Madonna’s musical director Stuart Price teased the pop legend’s upcoming “Celebration Tour,” describing it as “a documentary through her vast career,” filled with hits of all kinds: “A greatest hit doesn’t have to be a song,” he told the BBC. “It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video, or a statement.”
Price said the show’s setlist will feature over 40 songs, about 25 of which will be performed in full, while roughly 20 others will appear abridged in some form (like serving as “bridges” between acts in the show). “That was the big challenge,” Price said. “In two hours, can you get all of it in? That’s hard. But every great moment she’s had, we took a bit of it.”
Interestingly, Price noted that Madonna will not be joined by an on-stage backing band for the first time in decades (basically since she was doing club shows early in her career). Instead, Madonna will perform alongside the original multi-track recordings: “There are live musicians that perform at different parts of the show,” Price said. “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.”
The show will also have a “highly evolved storyline,” Price said, that came as Madonna “reflected on her career, from being a young woman in New York and learning the scene, all the way through to motherhood, spiritual awakenings, and all the ups and downs. The storyline was just really, really compelling.”
Madonna will finally launch her Celebration tour this Saturday, Oct. 14, in London. A U.K. and European run will follow, after which Madonna will begin a North American leg on Dec. 13 in Brooklyn, with dates scheduled through spring 2024.
The Celebration Tour was announced back in January, but Madonna was forced to postpone the trek in June after she was hospitalized with a “serious bacterial infection.” A few weeks after her hospitalization, Madonna wrote on Instagram: “My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children. My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone.”
In the interview, Price said Madonna had fully recovered, adding, “The person that is going to take the stage looks incredible, sounds incredible, performs incredible.” He also acknowledged that the delay gave the tour’s creative team “an opportunity to further enhance the show. And I’m sure the opportunity [for her] to focus on being 100% well was greatly received as well.”