Madonna gives moving speech on stage while reflecting on her late mum
Her mum passed away when Madonna was just five-years-old
Madonna has now started 'The Celebration Tour', after an amazing four dates in London, at The O2 Arena, the singer has been wowing audiences in Belgium, where she gave a moving speech on stage.
Performing to crowds in Antwerp, the singer reflected on her serious bacterial infection earlier this year, which left her hospitalised. She also told how it made her think of her late mum, who passed away from breast cancer, when Madonna was just five-years-old.
She told her fans: "Less than four months ago, I was in the hospital and I was unconscious and people were thinking, predicting that I might not make it. It’s a f--king miracle that I’m here right now. My mother, god bless her, she must be watching over me, she said, ‘Girl, it’s not your time to go'."
Madonna continued: "I had this strange thought, I suddenly had sympathy for my mother, not about the dying part but how lonely she must have felt being in hospital, knowing that she wasn’t going to live.
"And I was given another chance, so I’m very grateful for that. I must tell you that I don’t feel very well right now, but I can’t complain, because I’m alive. Thank god for my children and all of your love and support."
Take a look through Madonna's incredible tour setlist:
1) 'Celebration Intro' / 'Nothing Really Matters'
2) 'Everybody'
3) 'Into The Groove'
4) 'Burning Up'
5) 'Open Your Heart'
6) 'Holiday'
7) 'Live To Tell'
8) 'Like A Prayer'
9) 'Act of Living For Love' /' The 90's' (Interlude)
10) 'Erotica' / 'Papa Don't Preach'
11) 'Justify My Love' / 'Fever'
12) 'Hung Up On Tokischa'
13) 'Bad Girl'
14) 'Vogue' (Estere's Ball)
15) 'Human Nature' / 'Crazy For You'
16) 'The Beast Within' (Interlude)
17) 'Die Another Day'
18) 'Don't Tell Me'
19) 'Mother And Father'
20) 'Survive' / 'La Isla Bonita' / 'Argentina'
21) 'I Don't Search I Find' (Interlude)
22) 'Bedtime Story'
23) 'Ray of Light'
24) 'Rain'
25) 'Billie Jean' vs. 'Like A Virgin'
26) 'GMAYL' / 'Bitch I'm Madonna'
Madonna postponed the North American leg of her tour earlier this year, due to her illness, deciding to start it a few months later, with the UK and European leg. After wowing fans with four sold-out gigs in London earlier this month, she is set to tour Europe before returning to London for two more dates in December.
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Take a look through Madonna's tour in numbers:
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
1 Queen-sized Madonna flag outside the O2 Arena
6 Sold out nights in London
4 Rehearsal venues
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
17 Archived costumes recreated
50 Merch items including vintage recreations of iconic items from previous tours such as the Blond Ambition Bomber Jacket
40 Pairs of boxing gloves
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
24 Onstage performers
1 Extraordinary drag queen
8th Tour partnering with director Jamie King
1 Stuart Price reunion (producer)
4 of Madonna's children on stage
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
4 Decades of unstoppable hits – prepare to dance your ass off!
330 Million albums sold, still the best-selling female artist of all time
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
4,400 square feet of stage, the largest for any Madonna tour. Inspired by the grid of Manhattan with Uptown, Downtown, Midtown, East and West stages.
3 Layered circular stage where the traditional main stage would be, inspired by the wedding cake of Madonna's original VMA performance.
230 Feet of combined length of catwalk that gets Madonna 105feet far into the venue.
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
14 Spotlights for Madonna and over 600 intelligent lights to light the stage and arena with over 8800 lighting cues
3600 Square feet of projection imagery to the show. The most amount of video ever used in a Madonna show.
30 Feet off the ground - Madonna is transported around the arena in an illuminated portal frame that acts as a time machine allowing her to move at 1.5 feet per second, 80 feet across and 130 feet down the length of the arena designed to symbolise looking into the past, present and towards the future.
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
3 Physical therapists
8 Humidifiers in Madonna's dressing room
1 Bottle of MDNA Rose Mist Spray in each quick-change space
200+ Traveling crew – 25 in the costume department alone
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
13th Culture shaping tour
15 Countries
78 Shows
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
80 Tons of production equipment
3700 Amps of show power
3 Traveling mobile gyms
45 Wardrobe trunks
Madonna's The Celebration Tour in numbers
AND ONLY 1 MADONNA
Now read:
Everything you need to know about 'Madonna: The Celebration Tour'
Madonna's 'The Celebration Tour' in numbers
Madonna's career story: The queen of pop music and ultimate fashion icon