Madonna Says She’s ‘Not Afraid of Death’ 

Madonna isn’t afraid of death.

In a heartfelt Instagram post on February 27, the 66-year-old pop icon reflected on losing her mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone, who died at 30 from breast cancer in 1964. Resharing a note she originally wrote in November 2024, Madonna opened up about how that loss shaped her view on mortality.

“When I was a child, my mother died,” she wrote. “Seeing her beautiful face in the open casket and kissing her red lips to say goodbye left a haunting memory. A deep longing. A terrible fear of abandonment. I would follow my father everywhere, reminding him that if he ever died, I wanted to be buried with him.”

Losing her mother at such a young age led Madonna to develop a fascination with cemeteries, a place where she found comfort rather than fear. “I was not afraid of death because I knew this was the only way I could be with my mother again,” she explained. “As life went on, I lost many people that I loved dearly and came to look at death as kind of a doorway to eternal life.”

Madonna shared part of her note in a grid post and the rest in her Instagram Stories, revealing how personal loss has influenced her approach to love and relationships. “Even when my lovers left me, I saw it as a kind of death. When they hurt me, I would have a ritualistic burial for them. I would bury my fear of abandonment before it could overtake me.”

She also found peace in visiting cemeteries, connecting with the souls of the departed. “I wanted to reassure them that they were not alone. None of us are,” she wrote, recalling the words of a nun from her childhood. “‘We are all married to God.’ That’s what Sister Mary Theresa always used to say to me. ‘I am the bride of Christ. I am the bride of love.’”

For Madonna, those words felt deeply romantic. “I imagined I could tell her all my deepest secrets. ‘Bury your fear. Bury your fear,’ she would say to me. Then she would take my hand, and we would walk amongst the dead under the light of the full moon.”

Beyond reflecting on the past, Madonna has been focused on the future. She recently announced plans to rerelease her 1994 album Bedtime Stories and is working on a follow-up to Confessions on a Dance Floor with producer Stuart Price.

In December, she teased new music, posting a video of herself in the studio with Price, her boyfriend Akeem Morris, manager Guy Oseary, and her twin daughters, Stella and Estere.

“These past few months have been medicine for my soul. Songwriting and making music is the one area where I don’t need to ask anyone for their permission. I’m so excited to share it with you,” she wrote, hinting at a 2025 release.