We're just hours away from Madonna kicking off the European leg of her Celebration Tour at the O2 Arena in London, and the queen of pop is going balls to the wall for her highly-anticipated tour.
After postponing the tour earlier this year, Madonna, 65, is taking London by storm this weekend with six sold-out performances.
According to a press release, the superstar will be joined onstage by four of her children — likely David Banda, 18, who's often danced in her shows, Mercy, 17, and twins Stella and Estere, 11 — when she takes the stage to perform 40-plus songs.
The show, which sees Madonna reuniting with longtime collaborators Stuart Price and Jamie King, is expected to cover four decades of her career, which got its start in New York City.
Paying homage to her early days, the singer's stages will be split into Uptown, Downtown, Midtown, East and West "grids."
While fan speculation as to what the tour will entail is all over social media, here's what we know about The Celebration Tour so far.
In an interview with the BBC, Stuart Price – the tour’s musical director (and co-producer of her 2005 dance/pop classic album Confessions on a Dance Floor) – said the trek will incorporate 40 of her iconic hits but clarified that doesn’t always mean songs. “A greatest hit doesn’t have to be a song. It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video or a statement.”
And some of those songs will pop up in the form of the OG studio recordings. “There are live musicians that perform at different parts of the show,” Price told the BBC. “But what we realized is that the original recordings are our stars. Those things can’t be replicated and can’t be recreated, so we decided just to embrace that.”
Known for her iconic fashion, the star will be wearing 17 looks inspired by her archived costumes — and 25 of her 200-plus traveling crew will be from the costume department alone.
According to the release, she will be traveling with three mobile gyms, eight humidifiers in her dressing room and three physical therapists for the run of her shows.
Last month, a source told PEOPLE exclusively Madonna was focused on her tour after a health scare and hospitalization earlier this summer.
"She's so happy to be back onstage and is feeling strong. She's working closely with her longtime collaborators, Jamie King and Stuart Price, to put the final touches on the show," said the insider of the "ambitious tour."
Following her London shows, Madonna will be making stops in Copenhagen, Barcelona, Paris and more before wrapping up 2023 with shows in Brooklyn and Washington back in the States.
"I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for," she said in a press release when the Celebration Tour was initially announced in January.
Below is the Celebration Tour by the numbers:
4 decades of Madonna's greatest hits for her 13th tour
1 extraordinary drag queen
8th tour partnering with director Jamie King
24 onstage performers
1 Stuart Price reunion
4,400 sq. ft. of stage — the largest of her tours
1 bottle of MDNA Rose Mist Spray in each quick-change space
3 traveling mobile gyms
15 countries
78 shows
50 merch items, including vintage recreations of iconic items from previous tours (like her Blond Ambition bomber jacket)
45 wardrobe trunks
1 Queen-sized Madonna flag outside the O2
3 layered circular stages inspired by the wedding cake from Madonna's VMA performance
3 physical therapists
40 pairs of boxing globes
230 ft. of combined length of catwalk that gets Madonna 105 ft. into the venue
14 spotlights and over 600 intelligent lights to light the stage and arena with over 8,800 lighting cues
17 archived costumes recreated
4 rehearsal venues
80 tons of production equipment
330 million albums sold
3,600 sq. ft. of projection imagery
200-plus traveling crew — including 25 in the costume department alone
30 ft. off the ground Madonna will be transported around the arena
3,700 amps of show power
I'm excited to see the show, and will get my chance when she plays at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 2024.
Check out the full Celebration Tour Setlist below...
Nothing Really Matters
Everybody
Into The Groove
Burning Up
Open Your Heart
Holiday
Live To Tell
Unholy (intro)
Like A Prayer
Living For Love (intro)
Erotica
Justify My Love
Fever
Hung Up (on Tokischa Version)
Hung Up (Original Version)
Bad Girl
Vogue / Break My Soul (Queens Remix)
Human Nature
Crazy for You
The Beast Within (intro)
Die Another Day
Don’t Tell Me
Mother and Father
I Will Survive
La Isla Bonita
Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
I Don’t Search I Find
Bedtime Story
Ray Of Light
Rain
Like a Virgin
Billie Jean (Interlude)
Give Me All Your Luvin’
Bitch I’m Madonna
Celebration / Music
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