Madonna’s wildly anticipated new tour opens in London at the O2 Arena on Saturday (Oct. 14) night. The Celebration Tour covers four decades of classics from the Queen of Pop’s culture-shifting career.
Originally set to kick off July 15 in Vancouver, B.C., the tour’s start was postponed after a “serious bacterial infection” put Madonna in the hospital for several days in June. The new dates find the fully recovered pop star opening the tour with six shows in London, a city Madge once called her home away from home.
While fan speculation as to what the tour will entail is all over social media (and we’ve certainly indulged), we do know a few things 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 classic 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.”
Additionally, reps for Madonna have provided some fresh details into what attendees of Madonna’s The Celebration Tour can expect. Below, find 13 by-the-numbers facts about the Queen of Pop’s new tour.
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3
Layers of a circular stage in place of a main stage. The design evokes her wedding cake setup from the 1984 VMAs.
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4
The number of Madonna’s children on stage during the show.
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8
This is her eighth tour working with tour director Jamie King.
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15
Countries the Celebration Tour will hit.
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17
The number of archival outfits recreated for this tour.
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24
The number of onstage performers.
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25
The number of people in the costume department for this tour.
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40
Pairs of boxing gloves involved.
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45
Wardrobe trunks making this trek with Madge.
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50
The number of merch items, including recreations of items from past tours (the Blonde Ambition bomber jacket, for example).
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78
Shows in total on this tour.
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80
Tons of production equipment. (Lift with your knees!)
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4,400
The number of square feet on stage – the largest square footage of any Madonna tour ever. The setup is inspired by Manhattan’s grid layout, with uptown, downtown, midtown and east and west stages.