Madonna kicked off her "Celebration" tour in London, with a performance that proved her energy and charisma had dimmed after four decades of pop super-stardom and a brush with death earlier this year.
The 65-year-old's greatest hits show was pushed back from its original July start date after she was hospitalised in intensive care for a serious bacterial infection.
"I'm really damn surprised I made it this far. And I mean that on so many levels," she told fans at the O2 arena.
"It was a crazy year for me as well. And I didn't think I was going to make it."
Wearing the corset and chains that defined her breakthrough, she sang Into The Groove before a sound problem forced her to ad-lib about her early struggles in New York.
After the sound system was restored, she performed more than 40 of her hit tracks, including Holiday, Like a Prayer and Papa Don't Preach and all of her re-inventions.
Her track Vogue, that powered her into the 1990s, saw one of the stages become a catwalk.
Thank you LONDON!
— Madonna (@Madonna) October 15, 2023
Opening Night!
An Evening i will never forget. 🇬🇧♥️#MadonnaCelebrationTour pic.twitter.com/qA5EJXeqIy
The seven-time Grammy Award winner has rescheduled the tour's North American leg to start in December after her European concerts.
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