As rumored, both Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake joined Madonna onstage last night during the Material Girl’s Sticky & Sweet stop at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. During “Human Nature,” the third song of the evening, Madonna handled the bulk of the Bedtime Stories track while the video of Spears freaking out in an elevator played in the background as usual. During the final chorus, Spears finally emerged, sharing the singing duties with Madonna before being lowered into center stage to make her grand exit. Shaky YouTube footage of the performance can be seen here. Justin Timberlake also showed up later in the night, joining Madonna as he often does for Hard Candy’s “4 Minutes.” Check the video here. Rumors abound that Brit might show up again during Madonna’s Las Vegas shows this weekend, but nothing’s been confirmed as of yet. Spears’ new album, Circus, is due December 2nd.

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Photo: Lovekin/Getty

An unreleased tape featuring some of Madonna’s earliest recordings has been unearthed. The tape, which was recorded roughly 27 years ago, captures the era in Madonna’s life when she was living in the basement of a Queens, New York synagogue with Ed and Dan Gilroy, who was her boyfriend at the time. Madonna spoke about the brothers in her reflective induction speech at this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Snippets of that speech are interspersed with the old recording, which features one of her early songs “Born To Be A Dancer.” The tape also features Madonna playing guitar and drums on the “first song” she’d ever written, “Tell the Truth.” (more…)

Photo: Getty

After seven years of marriage and countless rumors, Madonna’s spokesperson announced today that the singer and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, have agreed to divorce. The statement was co-signed by representatives of both Madonna and Ritchie. The pair have not agreed on a settlement on their combined $525 million worth, the majority of which is the Material Girl’s. The couple had two children, Rocco and David Banda, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006. Rumors of an imminent split have been a gossip page favorite for the past few years but reached a crescendo in July with allegations that Madonna was having an affair with New York Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez. (more…)

Photo: LeSegretain/AFP/Getty

Madonna may have toyed with dominance and submission on this year’s Hard Candy, but there was no question who was carrying the cane at the first New York City date on her Sticky & Sweet Tour last night (the trek’s second stop in the States). Emerging on a throne to the thumpy sound of “Candy Shop,” the 50-year-old singer kicked off a tightly choreographed two-hour set designed to accentuate her physical and musical strength and flexibility.

(Check out photos from Madonna’s opening-night show here.)

Skipping rope during a section evoking the 1980s New York where she began her career, Madonna pranced on the DJ’s table during a beefier “Into the Groove” as colorful Keith Haring figures spelled out the lyrics on giant video screens. With some chunky power chords, “Borderline” became a Cheap Trick-style power-pop song, “Vogue” was mashed up with the funky brass of “4 Minutes” and “La Isla Bonita” morphed into a Gogol Bordello-esque hoe-down featuring fiddle and accordion.

“You know who’s not invited to my party? Sarah fucking Palin” Madonna shouted after a montage of images that included Oprah and Bono urged “Get up – it’s time – your life – your choice.” (more…)

Photo: Mazur/Wireimage

Madonna launched the North American leg of her “Sticky & Sweet” Tour at the sold-out Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Rock Daily will provide a full report of tonight’s show at Madison Square Garden, but until then click below for a gallery of amazing images from the Material Girl’s concert, including her excellent Slash impersonation.

• Photo Gallery: Madonna Brings Her “Sticky & Sweet” Tour to North America

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It’s pretty obvious who Madonna will vote for in this coming election. At her Sticky & Sweet tour opening show in Wales, during the “Get Stupid” portion of Hard Candy’s “Give It 2 Me,” Madonna used the video screens to lump together footage of Republican presidential candidate John McCain with photos of Adolf Hitler, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and images of global warming destruction. In case you thought maybe Madonna was considering a Green Party vote, the next segment cast Barack Obama in a montage of images that included John Lennon, Gandhi and Al Gore. McCain’s spokesperson Tucker Bounds was not too pleased with the associations, saying “The comparisons are outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive all at the same time. It clearly shows that when it comes to supporting Barack Obama, his fellow worldwide celebrities refuse to consider any smear or attack off limits.” It’s not a Madonna tour unless there’s some kind of controversy in tow, as the Material Girl faced outcry after elaborately performing on a crucifix last time around.

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Photo: Pugliano/Getty

With Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour set to kick off this Saturday in Cardiff, Wales, a statement from the Material Girl’s publicist explains just how mammoth an undertaking each Madonna concert is. For instance, the tour will travel with 250 personnel members, 3,500 individual wardrobe elements, 69 guitars (ten for Madonna), 16 caterers, five people to help Madonna do costume changes, three “Romanian gypsy musicians” and 180 Q-Tips. The whole intricate list can be viewed here. It reads like a backstage rider, but it’s more of an onstage rider. Additional numbers of interest: (more…)

Details of the mysterious video Britney Spears is starring in for Madonna’s upcoming Sticky and Sweet tour have emerged. While the previous Brit/Madge collaboration “Me Against the Music” was the obvious guess, Spears will instead appear on the big screen while Madonna performs her Bedtime Stories hit “Human Nature.” Much like Madonna in the original video for that song, Britney will dance and contort herself within a small, confined space — except this time around, it’s an elevator. Seven cameras will reportedly capture Spears in the lift “pacing back and forth. Then she progresses to kicking and smacking the walls, all frantic-like. She screams into one of the cameras. Then she starts climbing the wall.” Brit’s freak-out concludes with her staring into one of the cameras and saying the trademark “It’s Britney, bitch.” The Sticky and Sweet tour kicks off its U.S. jaunt October 4th in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

[Photo: Getty]

Britney Spears will share the stage with Madonna during the Material Girl’s Sticky and Sweet Tour, except this time via video. Spears will reportedly shoot a video performance this week that will air during Madonna’s concert, Access Hollywood reports. Both Madonna’s publicist and Spears’ manager confirmed the report. The exact content of the video is a “secret” at least until October 4th, when the U.S. leg of the tour launches in East Rutherford, New Jersey. However, one Madonna Website supposedly learned the set list and details for the tour, so you can try and pin Spears’ appearance into one of the spoilers here.

