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The Story Behind Madonna’s Iconic Jean Paul Gaultier Cone Bra

By Liam Hess

On the first night of Madonna ’s Blond Ambition tour, held in April 1990 in Chiba, Japan, few in the audience could have prepared themselves for the spectacle about to unfold. With its $2 million dollar stage set, explosive choreography by voguing legends from the New York City ballroom scene, and headline-grabbing aesthetic fusion of Catholic imagery and BDSM, the show solidified Madonna’s position at the top of music’s pantheon. In less than two hours, she was no longer just a pop star—she had graduated to become a fully-fledged pop culture icon.

For her most avid fans, though, it was less of a surprise: Madonna was merely following up on the string of controversies that accompanied her latest album, Like a Prayer , a year earlier. A $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi was swiftly pulled after she debuted the video for her lead single, “Like a Prayer,” the plot of which implicitly drew a link between racial injustice and organized religion. Featuring Ku Klux Klan-style burning crosses and Madonna receiving the stigmata, it led to a direct call from the Vatican to boycott Pepsi and its subsidiaries. “Art should be controversial, and that’s all there is to it,” Madonna told the New York Times with nonchalance in the lead-up to the album’s release. (This laid-back response may have been due to the fact that Pepsi, eager to extricate themselves from the kerfuffle, let Madonna keep the $5 million check.)

Yet outside of the pearl-clutching backlash that followed the tour’s debut, the image that would come to define it was far more modest, arriving within the first few minutes of the show. Sporting an artfully slashed pinstripe suit, Madonna levitated to the stage on a hydraulic platform. She held a monocle hanging off her necklace up to her eye, before launching into “Express Yourself.” Then, moments later, she and her backup dancers whipped off their jackets to reveal something a little more sexy.

The pink conical bra that Madonna wore underneath is so embedded within the canon of both pop music and fashion that it now requires little introduction. Designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, who Madonna personally requested to create the costumes for the tour (she even handwrote him a letter to express her admiration for his humorous take on fashion), the look was the product of many months of collaboration, with fittings taking place both in New York and Gaultier’s ateliers in Paris.

“When Madonna first called me in 1989, it was two days before my ready-to-wear show, and I thought my assistant was joking,” said Gaultier in a 2001 interview with the New York Times . “I was a big fan. She knew what she wanted—a pinstripe suit, the feminine corsetry. Madonna likes my clothes because they combine the masculine and the feminine.” Indeed, it was this gender-bending spirit that made the tour’s visuals so memorable; just take her male dancers, who threw flamboyant shapes while sporting Tom of Finland-esque leather lace-back tops paired with Bob Fosse bowler hats. (The less glamorous side of which was explored memorably in the 2016 documentary Strike a Pose , where these dancers, many of whom were living with HIV/AIDS, saw their hopes and aspirations either realized or heartbreakingly thwarted.)

By Alexandra Macon

By Hannah Jackson

By Audrey Noble

What made Madonna’s take on this undergarment truly subversive, though, was its nuances. The cone bra grabbed the public’s attention for the way in which it rebelled against the narrow definition of the beautiful female body that, for so many centuries, had been dictated by corsetry’s body-morphing strictures. Sure, designers like Vivienne Westwood had also spent the ’80s exploring a more freeing, playful take on the corset, but Gaultier’s version—first debuted on the runway in 1987 before being adapted for the Blond Ambition tour—took the piece and made it feel defiant, aggressive even. In place of the soft curves the corset was supposed to shape, the female anatomy became a spiky, phallic weapon, one that Madonna celebrated by exerting her dominance, sexual or otherwise, over the dancers she frolicked with across her one-and-a-half-hour musical extravaganza. This was a pop star in control, and her outfits told the story before she even opened her mouth to sing, or began gyrating wildly across the stage (or simulated masturbation, in a sequence that almost resulted in her Toronto leg of the tour being shut down).

Gaultier would go on to collaborate with Madonna on multiple occasions, including a memorable appearance at Gaultier’s 1992 AIDS fundraising gala in support of amFAR, where she walked the runway in Los Angeles before dropping her jacket to reveal a bondage-inspired harness top that left her breasts fully exposed. “I love Madonna,” Gaultier added in his New York Times interview. “She’s the only woman I ever asked to marry me. She said no, of course, but every time she asks me to work on her shows, I can’t say no.” Thirty years after making its first debut, the cone bra is more than just a part of fashion history, or an artefact hanging in a museum. Its legacy lies in the very real way in which it has encouraged generations of female pop performers in Madonna’s wake to channel their sexuality through the outfits they choose to wear without shame, and on their own terms. To paraphrase Gaultier, who could say no to that?

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Madonna’s “Vogue” dancers 25 years later

It’s been more than 25 years since Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour took the world by storm. Now, in the new film Strike a Pose , directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, the famed backup dancers who taught millions what it meant to “vogue,” take center stage.

Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga sat down with the directors and dancers Carlton Wilborn, Salim Gauwloos, Oliver Crumes III, and Luis Camacho to talk about the stories behind the glamour, the controversy, and the moves that made them famous.

“It was definitely a form of self-expression,” said Camacho, whom Madonna sought out to choreograph the “Vogue ” video and join the tour. “In the beginning, it was just a series of poses. As time went on, those poses became faster. They would strike a pose and then another and then another and then another. And it became faster and faster and faster and faster and faster, and then it became this dance form.”

The Blond Ambition tour kicked off in April 1990, making 57 stops worldwide and grossing more than $62 million by its last stop in August of that year. “It was just one of those moments that the stars align and everything comes together and it’s this big epic event,” said Gauwloos.

Director Reijer Zwaan was intrigued by the dancers’ story after he watched the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare when he was just 11 years old in his native Amsterdam. “That whole world, that larger-than-life world made a huge impact on me like I think on so many other people,” he said. “It was very inspiring to see a group of people being so free and out and proud and showing who you are.” Strike a Pose takes an in-depth look at the dancers’ true feelings about the Blond Ambition tour and explores what their lives were like when the tour ended, including their struggles with HIV and drug addiction.

The film also tells the story behind one of the most talked about scenes from Truth or Dare, in which Gauwloos kissed another dancer, Gabriel Trupin, who died of AIDS in 1995. “It was so natural. We didn’t do it to shock the world — it was just so natural. I had a crush on him,” says Gauwloos.

The six dancers haven’t spoken to Madonna in recent years, but they all agreed they would like to speak with her today. Carlton Wilborn said, “That was a special time for her in her career, and us and her, so it would be nice to be able to reconnect in some kind of way and just for her to experience us as grown men.”

As the dancers looked at a picture of the group posing with Madonna for the Truth or Dare documentary, they offered some advice to their younger selves. Wilborn, who kept his HIV diagnosis a secret during the Blond Ambition tour, simply stated, “[To] my younger self, I would say that it’s safe to be free. It’s safe to be free.”

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Here’s every guest judge who joined madonna on stage for the ‘vogue’ ballroom section of the celebration tour [updated].

Here’s every celebrity to join Madonna on stage to help judge the vogueing ballroom portion of the show, where the gay icon’s dancers show off some of their best moves…

By Christopher Turner

Madonna has been churning out hit albums ever since her self-titled debut from 1983 hit the shelves. Commemorating four decades of the superstar’s biggest hits, Madonna kicked off her long-awaited Celebration Tour at London’s O2 Arena on October 14, the start of her 2023-2024 run of concert dates (including rescheduled dates) that will see her performing 78 shows in over 35 cities across Europe and North America. Currently the tour is set to end in April 2024, in Mexico City.

Initially set to begin in July 2023, Madonna had to postpone the Celebration Tour in June after being hospitalized due to a bacterial infection. “My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children,”  Madonna shared in a statement  online in July. “My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone.”

The show definitely hasn’t disappointed and one of the most iconic sections of the concert is when some of your fave celebs join Madonna on stage to help judge the ballroom portion of the show, where the gay icon’s dancers (and Madonna’s daughter Estere) show off some of their best moves. Read on to see every single celebrity guest judge who joined Madonna on stage… so far.

European leg of concerts (October 14, 2023 – December 6, 2023)

Lourdes Leon (Madonna’s eldest daughter)

London, England: The O2 Arena

October 14, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/VersacePassrlla )

October 15, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/MadonnaUltimate )

October 17, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/MadonnaLiteral1 )

October 18, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/Gutter_Media6 )

Damien Jalet (choreographer) 

Antwerp, Belgium: Sportpaleis

October 21, 2023

(photo courtesy of: news-of-madonna.com )

Stuart Price

October 22, 2023

(photo courtesy of: madonnaunderground.com )

Allauné Blegbo

Copenhagen, Denmark: Royal Arena

October 25, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/allaune )

October 26, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/ageofaquaria )

Rocco Ritchie

Stockholm, Sweden: Tele2 Arena

October 28, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/madonna )

Arca  

Barcelona, Spain: Palau Sant Jordi

November 1, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/arca1000000 )

Úrsula Corberó

November 2, 2023

Jon Kortajarena

Lisbon, Portugal: Altice Arena

November 6, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/jonkortajarena )

Jean Paul Gaultier

November 7, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/jeanpaulgaultier )

Fecal Matter

Paris, France: Accor Arena

November 12, 2023

November 13, 2023

Latrelle “Munchie” Lanz

Cologne, Germany: Lanxess Arena

November 15, 2023

Madonna’s private chef/babysitter

November 16, 2023

Michèle Lamy

November 19, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/mtribefrance )

Kiddy Smile

November 20, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/CamilleYeux )

Donatella Versace

Milan, Italy: Mediolanum Forum

November 23, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/donatella_versace )

November 25, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/debimazar )

Gabriel Massan

Berlin, Germany: Mercedes-Benz Arena

November 28, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/gabrielmassan )

November 29, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/jenesaispop )

Sevdaliza 

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Ziggo Dome

December 1, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/sevdaliza_ )

December 2, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/missfamenyc )

Charlie Hunnam

December 5, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/HunnamHedlund )

Stella McCartney

December 6, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/aaronsaunc )

North American leg of concerts (December 13, 2023 – April 26, 2024)

