Meet Madonna's six children - including piano star Mercy and singer Lourdes
Madonna raved about how family is 'the best medicine' after her children helped her through a period in hospital with an infection which nearly killed the singer.
The 65-year-old pop icon reportedly nearly died in June 2023, after being found on the floor of her New York City apartment.
Later, in July, she shared a post praising her six children, who had 'really showed up' for her, which 'made all the difference' to her recovery.
The Like A Virgin gave birth to her eldest two in 1996 and 1997, before going on to adopt the youngest four from Malawi in 2006, 2009 and 2017.
Find out more below on the pop icon Madonna's six kids: Lourdes, Rocco, David, Mercy, Stella and Estere.
![Brood of six: Pop icon Madonna is a proud mother of six children - with the eldest age 26 and the youngest aged 11. (Pictured, from left to right in 2021: Twins Stella and Estere, Lourdes, Madonna, Mercy, Rocco and David)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76610049-12355803-image-a-2_1697456674094.jpg)
Brood of six: Pop icon Madonna is a proud mother of six children - with the eldest age 26 and the youngest aged 11. (Pictured, from left to right in 2021: Twins Stella and Estere, Lourdes, Madonna, Mercy, Rocco and David)
!['The best medicine': Madonna raved about her family who had stood by her as she was hospitalized in June 2023](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/31/09/73791897-12355803-image-m-17_1690792693018.jpg)
'The best medicine': Madonna raved about her family who had stood by her as she was hospitalized in June 2023
Lourdes Leon, 26
![Firstborn: Madonna had her first child with then-partner Carlos Leon - an actor and personal trainer, welcoming Lourdes Leon (pictured, right in 2022) on October 14 1996](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76612219-12355803-image-a-3_1697456810289.jpg)
Firstborn: Madonna had her first child with then-partner Carlos Leon - an actor and personal trainer, welcoming Lourdes Leon (pictured, right in 2022) on October 14 1996
![Family business: Lourdes (pictured, right in 2023) has followed her mother into the entertainment industry, having worked as a model, dancer, and singer](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76611467-12355803-image-a-4_1697456823798.jpg)
Family business: Lourdes (pictured, right in 2023) has followed her mother into the entertainment industry, having worked as a model, dancer, and singer
Madonna had her first child with then-partner Carlos Leon - an actor and personal trainer.
Lourdes, 26, was born in October 14 1996 in Los Angeles and Madonna's 1998 song Little Star, on Grammy Award-winning album Ray Of Light, was written about her young daughter.
Lourdes has followed her mother into the entertainment industry, and has worked as a model, dancer and singer, but chose to stay away from the latter in the end as it felt 'too close to home.'
Their strong connection is clear after Lourdes was at her mother's bedside while she was in hospital in June 2023.
However, she revealed to Interview Magazine that she had to grow to admire her mother how she does now, having viewed her as a control freak.
Lourdes added that Madonna is 'probably the hardest worker I've ever seen. I didn't inherit that, unfortunately. I inherited her control issues, but not her work ethic!'
She has since dipped her toes into the music industry with the release of her debut single called Lock&Key in August 2022, going by the artist name of Lolahol.
Rocco Ritchie, 23
![Rocky relationship: Madonna and her eldest son Rocco (pictured, right) had a difficult patch in their relationship as he was a teenager, but are very close now](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76610637-12355803-image-m-8_1697457115809.jpg)
Rocky relationship: Madonna and her eldest son Rocco (pictured, right) had a difficult patch in their relationship as he was a teenager, but are very close now
![Multitalented: Rocco has gone on to become a model and actor, and, in recent years, an established expressionist artist](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76610605-12355803-image-a-6_1697457105551.jpg)
Multitalented: Rocco has gone on to become a model and actor, and, in recent years, an established expressionist artist
Madonna shares her eldest son Rocco with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie, with the pair welcoming Rocco in August 2000, shortly after they married.
23-year-old Rocco's relationship with his mother was not always smooth sailing, especially after his parents divorced in 2008.
In 2012, when he was 12, he told The Ellen DeGeneres Show that 'she's very strict but in a good way'.
Rocco stopped travelling with his mother on her 2015 Rebel Heart tour, instead heading to his father's country estate in Devon, Pennsylvania.
However, the following year things had been patched up, and they now enjoy a close relationship.
Rocco has gone on to become a model and actor, and, in recent years, an established artist.
The young talent has quietly established himself as an expressionist painter under the name Rhed - with his artwork selling upwards of £45,000.
He told Vogue Man Hong Kong that he was inspired by growing up with people whop were 'passionate' about art.
