Jackson postpones two concerts after hospital stay

Singer Janet Jackson in Beverly Hills, September 4, 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Janet Jackson on Tuesday postponed two concert tour dates this week after the singer was rushed to a hospital with an unexplained illness minutes before a performance in Montreal.

Jackson's representatives said in a statement the singer on Monday night "got suddenly ill during her sound check ... and had to be rushed to the hospital just before showtime."

Jackson checked into Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and was discharged two hours later, said Rebecca Burns, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Burns and Jackson's representatives declined to give further information about the singer's illness.

Jackson, 42, currently on her Rock Witchu tour, was making her first appearance in Montreal in seven years.

The singer postponed her shows in Boston on Wednesday and in Philadelphia on Thursday due to her illness, her representatives said.

Jackson is recuperating and will resume the tour on Saturday in Greensboro, North Carolina, her representatives said.

Last week, Jackson called off a concert in Detroit due to "production restraints," local media said.

Jackson was one of the best-selling female recording artists of the late 1980s and 1990s with hit albums that included "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814."

She is the youngest of nine siblings in the Jackson family of singers that produced the 1970s pop group the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Peter Cooney)