Madonna is celebrating her relationship with her son Rocco Ritchie on his 24th birthday. Though Madonna and her son Rocco, whom she shares with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie, seem to have a good relationship now, it was a bit tense in the past, which Madonna appeared to allude to in her Instagram post. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCCO— the long and Winding Road through all your many moods and incarnations has been tumultuous and full of surprises," Madonna, 65, wrote on August 11, 2024.
"But through it all —your curiosity, and Artistic Soul has been the glue that has held us together. Thank God for Art. Thank God for you," she continued.
In December 2015, Rocco, who had been traveling with his mom on her Rebel Heart Tour, left his mom to live with his movie producer dad in London. At the time, a source told People that multiple factors contributed to Rocco's decision to live with his dad in the United Kingdom, with rebellion being one of them. Additionally, he had friends in the UK and reportedly thought that his dad was more easygoing as a parent — in 2017, Madonna told People that she's the "bad-cop."
Rocco's decision to live with his dad sparked a contentious custody battle between Madonna and Guy. By June 2016, it seemed as though Madonna and Rocco were on good terms again, though Madonna appeared to reference some of the tension in her recent birthday post for Rocco.
"We have been together for many lifetimes," she wrote in the post. "Thank you for choosing me again."
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In 2017, Madonna spoke to People about the unexpected challenges that came along with being a parent to older children. At the time, Rocco was 17 and her eldest child, Lourdes Leon, was 20. She admitted that being a parent to Rocco and Lourdes was more difficult than she had imagined.
"I had this funny notion that when your children get older, they learn to take care of themselves and it gets easier," she told the outlet at the time. "But actually, the older they get, the more challenging it gets — because now they’re becoming adults, and they really need guidance."
In March 2016, shortly after Rocco left Madonna to live with his dad, the singer got a bit emotional while talking about her son on tour. At a New Zealand concert at the time, she said, "There's no love stronger than a mother for her son, and if I talk about him too much, I'm going to cry. I hope he hears this somewhere and he knows how much I miss him."
Rocco is now an artist, and Madonna posted about going to one of his exhibitions in April. "So happy to have the night off to enjoy my son Rocco’s’s latest collection of paintings called 'Pack A Punch' inspired by Muay Thai fighters. So Proud !" she wrote on Instagram.