Josh Popper

Brooklyn, New York: Barclays Center

December 13, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/_joshpopper )

Julia Garner

December 14, 2023

(photo courtesy of: dailymail.co.uk )

Teezo Touchdown

December 16, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/genarolozano )

Kevin Aviance

Washington, D.C.: Capital One Arena

December 18, 2023

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/kevinavianceofficial )

Santa Claus

December 19, 2023

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/mlvcpodcast )

No guest judge

Boston, Massachusetts: TD Garden

January 8, 2024

Maggie Rogers

January 9, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/maggierogers )

Sapphira Cristál aka La Diva Grande Dame de Philadelphie

Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Air Canada Centre

January 11, 2024

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/madonnatribe )

Veruschka (Viktor Peters)

January 12, 2024

(photo courtesy of: https://instagram.com/viktorpeters )

Sapphira Cristál

Detroit, Michigan: Little Caesars Arena

January 15, 2024

Mother Elle Barbara

Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Bell Centre

January 18, 2024

(photo courtesy of: https://instagram.com/elle_barbs )

DJ Mary Mac

January 20, 2024

Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza

New York City, New York: Madison Square Garden

January 22, 2024

Amy Schumer

January 23, 2024

(photo courtesy of: https://tiktok.com/@marco_ovando )

Kevin JZ Prodigy

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Wells Fargo Center

January 25, 2024

January 29, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/kellyripa via instagram.com/dave_in_thebay)

Honey Dijon

Chicago, Illinois: United Center

February 1, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/honeydijon )

Thelonious Stokes

February 2, 2024

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/H2W World )

Lola LaCroix

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: PPG Paints Arena

February 5, 2024

Cleveland, Ohio: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

February 8, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/the_planejane )

Manila Luzon

Saint Paul, Minnesota: Xcel Energy Center

February 13, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/manilaluzon )

Miz Cracker

Seattle, Washington: Climate Pledge Arena

February 17, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/miz_cracker )

February 18, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/miz_cracker via instagram.com/dave_in_thebay)

Pamela Anderson

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Rogers Arena

February 21, 2024

(photo courtesy of: facebook.com/madonnauniversepage )

Sacramento, California: Golden 1 Center

February 24, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/theonlydetox via instagram.com/dave_in_thebay)

Plastique Tiara

San Francisco, California: Chase Center

February 27, 2024

(photo courtesy of: twitter.com/SiteMadonnaBR )

Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor

February 28, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/trinitythetuck )

Las Vegas, Nevada: T-Mobile Arena

March 1, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/the_symone via: instagram.com/encyclopediamadonnica )

March 2, 2024

Inglewood, California: Kia Forum

March 4, 2024

March 5, 2024

March 7, 2024

Alexa Demi e

March 9, 2024

March 11, 2024

Jeremy Scott

Thousand Palms, California: Acrisure Arena

March 13, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/jeremyscott )

Phoenix, Arizona: Footprint Center

March 16, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/dave_in_thebay)

Violet Chachki

Denver, Colorado: Ball Arena

March 19, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/violetchachki)

Alyssa Edwards

Dallas, Texas: American Airlines Center

March 24, 2024

Erykah Badu

March 25, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/therealjonmichael)

Houston, Texas: Toyota Center

March 28, 2024

(photo courtesy of: instagram.com/gottmik)

March 29, 2024

David Harbour

Atlanta, Georgia: State Farm Arena

April 1, 2024

Monét X Change

Tampa, Florida: Amalie Arena

April 4, 2024

*This post will be continually updated as The Celebration World Tour continues. North American concerts are currently scheduled until April 26, 2024 .

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Sparks John / 27 February 2024

Can you please put most recent at top so you don’t have to scroll down each time through every show?

R.L. / 22 February 2024

Re: Mary Dixon 19 Feb.: Per Wikipedia, Sapphira is O’Neill Nichol Haynes from Texas, currently based in Philandelphia.

Mary M Dixon / 19 February 2024

Can someone verify if my IDing of Angel Tyler (from the Detroit show, per my Youtube video’s notes, quoted above on Teddy’s comment) is actually (also) Sapphira Cristál, from Rupaul’s Drag Race? Some commenters made notes of that on the video. She had Angel as her guest on the Rebel Heart Tour. Thanks, fellow original Iconers (I am as original as they get, with longtime Ann Arbor connections with M).

Teddy / 06 February 2024

Pittsburgh guest judge is Lola LaCroix

stephmdna / 03 February 2024

Stuart Price is labelled on correct date but wrong city (should be Antwerp instead of Copenhagen.)

Teddy / 22 January 2024

Special guest for Detroit was Angel Tyler, production specialist of the Empowerment Plan (one of the Detroit charities Madonna helps- the others are the Downtown Youth Boxing Gym and the Detroit Achievement Academy)—- a local group that seeks to break the cycle of homelessness by hiring homeless parents from shelters as full-time seamstresses to make coats and sleeping bags for homeless people living on the street. She had also previously been the guest during Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour stop in Detroit during the “Unapologetic Bitch” segment.

R.L. / 19 January 2024

No update on the judge from Detroit show? Absolutely no one seems to know who she is.

