Madonna says suffering in Israel-Hamas war ‘heartbreaking’ as delayed tour opens in London
Madonna has spoken of her heartbreak at the suffering in the Middle East as she kicked off her latest tour in London, which had been postponed following a life-threatening illness.
The US superstar urged fans at the O2 Arena on Saturday night to unite in “light and love” to help bring peace against the backdrop of the current Israel-Hamas war.
The conflict, which was sparked by the militant group launching a deadly assault from Gaza on Israel, has claimed thousands of lives on both sides.
Pausing her show, the 65-year-old singer told the audience: “We all come from love and it’s important to know that right now because there’s a lot of really crazy things happening in the world that are so painful to witness.
“All of us are suffering watching what’s happening in Israel and Palestine.
“It breaks my heart to see children suffering, teenagers suffering, elderly people suffering. All of it is heartbreaking.”
She added: “Even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken…
“We are all together very powerful people. We can unite in the dark and evil or we can unite in a place of light and love.
“And if we all had that collective consciousness, we could change the world and we can bring peace – not only to the Middle East but all over the world.”
Madonna also praised her children for supporting her while she was ill earlier this year with a “serious bacterial infection” which saw her admitted to intensive care for several days and forced her to postpone the tour, which had been due to begin in Canada in July.
The singer said: “It was a crazy year for me as well and I didn’t think I was going to make it, neither did my doctors.
“I forgot five days of my life, or my death, I don’t really know where I was.
“But the angels were protecting me and my children were there, and my children always save me every time.”
Madonna is the most successful female artist in UK chart history
She added that her secret to surviving was thinking “I’ve got to be there for my children” before she struck up the chords to I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.
During the show, the Queen of Pop treated the enthusiastic audience to an array of classic songs from her four-decade career, a host of extravagant outfits and a variety of theatrical stage set-ups.
She also ensured the first show of her new tour would be a family affair as a number of her six children took to the stage throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour performance.
Read more on Sky News:
Couple’s desperate messages before Hamas massacre
British parents ‘trapped’ at Gaza-Egypt border ‘like caged hens’
After opening with powerful renditions of Nothing Really Matters and Into The Groove, she asked the crowd: “Am I imagining this? Oh my God, it is so good to be back London.”
Madonna lived in London for several years while dating and married to film director Guy Ritchie.
She added: “I’m pretty damned surprised that I made it this far and I mean that on so many levels… How did I make it this far? Because of you. I’m going to take a bit of credit too.”
It is her first tour since her Madame X shows, which ended in 2020. Pic: AP
Madonna had to stop the performance briefly as she explained there was a problem with the sound and they had to “press the reset button”.
The singer apologised for the delay and admitted “this is exactly what you don’t want to happen on your opening night” but kept the crowd entertained by recalling anecdotes from her days in her first band when she was “broke and hungry and making zero cash”, confessing she would “date men who had showers and bathtubs” as she had no way to wash at the time.
After the sound issues were resolved, the singer made up for the wait by launching into lively versions of Open Your Heart and Holiday.
She also performed a rendition of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina draped in a Ukraine flag.
Madonna will perform three more sold-out dates in London before moving on to her European and North American legs.
It is her first tour since her Madame X shows, which ended in 2020.
Some of these performances were called off due to knee and hip injuries.
Madonna is the most successful female artist in UK chart history with 13 number-one hits.
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
Swift’s final London show was the ‘best’
The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
Her new chart record
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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