Get into the groove: 25 fascinating facts about Madonna’s Celebration Tour

As the biggest-selling female recording artist of all time, Madonna more than earned a victory lap.

Mark

Mar 19, 2024 - 20:00

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Get into the groove: 25 fascinating facts about Madonna’s Celebration Tour

Madonna stands on stage looking off during a performance of her Celebration Tour. She has long blonde hair and wears a large sparkling necklace, draped over a low cut, black laced long sleeved shirt.

After 14 albums, 38 top 10 hits, 11 tours, and the esteemed title of biggest-selling female recording artist of all time, Madonna more than earned a victory lap.

That’s why her twelfth global jaunt –– a greatest-hits retrospective with nearly 80 shows across the globe dubbed “The Celebration Tour” –– is nothing short of iconic, historic, and well, celebratory.

The tour kicked off in October 2023 with a three-night run at the O2 Arena in London.

And with every show since, Madge has reminded us why she’s the Queen of Pop –– bringing fans to tears, reinventing iconic moments, and making headlines with special guests and off-the-cuff comments.

It’s no surprise that tickets sold out in record time. New Yorkers snatched up seats for three shows within 15 minutes; Parisians bought out the arena in under seven minutes, and tickets for London’s first two shows were gone within 20 minutes.

Fittingly, in 2023, Rolling Stone dubbed it “one of the most popular shows of both this and next year.”

If you weren’t able to see the herstory-making spectacle in person, worry not.

Ahead of its expected closing show in Mexico City this April, we’re diving into the lore, history, and preparation behind Madonna’s most ambitious (and successful) tour ever.

Here are 25 fascinating facts about Madonna’s Celebration Tour.

1. She harkened back to Truth or Dare for its announcement.

If you’re going to announce a retrospective tour and you’re Madonna, a basic social media post won’t do! To unveil the plan, Madge recreated an iconic scene from her 1991 documentary Truth or Dare, playing the game at a dinner table alongside famous friends like Amy Schumer, Bob the Drag Queen, Larry Owens, Jack Black, and Meg Stalter.

And when Schumer dared Madonna to go on a world tour and play her greatest hits, it was game on!

2. The tour put the Madonna biopic on an indefinite hold.

Julia Garner, with short blonde curled hair, pearl necklaces, and a laced black top, holds up a cardboard sign that says "10." Sitting next to her is Madonna, with short blonde hair in a black headband and a tightly fit black and metallic corset. She also holds up the same sign during a Celebration Tour performance.

The press had a field day tracking the development of the Madonna biopic, which was announced in 2020 and set to be directed by the Queen of Pop herself. She worked with Oscar-winner Diablo Cody on a draft! There was an intense singing and dancing bootcamp! Julia Garner beat out the likes of Florence Pugh and Bebe Rexha for the lead!

Unfortunately, Variety confirmed the project was put on hold after the tour’s announcement, as Madge wanted to make sure that was her “sole focus.” Still, she “remains committed to making a film about her life one day.”

Although it seems there’s no hard feelings with the actress who would’ve played Madonna. Garner even showed up at a Brooklyn show to flash 10’s across the board!

3. This is Madge’s first tour not promoting a specific album.

Although Madonna released a greatest hits album called Celebration in 2009, she didn’t update the comprehensive collection ahead of the tour’s 2023 kickoff, making this her first global jaunt not pegged to a specific release. Instead, by revisiting her past eras, she sought to “give [her] fans the show they have been waiting for.”

4. A health scare delayed its highly-anticipated opening show.

In June 2023 –– just weeks before the Celebration Tour was set to kick off in Vancouver –– Madonna was rushed to the ICU for a “serious bacterial infection” and stayed in the hospital for several days.

While she made a full recovery, it was a tough period in her life. “It was so hard for me to walk from my house to the backyard and sit in the sun,” she told fans in Los Angeles. “I know that sounds insane, but it was difficult, and I didn’t know when I could get up again, when I could be myself again, and when I’d have my energy back.”

But you can’t keep a queen down! After rescheduling a handful of dates, she hit the stage in October for London’s opening night.

5. There’s a storyline to the whole show.

As Madonna tells fans during the show, its expansive setlist reflects her own biography. And according to musical director Stuart Price, the concert is structured to recount her evolution, “from being a young woman in New York and learning the scene, all the way through to motherhood, spiritual awakenings, and all the ups and downs.”

6. Madge teamed up with an old friend once again

Madonna turned to longtime friend and director Jamie King to help stage the massive spectacle. Their first collab dates back to the risqué music video for 1995’s “Human Nature,” where King appeared swinging upside down amidst S&M gear and leather-clad dancers.

And their relationship evolved from front-and-center to behind-the-scenes, as King helped direct her Drowned, Re-Invention, Confessions, Sweet & Sticky, Rebel Heart, and Madame X tours, as well as her 2012 Super Bowl halftime show.