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Celebration Tour: Our thoughts on Madonna's Paris concert

By Alexandre Marain

Madonna whose provocative style is just as iconic as her musical talent, has seduced audiences all over the world with her electric performances that have earned her many honors over the years including seven Grammy Awards, the title of best-selling female artist of all time, entry into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, 68 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, two Golden Globes , and two Brit Awards, among many others. So, when she announced her Celebration Tour, to celebrate her forty-year career, a major media frenzy ensued.

Madonna began her musical career in the 1980s and swiftly revolutionized the worlds of music and fashion. To celebrate the Queen of Pop’s 65th birthday, we are reliving her eight most incredible, inspirational and awe-inspiring performances yet.

Everything you need to know about Madonna's concert in Paris

After London, Antwerp, Copenhagen, and Lisbon, Madonna arrived in Paris for two extraordinary concerts which took place on November 12 and 13 at the Accor Arena, before making her way back to the French capital to woo her fans once again with another two concerts taking place on November 19 and 20.

Celebration Tour

Vogue was on the ground last Sunday for the Queen of Pop's concert. Madonna performed for a total of two and a half 30 hours of pure joy, and the show confirmed her status as an incomparable performer, a talented dancer, and a legendary singer. The show kicked off with the appearance of Bob the Drag Queen, known for winning the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, walking through the crowd wearing a costume inspired by the Marie-Antoinette one that Madonna wore during her 1990 MTV Music Awards performance of Vogue, and injecting plenty of humor into the night.

By Liam Freeman

By Hayley Maitland

By Daniel Rodgers

While images and videos recounting her career were projected on the screens, Madonna rose from the smoke in the middle of an enormous round stage wearing a mystical crown and dress designed by Eyob Yohannes to perform her 1998 hit Nothing Really Matters. Featuring dancers from (La) Horde , the collective that directs the Ballet National de Marseille, The Celebration Tour was full of exhilarating performances. Case in point, the star sang Like A Virgin from a huge cage surrounded by masked dancers, and she also performed Vogue alongside the American drag queen, bringing us a full-blown voguing show.

The show was emotional

Madonna didn't hesitate to share some of the most personal moments of her life. Her children, appeared on stage, with her daughter Mercy James playing the piano during her rendition of the song Bad Girl , and her other daughter, the 11-year-old daughter Estere , working the DJ decks during Vogue , many of the performances were emotionally charged while delivering powerful messages. During the song Live to Tell , she crossed the venue suspended several meters above the ground in a cage, while black-and-white photographs of her loved ones she lost to aids including Keith Haring and Freddie Mercury, were projected on the screens behind her.

Another reason that Madonna's fans adore her so, is the fact that she opens up to her fans. At her Paris concert, she addressed why she had to cancel the first dates of her tour, following a bacterial infection that had forced her into a coma. “I wouldn't be here today without the love and support of my children,” she said.

From sex to fashion

Legendary for her provocative style, Madonna has always stunned audiences with her incredible stage costumes whether wedding gowns, skin-tight leather looks, or cone breast corsets by Jean Paul Gaultier. T he pop icon has always seduced and shocked with her rebellious attitude and femme fatale style. She continued her Celebration Tour momentum with a plethora of nods to her legendary outfits over the years including a Jean Paul Gaultier corset, Eyob Yohannes and Rita Melssen silk nightgown, leather cowgirl-inspired corset as an ode to the Don't Tell Me era, and even a Versace metallic jumpsuit. The most memorable fashion moment however was the finale, during the tracks Bitch I'm Madonna and Celebration , which saw the dancers take to the stage dressed in the iconic star's looks from her past, including the bodysuit from Hung Up and her wedding dress from Like A Virgin . In conclusion, Madonna still knows how to bring us a breathtaking show!

Translated by Mina Maldonado.

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Madonna Still Has Plenty of "Wild" in Her on the First Night of the Celebration Tour in Miami

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A Closer Look At Madonna’s One-Of-A-Kind Celebration Tour Wardrobe

By Christian Allaire

Come on, Vogue ! Over the weekend, Madonna kicked off her global Celebration world tour in London, where she treated fans to a career-spanning performance of some of her greatest hits. Almost better than the setlist, however, were the queen of pop’s epic new outfits for the stage. Well, new in a sense. All of them riff off of her most iconic looks over the years (including, yes, that signature Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra). Vogue caught up with tour costume and creative designers Eyob Yohannes and Rita Melssen, to get a closer look at Madonna’s one-of-a-kind custom looks.

Given the magnitude of Madonna’s new tour – by the time it ends, she will have performed on 78 days across 15 different countries – Yohannes and Melssen needed top-tier stage fashion. To focus the wardrobe and give it a strong, clear message, the duo opted to mimic the theme of the show, which explores Madonna’s four decades of hits. That’s how they landed on referencing some of Madonna’s most famous outfits. “Fashion has always been a part of her storytelling,” says Yohannes, “so we drew from her past stylistically, and we kept those themes within the costumes.”

For the most part, Yohannes and Melssen created and designed all of Madonna’s costumes themselves, but they also enlisted designers such as Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier and Dilara Findikoglu to create special one-off looks. “We wanted to reference everything that she’s done, and make something new out of that,” says Melssen. “We created a whole new world.”

