Her musical director has stated that Madonna’s first-ever greatest hits tour will be “a documentary through her vast career” featuring over 40 songs.
Stuart Price told the BBC in an exclusive interview that the program uses four decades of archive footage and studio recordings to tell the story of the star.
“A greatest hit doesn’t have to be a song,” according to him. “It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video, or a statement.”
After a summertime health scare, he added, Madonna was returned to full health.
In June, the superstar was discovered unconscious in her New York residence and was rushed to the hospital for treatment of a severe bacterial infection.
fortunate to be alive
Later, the singer stated that she was “lucky to be alive” and postponed the sold-out Celebration Tour from July to October.
Saturday’s première will now take place at the O2 Arena in London.
“The person who is going to take the stage looks incredible, sounds incredible, and performs incredible,” Price said, assuring fans that the 65-year-old had recovered completely.
The three-month delay was used to polish the program, he added.
“Madonna has very high expectations of how much hard work people will put into something,” according to him. “It is extremely rigorous, but she is equally uncompromising with herself.
Therefore, when she took a vacation, the opportunity to enhance the performance arose. And I’m sure the opportunity to focus on being 100 percent healthy was also tremendously appreciated.”
Since her 1984 debut with Holiday on the UK charts, Madonna has amassed 71 additional successes, including 13 number-one singles.
Some, such as Vogue, Like A Prayer, and Ray of Light, are anthems that define an era. Others, such as Live To Tell and Don’t Tell Me, are fan-favorite shows. How did they decide on the setlist?
“That was the greatest obstacle,” acknowledged Price. “In two hours, are you able to fit everything in? That is tough. But we have taken a piece of every wonderful moment she’s had.”
Many hits will be performed in their entirety, while others will be interpolated into other tracks or used as “bridges” between acts.
Price estimated that approximately 25 songs would be performed, with elements of twenty more compositions also present.
And what about an acoustic section in the style of Taylor Swift, where various songs can be rotated nightly?
“Well, Madonna has a reputation for being extremely precise and well-rehearsed in every department. When examining a tour of this magnitude, there are so many shifting parts and elements that everything must be extremely stable.
“One element, however, is always dynamic, and that is Madonna herself. Her personality and interaction with the audience are so powerful that they create opportunities for night-to-night variation.”