David Banda, 18
![Second eldest son: Madonna and Ritchie adopted David Banda, 18, from an orphanage in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, in 2006](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76611245-12355803-image-a-9_1697457159589.jpg)
Second eldest son: Madonna and Ritchie adopted David Banda, 18, from an orphanage in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, in 2006
![Special connection: Madonna has said that David Banda (pictured, left in 2022) is the child she has most in common with, adding: 'He has more of my DNA than any of my children so far)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/31/10/73794427-12355803-image-m-9_1690796292332.jpg)
Special connection: Madonna has said that David Banda (pictured, left in 2022) is the child she has most in common with, adding: 'He has more of my DNA than any of my children so far)
Madonna and Ritchie adopted David Banda, 18, from an orphanage in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, in 2006.
The same year, the singer founded Raising Malawi and took a humanitarian trip to the country.
However, the adoption was only finalised and approved in May 2008, amid criticism that she should have left David in Malawi and supported him financially from there.
At the time, Madonna told Oprah Winfrey: 'I feel like the media is doing a great disservice to all of the orphans of Africa, not just Malawi, by turning it into such a controversy.'
The singer has said that she feels an extra special connection with David, as she revealed to British Vogue in 2019.
'He's the one I have the most in common with,' she said. 'I feel like he gets me; he has more of my DNA than any of my children so far.'
David has grown into a fashionista, with Madonna enviously telling The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2022: 'It's really irritating.
'He wears my clothes and looks better in them. He can even wear a dress and look butch.'
David has grown into a fashionista, with Madonna enviously telling The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon in 2022: 'It's really irritating. He wears my clothes and looks better in them. He can even wear a dress and look butch.'
The Vogue hitmaker also added that, alongside his mother, the teenager is working on his own music.
'He’s going to end up being one of your guests,' she foreshadowed, saying he has 'everything' needed to be a star.
Fallon agreed, replying, 'He's got it. He's got magic. He's funny, he's charming, he's athletic, he's a good-looking dude.'
Mercy James, 17
![Fourth addition: Chifundo 'Mercy' James was adopted by Madonna when she was a single mother, in 2009, again from Malawi](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76610669-12355803-image-a-11_1697457233837.jpg)
Fourth addition: Chifundo 'Mercy' James was adopted by Madonna when she was a single mother, in 2009, again from Malawi
![Rising star: Mercy has honed her musical skills over the years and has gone on to become a talented piano star, playing at her mother's London leg of her Celebration tour this week](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76610661-12355803-image-m-12_1697457248275.jpg)
Rising star: Mercy has honed her musical skills over the years and has gone on to become a talented piano star, playing at her mother's London leg of her Celebration tour this week
Chifundo, 'Mercy,' James, 17, was adopted by Madonna when she was a single mother, in 2009, again from Malawi.
This was another controversial decision, but in 2017 at newly-founded The Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, Madonna said: 'I am a rebel heart.
'But I am also a compassionate and intelligent human being. And if you cannot give me a logical reason for the word 'no,' then I will not accept the word 'no.''
Madonna paid tribute to her 'precious, beautiful, talented' daughter on her 17th birthday in June 2023.
Mercy has honed her musical skills over the years and has gone on to become a talented piano star - who has recently left fans speechless during a showstopping performance at Madonna's London leg of her Celebration tour.
According to Hello Magazine, Mercy played a haunting instrumental to her mother's iconic hit Bad Girl on a grand piano last night at the O2 Arena, which blew away the audience.
Stella and Estere Ciccone, 11
![Twinning: Stella (pictured, right) and Estere (left) Ciccone were adopted in 2017, when they were four years old in Malawi](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/31/11/73795083-12355803-image-m-13_1690797809074.jpg)
Twinning: Stella (pictured, right) and Estere (left) Ciccone were adopted in 2017, when they were four years old in Malawi
![Taking over: As the girls have grown, they have fine tuned their talents and passions, with Stella (pictured, left) following in her older sister Mercy's footsteps in becoming a piano star](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/16/12/76611345-12355803-Taking_over_As_the_girls_have_grown_they_have_fine_tuned_their_t-m-15_1697457431779.jpg)
Taking over: As the girls have grown, they have fine tuned their talents and passions, with Stella (pictured, left) following in her older sister Mercy's footsteps in becoming a piano star
Most recently, Madonna adopted twin daughters Stella and Estere Ciccone, aged 11.
The two were born in Malawi in August 2012, but adopted five years later in 2017.
In August 2022, the Material Girl singer threw them a wig party, and thanked them for bringing 'love laughter and light' to her life.
She celebrated them again shortly before her June 2023 health scare, when the twins graduated from elementary school.
As the girls have grown, they have fine tuned their talents and discovered new passions.
It appears that one of the twins is following in her older sister Mercy's footsteps as a keen musician, as Madonna showed off Stella's impressive piano skills in February 2016.
As reported by People Magazine in 2022, Madonna uploaded clips to her stories on Instagram of the duo playing flawless renditions of Bach and Borodin.