Madonna’s much-anticipated ‘Celebration’ tour kicked off at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, which is the first of four shows at the venue.
As her first-ever retrospective tour, the Queen Of Pop is performing many of her biggest hits throughout her 40-plus year career as a singer-songwriter through Europe and North America.
While fans were treated to one classic song after another, they also got a healthy dose of many of her iconic dance moves and fabulous outfits, all with the help of her troupe of back-up dancers.
As part of the show, Madonna is also spending a lot of time narrating her story that took her from a starving artist and college student in Michigan in the late 1970s to becoming among the biggest pop stars in world in the 80s.
The Bay City, Michigan native recalled being a ‘broke, homeless and hungry’ dancer battling anorexia right after she made the move to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance, according to Mirror.
Four decade Retrospective: Madonna, 65, talked about her lean years when she was a ‘broke’ dancer after moving to New York City in 1978 during opening night of The Celebration Tour in London’s O2 Arena on Saturday
While on stage the Material Girl was candid in her recollection of her life before becoming a huge pop icon.
It all began with her desire to have a career as a dancer, which initially started with her taking classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and studying dance under the tutelage of Martha Graham.
‘I was an anorexic dancer for a couple of years,’ she said of her first experiences in New York City. ‘I was broke and homeless and hungry but I was not about to go back cos I’m not a quitter. So I decided to become a musician.’
Soon after, Madonna started to work as a backup dancer for other established artists, and she began her pursuit in music; first as being part of a band, and then as a solo artist.
It turns out, during that time, money was scarce so she resorted to finding men that could help with her basic daily needs.
‘When I was broke I had no money to take a bath or a shower so I would actually date men who had showers and bathrooms,’ she confessed to her fans. ‘I’d date them and if I thought they were cute I’d surreptitiously work into the chat – so you live alone and they’d say yes.’
Once it was made clear the man did in fact live alone, the singer-songwriter would get right to the point.
‘Do you have a bathroom and shower?’ she continued during opening night of The Celebration Tour. ‘And they’d nod and look at me like I was a crazy person. And I’d say let’s get dinner.’
Showing her sense of humor, she added, ‘Blow jobs for showers! We all have to struggle to make ends meet right? You know what I’m taking about?’
The hits: The Queen Of Pop delivered many of her biggest hits dating back to her self-titled first studio album Madonna (1983) that features Everybody, Burning Up and Holiday
Delivering the goods: While fans were treated to many of her classic hits, they also got a healthy dose of many of her iconic dance moves and fabulous outfits, all with the help of her troupe of back-up dancers
During her storytelling moments in between songs, Madonna also talked about her recent health scare that some thought would force the tour to be canceled.
The Queen of Pop was rushed to an intensive care unit with a ‘serious bacterial infection’ back in June after being found unconscious.
‘My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children,’ she revealed during her show. ‘My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour.’
Elaborating on the situation, she continued, ‘I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone.’
Ultimately The Celebration Tour was pushed back but not canceled.
‘It was a crazy year for me and I didn’t think I was going to make it. I forgot five days of my life,’ she told the London-based fans.
‘But the angels were protecting me and my children were there and my children always save me every time. And if you want to know a secret as to how I survived, I thought, “I have to survive for them. I have to survive for my children.”‘
Along with telling her personal story of triumph, Madonna also took time to pay tribute to 1980s icons Michael Jackson and Sinéad O’Connor, who have now both passed away.
Madonna is also narrating her story throughout the show, giving glimpses of what her life was life through periods of her career
Confession: ‘I was an anorexic dancer for a couple of years,’ she said of her first experiences in New York City after arriving in 1978. ‘I was broke and homeless and hungry but I was not about to go back cos I’m not a quitter. So I decided to become a musician’; she is pictured in 1979
Madonna left the audience in awe during the night as she rocked endless outfits, including a plethora of bustiers and negligees.
She also had a video montage of all the disparaging headlines she faced during her rise from homeless dancer wanna-be to global pop superstar.
‘What a Tramp!’ was just one of the worst headlines that were shown during the performance.
There was also a tribute to Palestine and Israel, which is another storyline that sadly dates back to her humble beginnings, and beyond.
The mother of six also incorporated a sweet cameo of her daughter Mercy, 17, on the piano into the show, while her oldest of her kids, Lourdes, 26, also made an appearance on stage to help judge a Ballroom walk.
Madonna did not disappoint when it came to delivering the hits through her career that begins with her self-titled first studio album, Madonna (1983).
After opening with Nothing Really Matters, she went back to the songs that helped break her and send her toward music icon status that included Everybody, Into The Groove, Burning Up, Open Your Heart and Holiday.
She would continue to reach back to how it all began with renditions of Live To Tell, Like A Prayer, Erotica, Justify My Love, Vogue, Human Nature and Crazy For You.
Storytelling: ‘When I was broke I had no money to take a bath or a shower so I would actually date men who had showers and bathrooms,’ she confessed to her London-based fans. ‘I’d date them and if I thought they were cute I’d surreptitiously work into the chat – so you live alone and they’d say yes’; the Material Girl is pictured in 1984, around the time she become a huge pop star
Retrospective: The Celebration Tour is slated to run from October 14, 2023 until April 24, 2024
Largely focusing on the first half of her career, she also played La Isla Bonita, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Ray Of Light and Like A Virgin.
She would end the show with B**ch I’m Madonna and Celebration, which seems appropriate considering its the name of the retrospective tour.
The Celebration Tour takes Madonna through Europe until December 6, when she returns to Lodon’s O2 Arena for two more shows.
The pop superstar then heads to North America on December 13 with three shows at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
She will move around the U.S. and Canada until April 15, and then head to Mexico City, Mexico for the final four show of the tour that ends on April 24.
