Singer Madonna performs during her concert at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France, December 9, 2015, on her Rebel Heart Tour. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File PhotoLONDON, Oct 14 - Madonna kicked off her "Celebration" tour in London on Saturday, with a performance that proved her energy, charisma and appetite for controversy were little dimmed after four decades of pop super-stardom and a brush with death earlier this year.
"I'm really damn surprised I made it this far. And I mean that on so many levels," she told fans at the O2 arena. With the backing track restored, 1983's "Holiday" recreated the hedonistic joy of a New York club before the onslaught of AIDS, marked by a tribute to those who had died. Madonna addressed the situation in the Middle East. "There's a lot of really crazy things happening in the world that are so, so painful to witness," she said. "But even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken."