Madonna's 'Celebration' World Tour Launches, Wows Audiences

After a months-long delay following a health crisis, Madonna took the stage Oct. 14 in London to kick off her new world tour. The show is "poignant" and "electrifying," reports say.

"In the opening night at the O2 Arena, the singer – who turned 65 in August – delivered a show that was at times more somber than celebratory, with tributes during the show to some of the late icons with whom she ascended to stardom, like Prince, Michael Jackson and Sinead O'Connor," CNN relayed, while People Magazine declared, "There's no doubt about it – Madonna is still the reigning Queen of Pop."

The Material Girl "opened with 'Nothing Really Matters,' followed by 'Everybody' and 'Into the Groove,' before hitting a technical snag," People Mag detailed. Madonna handled the snafu with aplomb, "sharing stories of her youth with the crowd during the unexpected 10-minute interlude" – including a reminiscence about how, when she was just starting out, she was so poor she had to cadge hot showers from the men she went out with.

"I'd surreptitiously sneak into the conversation, 'So... do you live alone?'" Madonna regaled the audience. When they said they did, she'd follow up with: "'Do you have a bathroom or a shower?' And they'd also nod and look at me like I was a crazy person and I'd say, 'Let's get some dinner!'"

Later in the concert, "Madonna honored those who have died from AIDS, including Freddie Mercury, while singing 'Live to Tell,'" People Mag relayed.

The pop icon also talked about the bacterial infection that caused the tour's delay – and could have ended her life.

"I forgot five days of my life – or my death," CNN quoted Madonna saying. "I don't really know where I was," she added, before going on to say, "If you want to know my secret, and you want to know how I pulled through and how I survive, I thought, 'I've got to be there for my children. I have to survive for them.'"

And the kids showed up for her in kind, joining Madge on stage, CNN noted, recounting that "Madonna's daughter Mercy James appeared behind a piano, flawlessly rendering the opening notes to 'Bad Girl,'" while "daughters Lourdes Leon – who was celebrating her birthday – and twins Stella and Estere also got in on the fun, during the performance of Madge's timeless 1990 hit 'Vogue.'"

As previously reported, the set list, along with other elements from the tour, were designed to be a comprehensive overview of Madonna's decades-spanning career.

The BBC spoke with the tour's music director, Stuart Price, who noted that "A greatest hit doesn't have to be a song. It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video, or a statement."

Still, the show's spine remains the music, and Madonna reportedly wove more than 40 of her songs into the evening.

"The pop star's sold-out London performance is the first stop in a world tour of 78 shows that will take her from Europe to North America through April 2024," People Mag noted, "before closing where she first launched into stardom: New York City."