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.
Reddit sues Australia over social media ban
Eurovision winner Nemo to send trophy back in protest over Israel's participation
World-famous cellist Hauser to perform in Abu Dhabi
BRIDGE Summit: Bassem Yousef says satire isn't meant to fix the world
Jared Harris tells content creators to prioritise storytelling over tech at BRIDGE