Madonna on stage at the O2 Arena.

The tour traces Madonna’s meteoric rise to superstardom, beginning back in the ’80s. Yohannes and Melssen began their research by looking at Madonna’s polaroids and performances from the era. “There were a lot of grunge and punk kids, but also the New Romantics,” says Yohannes. “This section feels like being at a New York club, where all of these different cultures meld together.”

Act one opens with her singles “Burning Up” and “Everybody”. For the latter track, Madonna sports a punky tailcoat by Findikoglu, inspired by an archival blazer that the singer wore for a performance in Japan back in the ’80s. “It was a men’s coat that she got from a vintage store,” says Yohannes. “[For the new one,] we tricked it out, and added memorabilia and pins from the ’80s onto it. It was very much an ode to New York in the ’80s.”

For act two, Madonna moves into the ’90s with “Erotica” and “Vogue”. The costume duo wanted to explore the songs’s themes of sexual expression and liberation. “We had an idea to make it about boxing,” says Yohannes. “The dancers are all dressed in boxing clothes, and M is in a boxing robe – but then there’s this beautiful sensuality when she unveils a slip dress.”

For “Vogue” specifically, Madonna and the costume team enlisted designer Jean Paul Gaultier to create a modern version of her iconic cone bra, made famous during the 1990 Blonde Ambition tour. This time around, Gaultier created a black cone minidress, encrusted with black crystals. “It would not be a show without Gaultier,” says Melssen. “He just knows her body and how she wants to feel. [Madonna] couldn’t imagine doing this without having [him.]” (Also not to be missed? Special guest Bob the Drag Queen recreated Madonna’s Marie Antoinette-themed 1990 VMAs look for her “Vogue” performance.)

Act three focuses on the 2010s, and Madonna performs “Die Another Day” and “Don’t Tell Me”. It’s the latter song’s Western-inspired fashion that takes centre stage. “We wanted to take it to this cool, futuristic world,” says Yohannes.  Her final look – a leather corset and shirt made in-house – was punctuated with a cowboy hat made by Ruslan Baginskiy and a pair of custom Miu Miu cowboy boots. ”They’re knee-high and have beautiful white Western stitching, and a silver heel and toe cap,” says Melssen. “The girls are going to want it.” In act four, meanwhile, Madonna leans into futurism and rocks a special, foiled-Mylar Versace look that’s ready for the Metaverse. She wears it for “Ray of Light”, an obvious choice. “Versace made a silhouette that Madonna has never really worn before – a catsuit – made in the pattern of broken glass,” says Yohannes. Melssen adds: “When the light hits this catsuit, it looks like armour.”

In building this wardrobe, Melssen and Yohannes had to consider functionality and movement as well as aesthetics. “She changes a lot in the show, so we needed to make sure that the clothes were quick-rigged,” says Yohannes. “There are centre back zips on almost all of the costumes, so she can go in and out pretty quickly.” The speedy costume changes were made possible with strategic layering and styling. “There’s a lot of under-dressing as well,” says Yohannes. “She wears costumes [one underneath the other, to be ready] for the next number.”

One of the greatest moments in the tour comes towards the end of the show, when Madonna performs a special rendition of “Like a Virgin”. All of the dancers wear various looks from her archive – be it a red-carpet look or an album cover look. “For a lot of these looks, [Madonna] still had them in her archives, so we went to look at them and matched the fabrics and embroidery,” says Yohannes. Even the superstar’s son, David, makes a cameo, wearing the white fur coat, cowboy hat, and Versace chain jewellery Madonna sported in the 2000 “Music” video.

It’s these types of thoughtful details that made working with the queen of pop so fun. “She is involved in every single process of the costume design,” says Yohannes. “She looks at all the fabrics, sketches and buttons. She cares about who the characters are, and the clothes telling that story.” As more fans get to witness the show over the next year, the pair hope viewers will see that vision come to life. “I hope people realise how much of an artist she is,” says Melssen. “I also just hope that they feel seen and have fun!”

Madonna on stage on the opening night of the tour.

The star worked with Eyob Yohannes and Rita Melssen to curate her tour wardrobe.

A sketch of one of Madonna’s epic custom looks.

Scenes from the Celebration tour.

By Alice Newbold

By Kara Nesvig

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Madonna dancer shoves football at David Harbour's crotch as pop icon reunites with her W.E. star on tour

The "Stranger Things" star reacted to the moment while on stage at Madonna's Celebration Tour stop in Atlanta.

One of Madonna 's dancers apparently saw a ray of light in Stranger Things actor David Harbour 's crotch area during Monday night's Celebration Tour stop in Atlanta.

The performer joined a growing list of celebrities who've accompanied Madonna on stage during the ballroom competition-themed "Vogue" segment of the tour, as he sat alongside the pop icon to judge a roster of dancers strutting down the show's runway toward them.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage; Jamie McCarthy/Getty

In a fan-captured video from the performance at the State Farm Arena, one of Madonna's dancers — clad in a sports uniform — sashays toward Harbour while carrying a football. The dancer then shoves it toward the actor's crotch, prompting Harbour to hunch over as he seemingly plays along with the bit. ( Entertainment Weekly has reached out to a representative for Harbour for comment.)

