Nothing can keep the Queen of Pop down for long.
In what appears to be the best sign that Madonna is back in fighting shape and that the Celebration Tour will actually go forward with newly announced rescheduled dates, the pop icon has reportedly resumed rehearsals for the stage spectacular just seven weeks after being hospitalized for what her team said was a “severe bacterial infection.”
“She is very much still in recovery but Madonna has been chomping at the bit to get back to rehearsals,” a source told The Sun.
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The reinvigorated “Vogue” singer has set up shop with her dancers at the Nassau Coliseum just outside New York City and is said to have booked out the venue through October 1st.
Madonna’s tour rehearsals are known for being intense AF so the fact that they have re-started is indicative she must be feeling almost as good as new.
She is Thee squat legend after all:
“Not only has she hired the Coliseum in New York but she’s also hired out a second venue in London for the final week of dress rehearsals,” the source said.
“Normally she would like to have the final week in the same venue she kicks off in but due to Blink 182’s comeback gigs at the O2 her team won’t be able to get access until the day before.”
Madonna is scheduled to launch the tour on October 14th at London’s O2 Arena. That gives the perfectionist music legend just two days to put all the finishing touches on her tour once Blink 182 ends their run at the arena on October 12.
The fact that the tour is really happening is a minor miracle consider how grave the news seemed when it was revealed Madonna – who will turn 65 on Wednesday – was rushed to the intensive care unit after being found unresponsive on June 24th.
At the time, her manager Guy Oseary tried to put the world at ease by assuring “a full recovery is expected.”
Unfortunately, the serious health emergency put a huge kink in Madonna’s plans as the Celebration Tour’s initial launch for July 15th in Vancouver had to be scrapped. The entire North American leg was postponed and now the first US dates are not expected until December, at the earliest.
Throughout the last two months, Madonna has been giving fans updates on her recovery while hinting at the severity of the medical mishap.
“To be able to move my body and dance just a little bit makes me feel like the Luckiest Star in the world!” she captioned a video last month dancing to her classic bop “Lucky Star.”
A few days later, Madonna shared an emotional note thanking her children for their help during her ordeal and noted, “I realized how lucky I am to be alive.” Yikes!
Last week, the Grammy winner hinted at her imminent return to the stage by sharing a slideshow of glamorous images decked out in a black corset and other fierce ensembles.
“All dressed up and Nowhere to go. But Soon, Very Soon, I’ll be traveling to you. #celebrationtour,” she captioned the photos.
Another sign indicating how well Madonna has recuperated from her near-death experience are reports that she recently filmed the music video for “Popular,” her summer collaboration with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti.
Although Madonna has not confirmed the rumors, multiple outlets claim she took part in the video shoot in New York.
Over 40 dates of the Celebration Tour have been postponed and fans had been waiting to find out when they would be rescheduled.
Earlier this month, Madonna teased the “re-routed” schedule would be disclosed soon.
“I’m happy to report that the re-routed tour schedule will be coming in the next few days! See You Soon for a well-deserved Celebration!” Madonna tweeted on August 4th.
Well, on Tuesday fans get their wishes fulfilled as the new dates were finally announced. The first US date of the Celebration Tour is set for Dec. 13 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Click here for all the rescheduled dates.
Tickets for previously scheduled concerts will be honored at the new dates for most shows except in Los Angeles and at one in New York due to a change of venue.
In addition, the following shows had to be canceled and will not be rescheduled: July 27 in Tulsa; Dec. 22 in Nashville; Jan. 15 in San Francisco; Jan. 18 in Las Vegas; and Jan. 20 in Phoenix.
Here’s wishing Madonna a happy and very healthy early 65th birthday!
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Gabby
I am so ready for this new tour!
abfab
They shuffled it up a bit. Lots of Mexico City! Caliente, Madonna!
Geo
Those squats must be murder on the knees!
ScottOnEarth
I think you’re right, which is why she had knee surgery and a hip replacement after her Madam X tour. She always goes full-throttle.
Kangol2
I hope she takes the best care of herself as she travels on this tour and realizes that she can keep issuing studio albums, songs, videos, etc. from now on but without wearing herself down to the bone. Keep up the fabulousness, Madonna, but don’t hurt yourself in the process!
SDR94103
she is hanging with a nasty crowd. I think there must be mental issues.
Gabby
When not working she spends most of her time with her children, who all seem like very well rounded and loving children. Just curious, who in her crowd is nasty? Debi Mazar?
abfab
Hello Gabby.
You’ll enjoy this if you have not already. Here are the first few paragraphs from the NYT: If you don’t subscribe I can paste the rest to you here. ox
By Mary Gabriel
Ms. Gabriel is the author of “Ninth Street Women” and the forthcoming “Madonna: A Rebel Life.”
If you asked nearly anyone in 1981 what they imagined when they heard the word “Madonna,” they would have answered the Virgin Mary or another idealized woman cloaked in modesty — submissive, gentle, embracing, calm. If you asked the same question a decade later, the answer would have been radically different.
By then, the world had discovered a new Madonna, a corset-wearing, ballsy provocateur from Michigan. That Madonna said what she wanted, did what she pleased and dared others to do so, too. That Madonna was a showgirl and most definitely not a virgin.
Madonna turns 65 this week. During her 40 years in the spotlight, she has been loved and loathed in equal measure. It is safe to say no other artist of her renown stirs such passionate debate. At the heart of it lies a basic misconception as to who she is. Though she is most often described as such, Madonna is not merely a blinding blue star in a vast celebrity galaxy. She has accomplished what few artists — and even fewer female artists — have done: She has changed the world. Though you wouldn’t know that from her press coverage.
From 1984, when she nearly killed her nascent career by flashing her panties while performing “Like a Virgin” at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, up to today’s press and social media fixation on how she looks and whom she dates, facile headlines screaming “sex” and “outrage” have dogged her career and defined Madonna for many people. While there have been plenty of both in her life, those words don’t begin to explain the challenge she poses, much less the source of her allure. Not sex but power. Not outrage but courage.