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.