Madonna will pay tribute to her late friend, Michael Jackson, at her Saturday concert at London’s O2 arena, on the very same stage Jackson was to kick off his comeback tour this summer.
The Material Girl will debut a special song for MJ at Saturday’s O2 arena show, the singer’s rep, Liz Rosenberg, confirms. Rehearsal photos are posted online of the tribute sequence, which features Madonna flanked by a Jackson lookalike wearing his signature white glove.
In an interview with The Sun, the 50-year-old superstar revealed she will be dedicating her forthcoming concerts to Jackson, who died last week.
She said: ‘I am so terribly sad about Michael Jackson’s death. I don’t know what artist wasn’t inspired by him.
‘To be able to do what he did at such an early age was unearthly, everybody grew up in awe of him.
‘To work with him and become friends and hang out with him was exciting for me.’
Both singers became huge solo performers in the 1980s and each performer was renowned for their on-stage dancing, huge fan following and extravagant lifestyles.
Madonna said: ‘He was a real paradox, one of the world’s greatest performers and obviously very confident on stage, but in real life he was very shy and you really felt for him.’
"I can’t stop crying over the sad news," Madonna, who was escorted to the 1991 Oscars by Jackson, said in a statement to Access Hollywood. "The world has lost one of the greats, but his music will live on forever! My heart goes out to his three children and other members of his family…God bless."