Madonna heralded her ‘moment in history’ with Sabrina Carpenter on Monday evening – after facing calls to retire following their performance at Coachella.
The pop legend joined the 26-year-old on stage at the music festival, held annually in California, for renditions of Like A Prayer and Vogue – enormous hits upon release in 1989 and 1990, respectively.
But the singer, 67, appearing onstage in a silk basque and stockings, performed to a surprisingly impartial crowd, with many seemingly unfamiliar with the lyrics.
Audience footage circulating online captured a show lacking in atmosphere, with only a handful of fans singing to Like A Prayer, while most silently record Madonna’s surprise cameo on their phones.
Despite the muted response, she celebrated her performance with Carpenter by sharing a series of backstage shots alongside a variety of photos taken during their brief duet.
Captioning the post, Madonna wrote: ‘Still flying high since Friday night at Coachella! Thank you to Sabrina and everyone who made it possible To Bring Confessions II back to where it began – was such a thrill!
Madonna heralded her ‘moment in history’ with Sabrina Carpenter on Monday evening, after facing calls to retire following their performance at Coachella
A moment in history, I will never forget! I FEEL SO FREE.’
Madonna fans had previously rushed to defend the singer from backlash and calls to retire after she was criticised online for taking the stage in racy purple lingerie, branding them ‘ageist and misogynistic.’
One fan wrote on X: ‘Madonna is doing great.. only ageist, misogynist, insecure people who have issues with women of a certain age, still doing what they want in life, are bothered… if you don’t like her, just look away, don’t stream her songs, don’t buy her concert tickets. She is doing OK without you’.
A second added: ‘Madonna is an icon, a legend a superstar. She looks amazing, her performance is amazing, she can keep up with a 25-year-old performer [sic].’
Elsewhere, a third posted: ‘Thought I’d check in on X but all people are doing is tearing down Madonna. Leave the Queen alone!!! She’s earned the right to live her life as she wants to’.
While another commented: ‘I mean, she still is selling out shows, so not everyone thinks she should retire. I thought she did amazing. I can only hope to look that good at 67. Legends are legends until they die. No Madonna fans think she should retire lol’.
Madonna made her entrance towards the end of Carpenter’s Coachella set, 20 years after her own 2006 performance, which was a historic success.
She emerged from beneath the stage to sing a duet of portions of Vogue and Like a Prayer while heavy vocals played in the background.
Moving to a part of the stage that extended into the crowd, she said, ‘Wow, thank you… Sabrina, thank you so much for inviting me on your show.’
Madonna also had a message for the audience, telling them, ‘Let’s try to be together. Let’s try to avoid disagreements. And to that point, the great thing about music is that it brings people together.’
The singer, appearing onstage in a silk basque and stockings, performed to a surprisingly impartial crowd – with many seemingly unfamiliar with the lyrics to her chart hits
Madonna has shared an array of photos from their performance with Instagram followers
The veteran pop legend joined Carpenter onstage at the event, held annually in California, for renditions of Like A Prayer and Vogue
Pictures shared on social media by Madonna capture the two singers embracing backstage
Her comeback performance was also tainted by claims that she was lip-syncing the whole way through.
The Material Girl singer was labeled ‘fraud’ for supposedly creating the illusion she was singing ahead of her new album Confessions II, which drops July 3.
One disappointed fan even brought up Elton John’s infamous comment about Madonna’s alleged lip-syncing during a 2004 awards show.
In a 2012 tirade, John called Madonna a ‘fairground stripper’ and ‘nightmare’ and said artists who lip-sync should be ashamed of themselves. It led to a years-long feud between the pop icons until they made up in 2023.
Others who watched Friday night’s performance in the California desert echoed that opinion, and they had some choice words for Carpenter, too.
‘Madonna WAS “helped” by a very high volume backing voice track,’ one commented on X.
‘Someone could argue and call it lip syncing. I would not disagree with them. But, hey, Sabrina did the same during her gig. But then, it is Coachella: it has become more like a parade rather than a live event.’
Madonna fans had previously rushed to defend the singer from backlash and calls to retire after she was criticised online for taking to the stage in racy purple lingerie
Madonna shared a shot of herself and Carpenter in their backstage trailer after the show
Trolls had called for the singer to retire following her performance on Friday evening
‘Madonna is lip-syncing and Sabrina is singing over the backing track. Sabrina sounds great,’ a second chimed in.
‘An old woman can still dream…. But what bothers me most is that Madonna could have done a better job at lip syncing,’ a third complained.
‘Lip syncing, I’m pretty sure. The vocals aren’t matching with when the microphone goes to their mouth. Madonna has always been a terrible singer. If she hadn’t used outrageous costumes and behaviour we would never have heard of her,’ a fourth wrote.
Another added: ‘Madonna lip-syncing while Sabrina live-singing. Terrible song. It’ll go nowhere.’
