Madonna, 65, CRIES onstage while mourning friends that lost their
lives to AIDS during The Celebration Tour: 'I would have cut off my arms
if I could have found a cure for them to live'
Madonna got emotional on the latest stop of her highly-anticipated The Celebration Tour in Amsterdam on Friday, which coincided with the anniversary of her mother's death and World AIDS Day.
In footage of the superstar at the Ziggo Dome, the 65-year-old looked melancholy as tears welled up in her eyes as she paid homage to the millions that have died from AIDS.
'Today is World AIDS Day. Do you know that? Is that important to everybody?' she asked the crowd, before opening about losing loved ones and colleagues to the disease.
She continued: 'When I first came to New York, I was lucky enough to eventually meet and become friends with so many amazing artists... and, then, one day, people started getting sick, and nobody could understand what was happening.'
Sad: Madonna got emotional on the latest stop of her highly-anticipated The Celebration Tour in Amsterdam on Friday, which coincided with the anniversary of her mother's death and World AIDS Day
Emotional: In footage of the superstar at the Ziggo Dome, the 65-year-old looked melancholy as tears welled up in her eyes as she paid homage to the millions that have died from AIDS
'People were just starting to lose weight. People were dropping like flies. They were going to the hospital and nobody understood what was happening,' the performer recalled. 'I don't know if you understand this right now, but in the early '80s, it was not cool to be gay. It was not accepted. Did you know that?'
The mother-of-six added: 'Can you imagine what it was like in that time when being gay was considered sinful and disgusting? When suddenly the vast majority of the gay community started dropping like flies and people were dying everywhere? When I say that they were dying everywhere, I'm not exaggerating.'
She went on to reveal that 'every day' she would 'wake up and hear a new story' of someone dying or 'be sitting by' a friend's 'beside watching somebody died.'
'Nobody in the medical community wanted to do anything about it because they said, 'Well f*** it, they're f*****s. They deserve to die.' It was a pretty devastating, scary time,' Madonna painfully remembered.
Madonna got visibly choked up as she told the crowd that she 'personally lost so many friends' and loved ones over the years to AIDS, in footage uploaded by one fan on X.
'I would have cut off my arms if I could’ve found a cure for them to live,' she said. 'I watched so many people die, male and female, children, straight, gay, etc. In any case, it was a devastating time for me.'
The Vogue hitmaker described basically witnessing basically a 'whole generation' get 'wiped out,' including her 'best friend Martin [Burgoyne].'
'I was holding his hand. He was suffering so much he could barely breathe,' she described. 'I’m not saying this because I want you to feel sorry for me. I want you to recognize how lucky you are right now to be alive.'
'Today is World AIDS Day. Do you know that? Is that important to everybody?' she asked the crowd, before opening about losing loved ones and colleagues to the disease
She continued: 'When I first came to New York, I was lucky enough to eventually meet and become friends with so many amazing artists... and, then, one day, people started getting sick, and nobody could understand what was happening'
'People were just starting to lose weight. People were dropping like flies. They were going to the hospital and nobody understood what was happening,' the performer recalled. 'I don't know if you understand this right now, but in the early '80s, it was not cool to be gay. It was not accepted. Did you know that?'
One day later, she posted to Instagram about waking 'up feeling so overwhelmed with sadness that words felt meaningless' on World AIDS Day.
'It’s hard to explain the sense of loss and confusion and despair for so many people,' she captioned a video from her concert.
She explained that she choose to paid her respects to those that died of the disease as her show is a 'a retrospective' of her journey over the last four decades.
'How could I not recognize this incredibly important moment, not only in my life but in so many others,' she explained. 'AIDS came through like a brushfire. Like a freight train. It was unexpected and merciless. It destroyed all the beautiful people. An entire generation of artists was wiped out. Turned to ash.'
She concluded her post by writing that those that died were 'gone but not forgotten.'
The comment section was filled with praise, with many commending her for 'always being so outspoken and supportive at a time when no one dared said a word about this horrible virus.'
One day later, she 'woke up feeling so overwhelmed with sadness that words felt meaningless' on World AIDS Day
Powerful: The comment section was filled with praise, with many commending her for 'always being so outspoken and supportive at a time when no one dared said a word about this horrible virus'
Advocate: Madonna has previously used her track, Live to Tell, an emotional ballad, to honor those who've lost their lives to AIDS
'You continue to shine a light on the impact and loss of AIDS. Thank you for always being a beacon of hope,' one fan commented
December 1 also marks the anniversary of her mother's passing in 1963, after battling breast cancer, when Madonna was just five
'You continue to shine a light on the impact and loss of AIDS. Thank you for always being a beacon of hope,' one fan commented.
Another wrote: 'This was a very moving part of the show.'
'Thank you Madonna. I saw the show in Barcelona and cried during Live To Tell. I think we all were. I lost 3 friends in one summer. So many gone too soon. Your music and advocacy helped me so much during that time. Thank you for then and NOW,' a third penned.
Madonna has previously used her track, Live to Tell, an emotional ballad, to honor those who've lost their lives to AIDS.
In 2006, during her Confessions Tour, the singer displayed facts and statistics about AIDS next to a large crucifix.
December 1 also marks the anniversary of her mother's passing in 1963, after battling breast cancer, when Madonna was just five.
