Madonna played the 80th show of her Celebration Tour last Friday in Mexico City. The 80th show was originally set to be the final date, until Madonna announced a surprise (free!) concert in Rio on May 4. But essentially, the tour is over. She made it through the tour schedule, somehow she made it through. Didn’t know how late she was, until she got sued. Yes, I’m still cracking myself up rewriting Madonna’s own lyrics against her! Don’t take this away from me! No, no, I jest. The fact that Madonna pulled off an 80-date tour with only a few months’ delay after her near-fatal hospitalization last summer is pretty astounding. Madge has praised her six children with stepping up during her recovery, and in another Mexico City show ahead of #80, she once again gave them credit for keeping her going with their enthusiasm:
“I need to acknowledge my incredibly talented children who carried me through,” Madonna wrote on her Instagram page on Thursday, adding that each of them has brought “their own unique talent to the stage.” She also wrote that their “enthusiasm kept me going.”
Her post included a series of photos of her children performing with her on stage as well as some behind-the-scenes moments.
Madonna’s children figure prominently in her “Celebration” tour. Her daughter Mercy James, 18, plays the
piano, delivering a beautiful mid-show rendition of her mother’s song “Bad Girl” off the 1992 album “Erotica.” David Banda, her 18-year-old son, plays guitar in the show, while her 11-year-old twins Stella and Estere act as D and runway model during the “Vogue” sequence.
In Madonna’s last tour, 2019’s “Madame X,” her oldest daughter Lourdes Leon appeared as the sole dancer in a video centerpiece set to the singer’s 1998 classic track “Frozen.” She also shares son Rocco Ritchie, 23, with director Guy Ritchie.
“Rehearsals began over a year ago with almost a 2 month break waiting for me to recover from a near death experience,” she wrote on Thursday. “They never stopped practicing. They never stopped cheering me on and supporting me.”
Madonna said her kids all continued going to school while they pushed through rehearsals, an achievement she is “so very proud of.” Also on Thursday, David and Mercy posted to their respective Instagram Stories in what appeared to be graduation garb, marking their graduation from high school.
“If all of them choose something different later in life, they will never forget this year of blood, sweat, and tears,” Madonna wrote at the end of her post this week. “Nor will I.”
I have never enjoyed Madonna more than when she’s been talking about her children this past year. Amid a career as a pop star largely filled with alter egos and artifice, the acknowledgement she’s been giving her kids has been so genuine. And I say hell yes to giving the 18-and-under kids roles in the tour. Those college essays are gonna write themselves! No really, take a moment to put yourself in Mercy’s shoes and imagine saying, “I’ll be performing my mother’s hit ‘Bad Girl’ from her album ‘Erotica.’” There’s a darn meaty personal essay just waiting to be written out of that mouthful, and I look forward to reading it one day.
One last note on the 80th show: throughout the tour Madonna has been bringing up a celebrity during the “Vogue” section (past celebs include Kylie Minogue, Amy Schumer, Julia Garner). For that final date in Mexico City the surprise guest was Salma Hayek, and Salma came dressed in the perfect execution of “Frida Kahlo goes to a Madonna concert.” She wore a gorgeous crown of flowers and colorful circle skirt, paired with a leather bustier top. 10s, 10s, 10s across the board!
Photos credit: Backgrid and via Instagram