Madonna and Harbour previously worked together on the Madonna-directed 2011 movie W.E. , in which the actor starred as Ernest Simpson, the second husband of central subject Wallis Simpson ( Andrea Riseborough ).

Harbour previously revealed that he received a request to audition for W.E. because Madonna thought he was sexy.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett 

"I got a call from a casting director that I knew very well saying they're putting together a top secret movie read through, but you just have to show up at the St. Regis and go in this room and all will be revealed. And I was like, 'This is really weird and creepy.'" Harbour said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!  in December 2022, later adding: "I show up at the St. Regis and I get in the room and there's a bunch of other New York actors there and in walks Madonna, who's directing this movie. The first thing that flooded over me, I was like, 'Wow, Madonna thinks I'm sexy.'"

In addition to Harbour, Madonna has welcomed several past collaborators to the stage for the "Vogue" portion of the Celebration Tour, including Julia Garner, who was initially cast to play Madonna in the singer-songwriter's self-directed biopic that's currently on hiatus.

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‘No Madonna fan’ should expect a Madonna show to start on time. So says Team Madonna

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Madonna knows fans don’t expect her to start her show on time. Now her legal team is trying to prove it.

Back in January, two attendees of a Madonna concert in Brooklyn filed a lawsuit against the 65-year-old pop star, claiming false advertisement and breach of contract due to her tardiness. Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, who filed against Live Nation and Barclays Center, are now faced with a dismissal request from Madonna’s lawyers.

“Plaintiffs speculate that ticketholders who left the venue after 1 a.m. might have had trouble getting a ride home or might have needed to wake up early the next day for work,” stated Madonna’s request, obtained Wednesday by Fox News Digital . “That is not a cognizable injury.”

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The concert took place Dec. 13 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn — kicking off the U.S. leg of Madonna’s Celebration Tour.

“The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue December 13th during sound check. This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time,” Madonna’s management team and Live Nation said in a previous statement to The Times.

That night, the show did not begin until almost 11 p.m. — several hours after the doors opened and two hours after the expected start time. Fans immediately took their outrage to social media .

The class-action lawsuit alleges that there was no notice to ticketholders that the show’s start time would be later than the time shown on the ticket. Madonna’s team states in the new filing that “nowhere” on the ticket did it say the concert would begin at 8:30 p.m.

The motion reads, “no reasonable concertgoer — and certainly no Madonna fan — would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time.”

Fans drag Madonna’s late start for U.S. leg of tour, but she was still ‘on fire’

Madonna was criticized for taking the stage three hours after doors opened at Barclays Center in Brooklyn but performed only an hour after her scheduled time.

Dec. 14, 2023

The seven-time Grammy winner’s Celebration Tour is the 12th tour in her career. Given Madonnna’s experience as a performer, her dismissal notice repeatedly brings up what a reasonable concertgoer would expect from a concert.

“Rather, a reasonable concertgoer would understand that the venue’s doors will open at or before the ticketed time, one or more opening acts may perform while attendees arrive and make their way to their seats and before the headline act takes the stage, and the headline act will take the stage later in the evening,” the court filing reads.

The Celebration Tour was originally postponed due to the singer’s sudden hospitalization with a severe bacterial infection last year. But after the challenges she has faced, the Material Girl is currently finishing up the U.S. leg of the tour and will conclude the tour April 26 in Mexico.

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Cerys Davies is a spring reporting intern in the De Los section of the Los Angeles Times. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she focuses her writing on the Latinx experience within the context of the city. Often looking to art and music as tools and sources of inspiration, she finds her passion for the arts, writing and her community all come together within the context of journalism.

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Madonna files to dismiss concertgoers’ lawsuit, says waking up early is not grounds for suing

Madonna is not getting hung up on any lawsuit.

On Wednesday, the pop star’s lawyers asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit submitted by fans in January after her New York City “Celebration” tour concerts started hours past the advertised time, according to Billboard.

The filing argues that the plaintiffs’ complaint that fans had to “get up early to go to work” the next day does not constitute legal “injury” for which someone can be sued.

Concertgoers Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden filed the lawsuit shortly after the 65-year-old Grammy winner’s December 2023 concerts at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. They claimed the shows were falsely advertised because she did not hit the stage until after 10:30 p.m. — even though the start times for the shows were listed as 8:30 p.m.

Specifically, they argued her tardiness was a “wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.”

“Defendants failed to provide any notice to the ticketholders that the concerts would start much later than the start time printed on the ticket and as advertise,” Fellows and Hadden added.

Madonna’s lawyers, however, said there was nothing unreasonable about the timing of the concerts and that fans got exactly what they paid for.

“Nowhere did Defendants advertise that Madonna would take the stage at 8.30 p.m., and no reasonable concertgoers — and certainly no Madonna fan — would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time,” they stated.

“Rather, a reasonable concertgoer would understand that the venue’s doors will open at or before the ticketed time, one or more opening acts may perform while attendees arrive and make their way to their seats and before the headline act takes the stage, and the headline act will take the stage later in the evening.”

