 |
|
Madonna news - Nov. 2023
← Oct. 2023 | Dec. 2023 →
Madonna honours anniversary of Paris terror attacks
Source: Yahoo! News - 14 Nov. 2023Madonna honoured the anniversary of the 2015 terror attacks during her performance in Paris on Monday night.
During her Celebration Tour stop, the pop icon reflected on a previous trip to the French capital, which took place weeks after the terror attacks on 13 November 2015.
Whilst in Paris in 2015 for her Rebel Heart tour, Madonna and her son David Banda paid tribute to the victims of the coordinated attacks by visiting Place de la République, a square located near Le Bataclan, the nightclub in which one of the attacks took place.
"This is a tragic event, and I remember singing with David in Place de la République, the last time I was here with the Rebel Heart tour - what little I could do to acknowledge this tragedy," Madonna, 65, told the audience on Monday. "But these tragedies keep happening, it never ends. And you can ask yourself sometimes, when will it end, and what can we do as human beings to change it?"
The Material Girl hitmaker then encouraged the crowd to turn on the lights on their phones and sing along as she sang an acoustic version of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive.
Shortly after her opening night during her 2015 trip, Madonna and her son, now 18, joined those who were mourning the victims of the attacks at Place de la République, where she led the crowd during an acoustic cover of John Lennon's Imagine.
The pop singer is currently in the middle of the European leg of her Celebration Tour, which kicked off in London on 14 October. She is scheduled to begin the North American leg of the trek on 13 December in Brooklyn, New York.
French documentary looks at Madonna's connection to France
6 November 2023France 2, one of national TV channels in France, has broadcast the documentary "Madonna: son amour pour la France", where they highlight the different connections between France and Madonna throughout her career. They interviewed several French collaborators, such as artist and photographer Maripol, DJ and producer Martin Solveig, and current choreographer Nicholas Huchard.
Before becoming famous, Madonna spent a few months in France. She worked with Patrick Hernandez (she was background dancer on Born To Be Alive), and with Maripol, who influences Madonna's eclectic fashion style.
In 1987, Madonna originally didn't get the authorisation to play at Parc de Sceaux in Paris. Eventually it is President Jacques Chirac who gives the authorisation. The concert at Parc de Sceaux is attended by 130,000 fans, the largest concert Madonna has ever given.
Throughout her career, Madonna has collaborated with many French artists, from Jean-Paul Gaultier and Jean-Baptiste Mondino, to Mirwais and Martin Solveig. Several of her past and current dancers and choreographers are French as well.
In 2015, Madonna performs in Paris on her Rebel Heart Tour, two weeks after a heavy terrorist attack on the French capital. After the show, she goes to Place de la République to pay her respects to the victims and to sing a few songs to the lucky fans that happen to be there.
Martin Solveig, who co-produced the MDNA album, describes Madonna as the all-round artist, for whom there aren't enough superlatives: "she is super engaged, has an impressive discography, she takes risks every day." In 2011, Madonna heard Solveig's song 'Hello' and contacted him to record a song together. A collaboration that would then result into creating an entire album together. "Yes, she is very demanding, but she is also funny and fun to work with."
Also interviewed is Nicholas Huchard, the French dancer and choreographer who is currently part of her Celebration Tour. Huchard was discovered by Madonna in 2015 when he was touring with Christine and the Queens. He then participated in a 2-week workshop before the Rebel Heart Tour. In the end, he is not selected for the tour. But he is contacted again later to work on the Madame X Tour as a dancer and choreographer.
Organiser Glastonbury denies headliner rumours
Source: The Guardian - 6 November 2023The Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis has said reports that Madonna, Dua Lipa and Coldplay have been confirmed to headline Glastonbury next year are untrue.
On Saturday evening, reports claimed the three acts were set to top the bill on the Pyramid stage at the festival in June.
Eavis denied the claims in an Instagram post on Sunday morning, writing: "As always, there is much speculation and excitement about who is playing at Glastonbury. We are working on the line-up day and night at the moment, but it's still changing every day. The story about our confirmed headliners is untrue.
"As always, we love your enthusiasm and guesswork – but accurate news on headliners will be with you sometime in the new year!"
Were she to be confirmed, it would be Madonna's first time performing at Glastonbury.
Dua Lipa has also never headlined the event. It would be the first time that two female artists have headlined in the festival's history.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Madonna, 65, was understood to have agreed to close the festival on the Sunday night on the Pyramid stage. Lipa was said to be Friday's headline act while Coldplay, who have headlined four times previously – in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016 – were reported to be playing on the Saturday.
Next year's festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, is scheduled to take place on 26–30 June.
Last year, the headliner lineup was all male with Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses and Sir Elton John performing.
Last month, Eavis, the daughter of Glastonbury's founder, Michael Eavis, said the "legend" slot on Sunday teatime would go to a female artist. She also disclosed that a "really big" female US singer's team had got in touch with her to say she was available, believed to be Madonna.
Eavis told Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw's Sidetracked podcast: "2024 is still a little up in the air, and I thought it was taking shape, then last week I just got a call, and this is what happens if you wait a little longer, because often we'll be booked up from July.
"This year we're holding out for a little bit longer and last week I got a call from a really big American artist saying this person's around next year, and I was like: 'Oh my God, this is incredible.' Thank God we held the slot."
No performers for the 2024 festival have yet been officially announced.
↑ Back to top of page