Celebration Tour: Madonna’s kids steal the show with surprise performances

Madonna was joined by her kids when she finally made her grand return to the stage in London’s O2 Arena, kicking off her Celebration Tour.

The highly-anticipated stage show was everything that fans had hoped it would be and more, with the “Material Girl” bringing back her greatest hits.

But, the typically uncontested music legend was given a run for her money when she invited her kids to join her on stage for a series of surprise performances. 

Some lucky ticket-holders agreed that the “highlight of the show” was delivered by Madame X’s 17-year-old daughter Chifundo ‘Mercy’ James, who graced fans with a beautiful instrumental rendition of “Bad Girl” on the piano.

Bad Girl Madonna & Mercy ❤️ #MadonnaCelebrationTour #Madonna #CelebrationTour pic.twitter.com/plWA57WJMh

— G E O R G E (@georgieboyg) October 14, 2023

After catching a clip of the touching mother-daughter moment on TikTok, fans agreed whole-heartedly that she slayed the house down.

“Wow Mercy is such a talented pianist!!” raved one viewer.

“I love Mercy, she is so talented” agreed a second.

“This was the highlight” claimed a third.

But it didn’t stop there.

Madonna’s 11-year-old daughter Estere was more than ready to show off her talents, too, blowing the O2 Arena away when she appeared during her mum’s performance of “Vogue”.

Dressed in a Versace-style jumpsuit with matching gloves and a pair of thigh-high black boots, Estere gagged the crowd as she vogued up the runway of the stage.

At the end of the stage, Madonna and her eldest daughter Lourdes, who celebrated her 27th birthday on the night, sat and cheered her on, holding up ‘10’ paddles, giving her a well-deserved perfect score.

Viewers who caught footage of Estere’s performance agreed that the 11-year-old left no crumbs, and was destined to be a performer like her mother.

“10 10 10 across the board for the Haus of Estere!!!!!!” one comment read.

“Estere is a natural born performer,” raved a second.

“Estere ate the stage up!” added a third.

@fashioncricket

Sul palco con quattro dei suoi figli. Madonna ha dedicato “Little Star” alla figlia Lourdes, che festeggiava il suo ventisettesimo compleanno, mentre sulle note di “Vogue” è stata affiancata proprio da Lourdes e dall’altra figlia Estere di undici anni. Il quadretto familiare si è ripetuto per “Bad girl”, quando a suonare il piano è stata un’altra figlia, la diciassettenne Mercy James. #madonna #London #madonnafans #queenofpop #madamex #mdna #icon #iconic #thecelebrationtour

♬ suono originale – Fashion cricket

Estere’s twin sister Stella also had her moment in the spotlight with an appearance during Madge’s performance of “Don’t Tell Me.”

And finally, Madonna’s 18-year-old son David Banda took to the stage in his best cowboy attire to play guitar during “Mother and Father.”

While he didn’t step onto the stage, Madonna’s sixth child Rocco, 23, was also in attendance on her big night, The New York Post reports.

Ahead of the tour, Madonna posted a heartfelt tribute to her six kids, who “really showed up” for her when she wound up in the ICU this summer, forcing the long-awaited tour to be postponed.

“As a mother you can really get caught up in the needs of your children and the seemingly endless giving… But when the chips were down my children really showed up for me. I saw a side to them I had never seen before. It made all the difference,” she wrote in a post to Instagram.

Thankfully, Madonna has made a full recovery in time for the rescheduled Celebration Tour and got things off to a flying start thanks to the dazzling opening night.

With a whopping 47 songs and 17 costume changes, Madonna reminded the world that she was crowned the Queen of Pop for a reason.

You can find out more about Madonna’s greatest hits Celebration Tour, with dates planned for the UK, Europe, North America and Mexico across 2023 and 2024, here.