7. She’s got a huge entourage following her…

Madonna stands in a black and red neglige and knee-high black boots, singing during a performance of the Celebration Tour. Surrounding her are shirtless dancers, suggestively moving on their hands and knees with their arms above their head.

The Celebration Tour is like a full-on Broadway production, and fittingly, it takes a village to put the show on. Each and every city, Madonna brings 24 onstage performers (plus her own children who take the stage!) and a production crew of 200-plus, including “25 [people] in the costume department alone.”

8. And that’s not the only thing she brings!

If you’re traversing 15 different countries, you want to be comfortable! In addition to lugging along the show’s massive production and crew, Madonna reportedly brings three mobile gyms, three physical therapists, and eight humidifiers for her dressing room everywhere she goes.

9. There’s a very good reason she doesn’t have a live band onstage.

A first in Madonna’s career, the Celebration Tour does not feature a dedicated live band on stage. While there are live musicians who perform throughout each act, the concert heavily relies on backing tracks and recorded audio –– and for good reason.

“The original recordings are our stars,” musical director Stuart Price told People. “Those things can’t be replicated and can’t be recreated, so we decided just to embrace that.”

10. Madge experimented with some new tech to make tour visuals.

What happens when Madonna doesn’t like the sky? She makes her own. When the queen did not approve of the “swirling, sunset-tinted” clouds that appeared during “La Isla Bonita,” her team worked with a rising tech start-up to create their own using a text-to-video A.I. program. According to creative director Sasha Kasiuha, Madonna has always been a strong proponent for “[bringing] in new technology and new kinds of visual elements.”

11. She’s got a very on-the-nose quick-change secret.

How does Madonna stay fresh as she rushes through different eras and iconic costumes? Her own perfume, duh!

According to People, there’s a bottle of the MDNA Rose Mist spray “in each quick-change space.”

12. The merch pays tribute to her past tours and eras.

If a gay goes to a concert and doesn’t buy a t-shirt, did they even really go? With that in mind, Madonna and her team crafted nearly 50 merchandise pieces for the tour, including recreations of tees from her “Like a Virgin,” “Blond Ambition,” and “Who’s That Girl” tours. And, of course, one that says “Italians Do It Better” as an homage to her “Papa Don’t Preach” visual. Look at the material –– literally!

13. You’ll never guess how many costumes Madonna travels with…

For her expansive wardrobe, Madonna turned to design experts Eyob Yohannes and Rita Melssen, who created and designed nearly all the outfits –– with some help from Versace and, of course, cone-bra genius Jean Paul Gaultier. “We wanted to reference everything that she’s done, and make something new out of that,” Melssen told Vogue. “We created a whole new world.”

Even during her triumphant performance of “Like a Virgin,” Madonna’s style is omnipresent, as all the dancers on stage sport recreated looks from her personal archives. That’s probably why the production lugs around a whopping 45 wardrobe trunks!

14. The setlist isn’t concrete…

Madonna, wearing a leather biker hat and a laced, low cut black dress with sleeves that cover her hands, sings out to the crowd during a Celebration Tour performance. She has long blonde hair, and the audience is indiscernible amidst the lights.

The Queen of Pop has typically stayed loyal to the same setlist, but that doesn’t mean she won’t pivot if inspiration strikes. Case-in-point: on her daughter Lourdes Leon’s 27th birthday, she serenaded her with “Little Star,” a cover of Cesária Évora’s “Sodade” snuck in during her Lisbon shows, and she paid tribute to the city that made her by singing “I Love New York” during her Big Apple performances.

15. And “Express Yourself” originally did not make the cut!

You read that right! “Express Yourself” might be one of Madge’s most beloved hits, but she didn’t dust off the bop until her 2024 tour dates –– after already hitting countries like Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and two of her New York and D.C. shows.

The track took the spot of “I Will Survive,” though the moment remains just as powerful as Madonna recontextualizes the top-10 hit on the acoustic guitar.

16. She’s brought out some incredible guests to strike a pose.

One of the most iconic traditions to come out of the Celebration Tour happens during the ballroom segment, when Madonna brings a special guest to help judge her dancers’ –– and daughter Estere’s –– best moves. (Spoiler alert: everyone always deserves 10’s across the board!)

So far, celebs like Diplo, Julia Fox, Aquaria, Donatella Versace, Pamela Anderson, Miz Cracker, Trinity The Tuck, and even Madonna’s private chef have walked the runway!

17. F*ck a start time! Madge is defending her punctuality “vigorously.”

Have you ever heard of “fashionably late”?! In January, two attendees of a December 2023 show in Brooklyn filed a lawsuit against Madonna for “deceptive trade practices” and “false advertisement” after coming on stage “roughly two hours after the start time listed on their tickets.”

In a statement, the pop star’s team claimed a technical issue delayed the show, adding they “intend to defend this case vigorously.”

