Madonna launches “The Celebration Tour”, to celebrate her 40th career after her serious hospitalization

Madonna fans were waiting to reunite with the mega star”at 150%” of its form. The queen of pop launched this Saturday, October 14 in London The Celebration Tour which pays tribute to his 40-year career. The O2 Arena was not scheduled to host the first concert of this event tour. In June, the 65-year-old singer had to postpone the North American part of her tour following hospitalization in intensive care for a bacterial infection.

Before she performed in Paris in November then in Montreal in January, before concluding in Mexico in April, the British public inaugurated the show retracing the unparalleled career of the star revealed by Holiday in 1983.”I didn’t expect it to be the opening concert!“, exclaims Kate Taylor, a 46-year-old teacher before the concert, who came with her sister and is eager to hear “all the great hits” of the star.

Thank you LONDON!
Opening Night!
An Evening I will never forget. 🇬🇧♥️ #MadonnaCelebrationTour pic.twitter.com/qA5EJXeqIy

— Madonna (@Madonna) October 15, 2023

“It’s very exciting because no one knows what we’re going to see, what the playlist will be“, adds Nicholas Ede, a 50-year-old TV presenter in a sequined jacket. “And she’s been sick, so we’re excited to see her bounce back and look fabulous“.”She’s the queen of pop! There are other artists like Britney Spears, Beyoncé or Ariana Grande, but there is only one Madonna“, he emphasizes. “She is incredible, she gives 150%“.

“No one is up to Madonna, she paved the way for other younger female artists like Beyoncé or Taylor Swift“, adds Connor Clement, 31, who came with his mother, a big fan like him. “His songs across generations are legendary“. Glenn, a DJ from Newcastle (northern England), attended his 40th Madonna concert on Saturday: “I’m addicted, the messages she delivers are so powerful, her performances incredible“. He admits to having been “very worried” for her after her hospitalization. “But I’m 100% convinced that she’s going to rock tonight!“.

Leather jacket on her shoulders and cross around her neck, Janet Hutton, who came specially from Slovakia, goes to see Madonna for the fourth time, on the eve of her 50th birthday.for her music, but also to see her, she went through a difficult period“.”Fingers crossed that she has her energy back!“.

Legendary career

After the singer’s visit to the hospital, the North American part of the Celebration Tour, which was to begin on July 15 in Vancouver, western Canada, was postponed, while the European part was able to be maintained on the dates initially planned. The concert playlist had been kept secret, but the tour promises to return, in songs, costumes and archive images, to all the great moments in the career of Madonna Louise Ciccone, born in August 1958 in Michigan, to parents of of Italian and French-speaking Canadian origins.

MADONNA “HUNG UP” THE CELEBRATION TOUR, LONDON, 2023 #MADONNA #THECELEBRATIONTOUR pic.twitter.com/zwQc9ebfrb

— 🐝 (@loveeeprofusion) October 15, 2023

After starting out as a dancer, songwriter and singer in the late 1970s in New York, with $35 in her pocket, she won seven Grammy Awards including 14 studio albums as well as live records, film soundtracks and compilations. .. Her career as a producer, actress and film director has made her for 40 years one of the most influential and wealthy artists and businesswomen on the planet.

Tribute to deceased artists

Madonna paid tribute to the artists and friends who shared her life. During the song Live To Tellthe portraits of Freddie Mercury, Robert Mapplethorpe and Keith Haring, who died of AIDS, were screened. The artist made the fight against AIDS a major fight, at a time when few artists took a stand. The singer also paid tribute to Michael Jackson with a Chinese shadow production. We see two characters with the same silhouette as the superstars, dancing on a mashup of Billie Jean And Like A Virgin.

Madonna – Live to Tell – #TheCelebrationTour pic.twitter.com/69ixkgKJAi

— Martin Allen (@MartyOverton) October 15, 2023

Like Beyoncé during her last tour, Madonna invited her children on stage. In the middle of his song Vogue, the star has become a judge of the ballroom community with her eldest daughter Lourdes, handing out “10s” as notes to her dancers. Estere, one of his daughters, delivered an incredible performance of vogue. Her other daughter, Mercy James, accompanied her mother on the piano. Madonna’s two other children, David Banda and Stella, were also there. Only his son Rocco Ritchie was absent.

This opening concert suffered a technical problem which forced Madonna to improvise. The star had to keep the audience busy and gave anecdotes about her difficult journey and her struggling years in the 80s. She notably told that she went out with boys to be able to use their showers.

In an interview with the BBC, the musical director of the tour Stuart Price admitted that choosing among the singer’s multiple hits Like A Virgin, Bonita Island or Hung Up had been “a big challenge” : “How to fit all that into two hours? It’s tough, but we caught a little bit of all his great moments“.

In total, according to him, around 45 songs were selected, 25 in full and extracts from around twenty others, mixed together or serving as a transition. On the other hand, no group of musicians on stage permanently, according to Stuart Price: “We realized that the stars are the original recordings, which cannot be copied or recreated“.

Madonna will be on stage in Paris on November 12, 13, 19 and 20 at the Accor Arena.