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 living 40 years as not only as the Queen of Pop but one of the famous people on the planet.
There was when she sang an capella “Little Star” — from her 1997 classic “Ray of Light” — instead of “Happy Birthday” for oldest daughter Lourdes, who turned 27 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 that she was just like all mothers out there, frightened for their children.
“It breaks my heart to see children suffering, teenagers, elderly people suffering. All of it is heartbreaking,” the superstar said.
“But even though are 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 stay 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 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, 17 on the piano for “Bad Girl;” and Esther, 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.