18. The tour continues her longtime support for the LGBTQ+ community.

From her dancers, to the costumes, and spirit of her music, Madonna puts the LGBTQ+ community front and center during the Celebration Tour. Still, the most meaningful moment comes during a rendition of “Live to Tell” as photos of people she lost to AIDS flash on the screen. As smaller pictures begin to appear, it transforms into a powerful tribute to all those who we’ve lost to the disease.

“Because my show is a retrospective of my journey of the last four decades, told through music, how could I not recognize this incredibly important moment,” the singer explained on Instagram. “Not only in my life, but in so many others.”

19. She pays homage to a performance she thought ruined her career.

In a white wedding dress, Madonna made herstory (and kind of showed her butt) while performing “Like a Virgin” at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. Although the performance is now iconic, Madonna told Jimmy Fallon that back then, her manager said her “career was over with.”

Fittingly, the Celebration Tour’s central circular stage, featuring three revolving layers, is a nod to the wedding cake prop that she danced around 40 years ago.

20. She’s got a history of subverting norms with her opening acts.

During a Celebration Tour performance, Madonna struts down the stage in a short low cut black dress. She has a blonde bob and sings into a microphone. On her side is Bob the Drag Queen, wearing a sparkling silver hat, and a sparkling black cape over black bell bottoms and a tight white dress shirt with bow tie. The stage is decorated in lush purple fabrics and lights.

For the tour’s opener (and resident emcee), Madonna recruited the hilarious Bob the Drag Queen, who’s onstage nearly the whole time with seven costume changes of his own. “[She] respects me as an artist,” he told Los Angeles Magazine. “I have a point of view and a perspective for what I’m trying to say, and Madonna really sees that, and I appreciate that.”

But the RuPaul’s Drag Race winner isn’t the first unconventional artist to kick off a Madonna concert. During the Rebel Heart Tour, she turned to comedian Amy Schumer and the DJ skills of Idris Elba to warm up the crowds in select cities.

21. Two albums got no representation on the packed setlist.

Madonna stands atop of a circular platform singing into a microphone during a Celebration Tour performance. She wears a long, thick black dress with low hanging sleeves and a circular metallic headdress. The lights around her are purple, blue, and extravagant.

With decades of hits and only a couple hours, there’s no way Madonna could fit every album or fan favorite into the jam-packed show. Two fan-favorite albums that didn’t nab a spot in the setlist? Her eleventh album Hard Candy (which featured acclaimed bop “4 Minutes”), and 2019’s Latin-trap-infused Madame X.

22. The stage is divided into five sections: Uptown, Downtown, Midtown, West, and East.

Madonna floats suspended high into the air in a glass box, wearing a tight fitting and sparkling body suit, during a performance of her Celebration Tour. Underneath her on a circular platform, a gang of futuristic dressed dancers pose, while both Madonna and her dancers' likenesses are projected behind them on huge screens.

Once a New York girl, always a New York girl!

The Celebration Tour boasts Madonna’s biggest stage yet –– 4,400 square feet –– with a set of five metropolitan-inspired grids that she moves across throughout the show.

23. She hit up one of her tour designers via Instagram DMs.

Madonna stands dancing on top of a circular stage in a black leotard. A thin white sheet of chiffon is wrapped around her head and she holds it out to her side. Behind her, she's projected on a gigantic screen.

During her “Bedtime Story” performance, Madonna recreates an immersive, multi-dimensional fantasy world reminiscent of its pricey 1995 music video –– and she turned to 27-year-old artist and video game designer Gabriel Massan for help.

After happening upon a demonstration of one of their video games in London, the singer DMed them on Instagram with an invitation to collaborate. Over 15 days, they built the fantastical universe. “It was really fun,” Massan told Art Net. “She has so much energy and was always thinking about how the work could evolve.”

24. Her opening night was fit for a queen –– literally

For the tour’s grand opening in London, a giant, Royal Standard flag bearing the cover for Madonna’s 1986 album True Blue flew outside of 02 Arena, made by none other than the Royal Family’s flag manufacturers.

“We’ve been manufacturing flags for the Royal Family for over 20 years, but we’ve never made a flag quite like this,” Chris Taylor of Flying Colours said in a statement. “To have it fly above The 02 every time she takes to the stage for ‘The Celebration Tour’ shows will be really something.”

25. The tour celebrates her greatest hits, in every sense of the word.

Madonna sits in a black and red low cut corset top, transparent tights, and knee high black boots on a piano bench. She sings passionately into a microphone with her eyes closed, while her daughter sits beside her, turned to face the black grand piano and play.

Yes, Madonna does the hits like “Hung Up” and “Into the Groove” and “Crazy for You,” but the true intent of the tour was always to go deeper than the music, and put on a show that touches on her cultural impact in fashion, art, and politics.

“A greatest hit doesn’t have to be a song,” musical director Stuart Price told People. “It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video, or a statement.”