Additionally, details about the book by Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone, titled Life With My Sister Madonna, have emerged. (more…)

Even though her publicist clarified the state of Madonna’s relationship last week, the Material Girl still released a personal statement this weekend, saying she and her husband Guy Ritchie are not getting divorced. In the aftermath of New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez separation (and impending divorce) from his wife following rumors he and Madonna had an affair, Madonna reiterated that she and A-Rod only share a manager and that they are “not romantically involved.” “I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study,” Madonna said in the statement. A-Rod has reportedly taken to Kabballah since being introduced to the singer. Madonna was recently seen sitting in Rodriguez’s seats at Yankee Stadium, fueling whispers that the All-Star and the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer were having an affair. Rodgriguez’s wife Cynthia (who has recently been linked to rocker Lenny Kravitz) is expected to file divorce papers today.

[Photo: Getty]

After months of predictions that Madonna and her director husband Guy Ritchie were on the verge of divocrce, the Material Girl’s publicist finally addressed all the rumors, simply stating that “There are no plans for Madonna and Guy to divorce.” The statement comes the same day an Us report alleges that Madonna may be hooking up with New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez after the singer took her kids to a Yankees game last week. On those rumors, the publicist said “Madonna and Alex have the same manager, Guy Oseary. They have met. They know each other and Madonna took her kids to a Yankees game last week. There’s really not anything to comment on beyond that.” Just last week, there were rumors that Madonna hired the same divorce lawyer that represented Paul McCartney. Guy Ritchie flew to New York to join his wife last night, but the statement says this is not a “last ditch attempt to save their marriage.”

Nearly two years after adopting her son in Malawi, a court in the capital city of Lilongwe has finally approved Madonna’s adoption of David Banda. Madonna had previously been accused of using her celebrity to bypass certain aspects of the adoption process, which began in 2006. The ruling comes exactly two weeks after the Material Girl announced she’d help establish a girls’ school in Malawi. Madonna adopted David Banda after his birth mother died of an AIDS-related disease. Speaking about the Malawian court’s decision, Madonna’s lawyer said “It is a positive and beautiful judgment that will have an impact on Malawi’s adoption laws.”

Madonna is spearheading a movement to have a girls school built in Malawi, the African country from which she adopted her son David Banda last year. According to her lawyer, “A task force of four prominent Malawians has already been formed to head the project which will be on the scale of what Oprah Winfrey has in South Africa.” The Material Girl’s plan to build a girls school comes on the eve of an announcement in which Madonna is expected to be given full custody of Banda, a move that follows a tumultuous eighteen months since Madonna’s highly-criticized adoption. Her lawyer also stated that he expected funding for the multi-million dollar project to be confirmed within the next two weeks.

After giving her old label Warner Brothers one last going-away present with the number one debut of Hard Candy, Madonna is ready to make good on her ten-year contract with Live Nation by launching her Sticky and Sweet Tour. The trek will kick off in Cardiff, Wales, on August 23rd, spin through Europe and then cross the Atlantic for an October 3rd show in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Material Girl will then play stadiums and arenas throughout the U.S. before venturing down for a South America jaunt. Live Nation will produce the tour, Madonna’s first since her record-breaking Confessions tour raked in $260 million in 2006. Ticket prices will be in the $55-$350 range. Full tour dates to the first Sticky and Sweet leg are after the jump.
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A crowd far larger than the 2,200 capacity of New York club Roseland camped out overnight on the streets of midtown Manhattan awaiting the chance to see Madonna debut tracks from her new album Hard Candy on Wednesday. The audience of celebs and die-hard fans who actually made it through the doors in time for her 10 p.m. set (which was broadcast on the Web via MSN and to mobile customers of Verizon Wireless) seemed more awed than ready to groove when Madonna hit the stage in the city where she first made her name, spending time texting and taking photos to prove the experience had really happened rather than dancing. But the cheers were ear-splitting, and with good reason: For 40 minutes Madonna delivered an impressive taste of what her upcoming Hard Candy tour might look like — tight choreography to match her sculpted body, reinterpreted tracks, a bit of rock & roll and a star ready to run her mouth.

• Click here for a full photo gallery from Madonna’s special club gig

After spinning approximately an hour’s worth of music ranging from Rihanna to the Eurythmics (though the biggest cheers came for “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and a spotting of Rosie O’Donnell in the balcony), Madonna’s DJ flipped on 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” and dropped in a bit of “I Want Candy.” Eventually the tracks faded, making way for the sound of Madonna singing the chorus from Hard Candy opener “Candy Shop,” at which point the lights dropped and the night’s main attraction emerged on a throne swinging a cane. Giant projection screens flanking the stage displayed mesmerizing animations of spinning candy as Madonna strutted around the stage in tall lace-up boots and a lacey black top with six dancers in tow.

After greeting the crowd with, “All right, New York City!” she was handed a black acoustic guitar with a sparkly silver strap and immediately launched into the new album’s lush but wistful “Miles Away,” assisted by a small band consisting of a drummer, two keyboardists, the DJ and the guitarist who played her past three tours, Monte Pittman. (more…)