Soul legend Gloria Gaynor has jokingly praised Madonna's "excellent taste in music" after she performed her massive hit I Will Survive during her Celebration Tour gig in London.
Madonna delivered a rendition of the 1978 hit song during her extravagant performance at The O2 in London, alongside more than 40 songs from her four-decade career.
During her opening performance on Saturday, the song came after 65-year-old Madonna 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.
✨… @Madonna congratulations on the launch of #TheCelebrationTour at the @TheO2 🎶💜🎤 So happy that you are in good health and ready to have a holiday with fans around the world! By the way, you have excellent taste in music! 😉🎼🎸🕊️🫶🏾#gloriagaynor #madonna #iwillsurvive pic.twitter.com/Upmei68k6j
— Gloria Gaynor (@gloriagaynor) October 16, 2023
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."
She added that her secret to surviving is thinking: "I’ve got to be there for my children," before she struck up the chords to I Will Survive, written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Gaynor shared a clip of Madonna singing the track, writing: "@Madonna congratulations on the launch of #TheCelebrationTour at the @TheO2.
"So happy that you are in good health and ready to have a holiday with fans around the world!
"By the way, you have excellent taste in music!"
The Queen of Pop ensured the first show of her new tour would be a family affair, as four of her six children took to the stage throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour performance, which also saw her overcome a brief technical issue which paused the show.
After performing Burning Up, Madonna briefly stopped the show 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 later paused the show to speak about her "heartbreak" over the suffering in Israel and Palestine.
Similarly, a photograph of the late Sinéad O'Connor was shown on the large screens and Madonna draped a Ukraine flag over her back before launching into Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
She ended the song by encouraging the crowd to chant "no fear".
