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Pop icon Madonna is set to embark on a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her breakout single, “Holiday.”
The Celebration Tour will see the singer performing music from her entire career, including hits from her 1983 self-titled debut album to her 2019 album Madame X.
This will be Madonna’s first ever greatest hits tour and her return to arenas and stadiums after the experimental, theater-based Madame X shows in 2019 and 2020.
The 35-date tour will kick off in the United States and will then travel to various cities around the world.
Fans can expect to hear some of Madonna’s most iconic songs, including “Like a Virgin,” “Material Girl,” and “Vogue,” as well as new hits from Madame X. The tour will also feature a number of special guests, who have yet to be announced.
Madonna’s return to the stage comes after a difficult period for the singer. Some of her Madame X shows were called off as she battled knee and hip injuries.
The last 10 dates in Paris were then canceled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Madonna has since recovered and is excited to get back to performing for her fans.
The Celebration Tour is set to be one of the biggest events of the year, and tickets are expected to sell out quickly. Fans of Madonna’s music will not want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the pop icon perform some of her greatest hits live.
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The Place and Time
The tour will start in Vancouver, Canada in July, and will include stops in New York, Barcelona, Paris, Stockholm, and Amsterdam, with the final show taking place on December 1st.
So far, only one date has been announced for the UK, at London’s O2 Arena on October 14th. However, Madonna’s schedule is clear for a week on either side of that date, suggesting more shows will be announced as the initial dates sell out.
“I am excited to explore as many songs as possible, in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” Madonna said in a statement.
The press release for the tour also states that it “will take us on Madonna’s artistic journey through four decades and pays respect to the city of New York where her career in music began.”
With 63 top 10 hits in the UK, including 13 number one singles, Madonna will have no shortage of songs to choose from for the setlist. Fans can expect to hear classic hits such as “Into The Groove,” “Like A Prayer,” “Vogue,” and “Hung Up,” among many others.
In the past, Madonna has avoided performing some of her biggest hits on tour, explaining in a 2017 interview with the BBC, “Some songs I’m sick of doing and I don’t want to do them.”
She went on to say, “So if I did Material Girl on the tour before, or Express Yourself on the tour before, then I’ll say, ‘OK, I did that for 88 shows. I can’t do it again.'”
The “Celebration” tour will be Madonna’s first formal greatest hits tour since her 2004 “Reinvention” concerts.
Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10:00 local time on Friday, January 20th, with pre-sales for fan club members starting on Tuesday, January 17th (North America) and Wednesday, January 18th (Europe).
No Stopping for Madonna
Despite this, the Madame X Tour was a financial success, grossing over $410 million and becoming the highest-grossing tour by a female artist ever. This is a testament to Madonna’s enduring popularity and the dedication of her fans.
In an interview with V Magazine in 2021, Madonna spoke candidly about her health issues during the Madame X Tour, revealing that she had been suffering from a lack of cartilage in her right hip.
Despite this, she was determined to complete the tour, saying, “I had no cartilage left in my right hip, and everyone kept saying, ‘You gotta stop, you gotta stop.’ I said, ‘I will not stop. I will go until the wheels fall off’.”
Madonna’s determination to continue with the tour despite her health issues is a testament to her dedication as an artist and her commitment to her fans.
In the same interview, she also hinted that she may not be done touring yet, saying, “I don’t think about stopping. I could have done a stadium tour, greatest hits, and made a billion dollars.”
Overall, the Madame X Tour was a defining moment in Madonna’s career, showcasing her resilience, dedication and enduring popularity as an artist. Fans can look forward to the possibility of more touring from Madonna in the future.
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TikTok Sensation
In September of last year, a decade-old leaked demo called “Back That Up To The Beat” also resurfaced on the app, garnering thousands of videos and prompting Madonna to give the demo an official release in December.
The song, which served as a bonus track on her album Madame X, was a vastly different version than the leaked demo.
In addition to the release of the demo, Madonna also released a career-spanning compilation album in 2021 called Finally Enough Love.
The album featured dance remixes of her biggest hits, with 20 of the tracks being rare recordings that were being officially released for the first time.
Furthermore, the album reached number three in the UK charts and was the first project under Madonna’s new deal with Warner Music for an “extensive, multi-year series of catalog releases that will revisit the groundbreaking music that made her an international icon.”
Madonna’s music has found a renewed popularity on TikTok, and her fans can look forward to more exciting releases as part of her deal with Warner Music. The pop icon’s music continues to resonate with new generations, proving her lasting impact in the music industry.
