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Madonna tumbles off chair mid-song during Celebration tour

Choreographed routine went wrong when a dancer dropped the singer

Ellie Muir
Friday 23 February 2024 18:03 GMT
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Madonna falls backwards off chair mid-song during Seattle concert

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Madonna dramatically tumbled to the floor during a concert in Seattle when a choreographed dance routine went completely wrong.

The musician, 65, was performing her hit 1986 hit “Open Your Heart” during a show at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena last weekend when a dancer dropped her.

The choreography usually sees Madonna sitting on a black chair while a dancer pulls her across the stage.

However, Madonna suffered a mishap when the dancer appeared to slip and lose grip of the chair, causing Madonna to drop to the floor. Videos show Madonna and the dancer both on the floor, their limbs entangled, as they try to recover from the fall.

The “Hung Up” singer laughed it off as she rolled over onto her front and continued to hold her microphone to her mouth. The onstage cameraman then helped her to her feet and onto a new chair.

Madonna tried to move on, but the commotion became too much as she told the crowd: “S**t, I forgot the words”.

The moment before Madonna drops to the floor
The moment before Madonna drops to the floor (Twitter / @DougLanci)

The number usually recreates the original music video for “Open Your Heart”, which sees Madonna performing a dance routine sitting on a black chair identical to the ones used in her world tour.

While some audience members were left shocked by the fall, fans have praised Madonna for her professional response after the mishap.

The singer and dancer both become entangled on the floor
The singer and dancer both become entangled on the floor (Twitter / @DougLanci)

“I love how she played it off – just rolled over and kept singing,” wrote one fan on X/Twitter as another added: “Now, that’s a pro. Queen of POP.”

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The first leg of Madonna’s Celebration tour was postponed last year when the singer developed a “serious bacterial infection”, prompting her to pause all commitments. She later revealed that she was admitted to the hospital, where she stayed several days in the intensive care unit (ICU).

She later resumed her global tour in October in Europe. During her stop in Brooklyn, New York in December, Madonna took a moment to thank “some very important people” who were by her side in the hospital.

Madonna performing on her Celebration Tour
Madonna performing on her Celebration Tour (WireImage for Live Nation)

“I passed out on my bathroom floor; I woke up in the ICU – thank you, Siobahn, she saved my life,” Madonna can be heard telling the crowd in a video posted on X.

Throughout her Celebration tour, Madonna has given her fans an autobiographical insight into her career through the decades.

In The Independent’s five-star review of the tour, critic Helen Brown says that the tour is a reminder of why the “Queen of Pop still reigns”.

“She makes us feel young as she bops to ‘Into the Groove’ before playing a snatch of the 2016 Billboard Awards speech in which she spoke out against ageism in the industry, telling us that ‘the most controversial thing I’ve done is to stick around,’” writes Brown.

“She continues to inspire fans to hang onto their own fire; to refuse to give up or shut up.”

Madonna will continue making stops in major US cities in the coming months before her final date on 26 April 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico.

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