The striking outfit had a meaningful reason behind it, as the 65-year-old pop icon marked her daughter Chifundo “Mercy” James Kambewa Ciccone’s 18th birthday during the performance.
Madonna invited Mercy on stage to play piano for her 1992 hit Bad Girl, while her 18-year-old son David Banda Mwale Ciccone joined her on guitar for the 2003 song Mother and Father.
Audience members quickly reacted to Madonna’s muscular look, with many sharing their opinions online. Some critics felt she was too old for such outfits, while others praised her confidence and physical condition.
Despite frequent public debate surrounding her image, Madonna continues to attract attention for both her music and her high-energy, theatrical live shows.
Last Friday (January 19), two concertgoers — Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden — filed a federal civil lawsuit against the singer, alleging “false advertising.” The complaint, submitted in New York’s Eastern District, seeks unspecified damages related to her December 13 performance at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
According to the BBC, Madonna reportedly began the show at 10:45 p.m. due to soundcheck complications, frustrating fans who believed the concert was significantly delayed.
Although Madonna has faced serious health challenges — including a severe bacterial infection in June that resulted in a medically induced coma and emergency treatment — she has continued performing. The artist currently has 44.6 million monthly Spotify listeners and is in the middle of her Celebration Tour, which has generated approximately $77.4 million across 79 shows.
Working alongside creative director Lewis James and musical director Stuart Price, Madonna has designed an elaborate production celebrating her four-decade career. Instead of a traditional opening act, she selected RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen to open the tour.
The singer has previously dealt with knee and hip injuries that caused multiple show cancellations during her Madame X Tour between 2019 and 2020, according to USA Today. Additional challenges arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Madonna underwent knee surgery in April 2020 and hip surgery later that year, along with regenerative treatment for cartilage damage.
Looking to the future, Madonna plans to direct her own Universal Pictures biopic titled Little Sparrow, starring actress and three-time Emmy Award winner Julia Garner. The script has evolved through collaborations with Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody and later Independent Spirit Award-winning screenwriter Erin Wilson. The film aims to chronicle Madonna’s legendary career and personal life.