They further argued that the lawsuit does not allege “Madonna’s performance was subpar, that her performance was worth less than what they paid, or that they left the concert before watching her entire performance.”

Reps for Madonna didn’t immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

Several fans expressed their disappointment after the “Vogue” singer’s shows ran so late, with many demanding refunds on social media.

“I don’t give a f–k if you’re Madonna,” one angry fan penned. “If you’re 3 hours late, you’re just f–king rude.”

A second added, “Concert supposed to start at 8:30. Madonna started at 11pm. Whole arena chanting bulls–t at her lateness. Great show but went way too late.”

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Sara Haines also expressed her dismay over the situation during a January episode of “The View.”

“It is disrespectful,” she slammed. “You are literally flipping off your fans who paid to come and watch you. You can be a diva, you should not act like a diva.”

Madge kicked off her “Celebration” tour in London in October 2023 after delaying the show for months when she fell ill to a “serious bacterial infection” that had her couped up in the ICU for several days.

During an Antwerp, Belgium show in October, she told fans it was a “f—ing miracle” she was alive and able to perform after many predicted she would succumb to the infection.

The tour has drummed up all sorts of headlines, from the Queen of Pop’s on-stage fall in Seattle to her berating a wheelchair-bound concertgoer in Los Angeles for sitting without knowing she was paralyzed.

Watch CBS News

Madonna asks judge to toss lawsuit over late concert start time: "Fans got just what they paid for"

April 4, 2024 / 8:40 PM EDT / CBS News

Madonna's attorneys on Thursday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the pop superstar for starting a concert two hours late, arguing the plaintiffs didn't demonstrate any clear injuries, court documents show.

Plaintiffs Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden filed the lawsuit earlier this year after attending one of Madonna's global  Celebration Tour  shows in Brooklyn in December, alleging they were "misled" by the 8:30 p.m. advertised start time.

They also sued Barclays Center and Live Nation for "wanton exercise in false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices."

The plaintiffs argued they wouldn't have purchased tickets if they'd known the concert was going to start at 10:30 p.m. They also claimed the show's end time of about 1 a.m. possibly inconvenienced or injured concertgoers as a result of limited transportation options and being forced to stay up later than planned.

Madonna's lawyers argued that concerts rarely start on time, and that hers in particular are well known for their late starts. They also pointed out that Hadden posted on Facebook the day after that concert that he had "never missed a Madonna Tour" and that he later told CNN he had "been to every Madonna tour since 1985," making it clear the late start time couldn't have come as a surprise, the motion read.

According to the court documents, Hadden also praised the show on Facebook, calling it "[i]ncredible, as always!"  

"Mr. Hadden's press interviews at best suggest he may be irritated that one of his favorite acts takes the stage later than he would prefer," the lawyers said, arguing that this was not sufficient grounds for a claim of injury.

Madonna's lawyers also alleged there was no proof the late start time injured any concertgoers, including the plaintiffs, who they argued stayed to watch the whole show instead of leaving early.

"Fans got just what they paid for: a full-length, high-quality show by the Queen of Pop," Madonna's lawyers said.

January's lawsuit wasn't the first time fans tried to take action over Madonna's late start time. In 2019, a Florida fan  sued over Madonna's delayed start  in Miami Beach.

"There's something that you all need to understand," Madonna told her fans during a Las Vegas concert in 2019. "And that is, that a  queen is never late ."

—Aliza Chasan contributed reporting.

S. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.

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Madonna Lawyers File Motion to Dismiss Fans' Lawsuit Over Late Concert Start

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Madonna 's legal team has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against her earlier this year over an alleged delayed concert start time amid her ongoing Celebration Tour . 

In new court docs filed on April 3 in the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York, lawyers for Madonna, Live Nation and Barclays Center -- all named as defendants in the suit -- allege that the complaint should be thrown out. 

"Plaintiffs speculate that ticketholders who left the venue after 1 a.m. might have had trouble getting a ride home or might have needed to wake up early the next day for work," Madonna's attorneys wrote. "That is not a cognizable injury." 

The lawyers claim to "get up early to go to work" is not a legal "injury" one can sue over.

Additionally, the lawyers claim that it is not "reasonable" for concertgoers to predict anticipated show start and end times regardless of what is printed on the event tickets. 

"Reasonable concert goers also know that concert lengths vary based on numerous factors," the doc states.

Two concertgoers -- Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden --  filed a lawsuit  after they claimed Madonna started her Dec. 13 concert at Barclays Center two hours late. The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit in January in the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York, went on to claim Madonna also started her Dec. 14 and Dec. 16 concerts more than two hours late, and that they were given no warning as to the concert's late start time. Madonna and Live Nation did not address those shows.

The plaintiffs' claim the show was advertised to begin at 8:30 p.m. but Madonna did not hit the stage until "between 10:45 p.m. and 11 p.m." As a result, the concertgoers claim, the show did not end until after 1 a.m., causing them to encounter issues with "limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs."

That the concert ran so late on a weeknight also made it difficult for the plaintiffs "to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day" on fewer hours of sleep, they claimed.

