will celebrate her 65th birthday on Wednesday, thanked her children and friends for their support, adding that she realised “how lucky I am to be alive”.
She postponed the North American leg of The Celebration Tour, which was originally scheduled to begin on July 15, and will begin the concert tour in Europe in October. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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