Estere, Julia Garner, Madonna and David Banda pose during “The Celebration Tour” at Barclays Center on Dec. 14, 2023 in New York City. Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation
Madonna‘s Celebration Tour is a family business. And in a new Instagram post on Thursday (April 25), the pop icon thanked her son David and daughters Mercy, Stella and Estere for serving as both her support system and co-performers on the ongoing trek.
“On the day before our 80th show of the Celebration Tour I need to acknowledge my incredibly talented children who carried me through this Journey,” she wrote, sharing a carousel of snaps with her children on and offstage. “Each of them bringing their own unique talent to the stage.”
Throughout Madge’s latest run, which kicked off in October, each of her adopted kids has gotten their own moment onstage. Mercy joins her mom on piano during “Bad Girl,” David duets with the seven-time Grammy winner on “Mother and Father” and twins Stella and Estere dance along to “Don’t Tell Me.”
“Rehearsals began over a year ago with almost a 2 month break waiting for me recover from a near death experience,” she continued, referring to the shows she had to postpone due to her severe bacterial infection and subsequent hospitalization last year. “They never stopped practicing… they never stopped cheering me on and supporting me … They were also going to school and rehearsing every night. !! . am so very proud of all of them.”
Madonna is also mom to daughter Lourdes Leon, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Carlos Leon, and son Rocco Ritchie, whom she shares with ex-husband Guy Ritchie. She and the director went on to adopt David shortly after the “Material Girl” singer founded her charity organization Raising Malawi in 2006. Later, she adopted Mercy, then Stella and Estere — all three of whom are also from Malawi — as a single mother.
The new post comes one day after Madonna opened up about touring with her kids in an interview with W Magazine. “When I go on tour, nothing brings me more happiness to know, we are all working on the same show creating the magic together,” she told the publication. “It would be boring if they were just traveling from hotel to hotel, and occasionally coming to watch the show.”
“Of course, I am also their mother so sometimes we get on each other’s nerves,” she added. “We are a family of artists but are also a family and that’s what happens.”