The plaintiffs in court documents accused The Material Girl, 65 -- as well as Live Nation and Barclays Center -- of engaging in "unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices."

Fellows and Hadden are seeking "damages, statutory damages, treble damages, exemplary damages, costs and attorneys' fees," as well as a trial by jury. 

In the newly filed docs, Madonna's lawyers point to a social media post from Hadden in which he praised her performance. 

"Caught her North American tour opener last night! An homage to NYC! Incredible, as always! I've never missed a Madonna Tour," the Facebook post dated Dec. 14, 2023, reads. 

"In other words," her lawyers wrote in the document, "the concert met or exceeded his expectations." 

ET has reached out to representatives for Madonna, Live Nation and Barclay's Center for additional comment. 

"Madonna's just completed, sold out 2023 Celebration Tour in Europe received rave reviews," Madonna Management and Live Nation previously told ET  back in January. "The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue December 13th during soundcheck. This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously."

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How Madonna is honoring an artist with Tampa Bay ties on her Celebration Tour

• Gabrielle Calise Times staff

Former Tampa Bay resident and artist Martin Burgoyne was just 23 when he died due to AIDS-related complications. His old friend Madonna is making sure he is remembered.

When the pop superstar came to Amalie Arena on Thursday for her long-awaited Celebration Tour, the event included a tribute to victims of the AIDS epidemic that features Burgoyne. According to the New York Times , Burgoyne’s face was the first shown in a montage set to the 1992 song “Live to Tell.”

Madonna first dedicated the song to Burgoyne during an AIDS benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in 1987 — the year after he died. Five years later, she wrote “In This Life” about Burgoyne and her first dance teacher Christopher Flynn, who also died during the AIDS crisis.

“Sitting on a park bench, thinking about a friend of mine,” she sings. “He was only 23. Gone before his time.”

Burgoyne was born in England and spent part of his adolescence in the Tampa Bay area. In 1980, he won several scholastic art awards for the portfolio he built as a Seminole High School student, according to Tampa Bay Times archives. Burgoyne’s photorealistic graphite portrait represented his body of work at a “surprisingly sophisticated” display at Tyrone Square Mall.

“He loved anything vintage and shopping at La France in Ybor,” said Sam South, a Seminole-based Madonna fan. “A couple years later he’s in the Lower East Side, hanging out with the biggest artists of America in the past 50 years.”

When Burgoyne moved to New York City in the early 1980s to study art at the Pratt Institute, he befriended Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, South said. He also became Madonna’s best friend, tour manager and roommate.

“She and Martin lived around the corner from me on the Lower East Side in a building with medieval black iron gates on the doors and dark narrow hallways that stank of urine and dead vermin,” wrote then-Miami Herald dance critic Jordan Levin in 2001.

Levin described Burgoyne as “much beloved and lusted after, an incandescent boy even in the darkest after-hours club.” Burgoyne worked as a bartender at Lucky Strike and Studio 54, South said, and managed Madonna’s first club tour and created the artwork for her 1983 single “Burning Up.”

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Mary Dowd, who co-owns Myers Fine Art and Antiques Auction Gallery in St. Petersburg, noted that Burgoyne was a backup dancer during Madonna’s debut performance. He also designed the cover of the 1985 biography, “Madonna: Lucky Star.” That year, Burgoyne brought Warhol as his date to Madonna’s wedding to Sean Penn.

New York artist Trey Speegle remembered running into Burgoyne and his friends at events.

“It’s interesting to see how much creativity was swirling around,” said Speegle, who included a portrait of Burgoyne in his book, “80s Polaroids.” “AIDS was really ravaging the community at the same time. So it was fun, and it was also awful, because every month or every few weeks you’re going to someone’s memorial or someone’s hospital bed.”

Burgoyne thought he had contracted measles in the summer of 1986, but soon discovered he had AIDS-related complex. Warhol and Haring both contributed original artwork to advertise a benefit event at the Pyramid Club. The New York Times covered the September event, documenting over 500 friends in attendance, including Madonna.

Burgoyne died on Nov. 30 that year.

“Madonna paid for a memorial service where we all wept and got drunk,” Levin wrote in the Miami Herald. “She wasn’t at the party. But she was there for him — she held Martin’s hand as he died.”

Burgoyne’s parents retired in the Tampa Bay area. In 2014, Myers Fine Art auctioned pieces from Burgoyne’s life in New York. His parents kept his sketchbooks, which included drawings that would become the “Burning Up” cover, and Polaroids of Burgoyne and his famous friends.

Some photos may have been taken by Warhol, Dowd said. One Polaroid of Burgoyne and Madonna in a pink wig fetched over $5,500.

The auction attracted attention beyond Tampa Bay, with The Associated Press picking up the story and buyers as far away as Miami participating. Two women even showed up dressed like Madonna.

“(His parents) did say Madonna was very good to Martin and to them,” Dowd said. “She was a steadfast friend. It made me have an all-new appreciation for her.”

Gabrielle Calise is a culture reporter who covers music, nostalgia and offbeat Florida trends. Reach her at [email protected].

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