“I didn’t think I would make it – and neither did my doctors.” Madonna was back on stage Saturday night in London after the infection that almost killed her this summer.
Recovered after her stay in hospital in intensive care for a bacterial infection, the 65-year-old singer launched a major tour on Saturday at the O2 Arena celebrating her 40-year career in front of fans.
London was not initially scheduled to host the first concert of the star’s “Celebration Tour” but his hospitalization decided otherwise, postponing the North American leg.
His children present at his side
Before she performed in Paris in November then Montreal in January before concluding in Mexico in April, the British public inaugurated the show retracing the unparalleled career of the star revealed by “Holiday” in 1983.
“If you want to know my secret, how I cope and how I survive, I said to myself: I have to be there for my children. I have to survive for them,” she told the audience before singing “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, reports the New York Times.
Madonna performed around 45 songs, 25 in full and excerpts from around 20 others. The show was peppered with surprises, particularly family ones. His daughter, Lourdes, joined him on stage during “Vogue”, the duo giving notes to dancers.
Mercy, 17, accompanied her mother on the piano for “Bad Girl” and Stella, 11, joined in the choreography of “Don’t Tell Me,” according to the BBC. Her adopted son David also played guitar in “Mother And Father”.