LONDON — There was hit after hit — pretty much one for every year in four decades of music — during Madonna’s Celebration Tour that kicked off at the O2 in London Saturday.
But the most special moments revealed the humanity behind the 65-year-old woman that sometimes has been overshadowed in 40 years living not only as the Queen of Pop but one of the most famous people on the planet.
There was when she sang an a capella “Little Star” — from her 1997 classic “Ray of Light” — instead of “Happy Birthday” for oldest daughter Lourdes, who turned 27 on the same day her mother launched her 40th-anniversary tour.
And then she talked about the Israel-Hamas war in a way that made you feel as if she was just like all mothers out there, frightened for their children.
“It breaks my heart to see children suffering, teenagers suffering, elderly people suffering. All of it is heartbreaking,” she said. “But even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken … We can unite in a dark and evil way, or we can unite from a place of light and love. And if we all have that in our collective consciousness, we can change the world and we can bring peace — not only to the Middle East, but all over the world.”
And then there was the moment when Madonna revealed that she didn’t think she would live to see this night three and a half months ago, after a serious bacterial infection led to several days in the ICU — and forced a three-month postponement of the tour.
“I didn’t think I was gonna make it. Neither did my doctors,” she said. “I forgot five days of my life — or my death … But my children were there — and my children always save me every time.”
After vowing that “I’ve got to be there for my children,” she then proceeded to deliver an acoustic rendition of “I Will Survive” with Madonna herself on guitar.
Three of her children also got to perform with their mother on the comeback stage: David, 18, making like Prince and then Michael Jackson; Mercy James, 17, on the piano for “Bad Girl”; and Estere, 11, striking a pose to “Vogue.”
It was then that you got to see just how much that, over 40 years, the Material Girl has grown into the Maternal Girl.
Perhaps with a new perspective, Madonna — save for maybe 2004’s Re-Invention Tour — has never worked so hard to give the people what they want.
Opening with the “Ray of Light” single “Nothing Really Matters” — one of the fan favorites that got a rare performance — she made a regal entrance to the roar of her subjects. And as her 1982 debut single “Everybody” gave way to “Into the Groove,” it was a dream start to quickly make you forget the “Madame X” Tour. (As did the prompt start for the notoriously late performer at 8:45 p.m. local time.)
But then sound problems forced an extended break that burst the disco-ball bubble that the entire O2 had been transformed into, as Madonna brought out her hype person Bob the Drag Queen for some stage banter that was almost endearingly awkward.
Still, given her long history of perfectionism, there was the nervous sense that maybe the show wasn’t ready; maybe Madonna, who had her left knee wrapped, wasn’t ready.
But any doubts about that were erased when she gave “Erotica” a boxing-ring reimagining in a sexy section that brought back the Girlie Show era with “Justify My Love” and her “Fever” cover
And while Madonna is no longer the same dancer she once was at 65, it hardly mattered when she delivered the one-two punch of “Die Another Day” with a coven of witches and then “Don’t Tell Me” with a posse of cowboys. But clearly all that “Evita” training is still paying off with her voice sounding strong on ballads such as “Crazy for You” and “Live to Tell.”
Having faced her own mortality, the latter — which was dedicated “in loving memory of all the bright lights we lost to AIDS” — surely hits differently now.