Madonna broke down in tears on stage this week as she paused her show to address the audience.
The singer is currently in Europe on her Celebration Tour, and she stopped off in Amsterdam for her latest show. Last weekend, Madge paused the show to discuss some of the heartbreaking losses she’s faced over the years.
In a touching moment, Madonna told the crowd it was World AIDS Day, and begun an emotional speech commemorating those she lost at the height of the AIDS epidemic.
“When I first came to New York, I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with so many amazing artists, musicians, painters, singers, dancers, writers,” she said.
“The list goes on and on. And then one day, people started getting sick, and nobody could understand what was happening.
She continued: “People were just starting to lose weight. People were dropping like flies. They were going to the hospital and nobody knew what was happening. I lost so many friends and loved ones’”
By 1995, one gay man in nine had been diagnosed with AIDS in the US, while one in 15 had died, according to reports.
The singer went on to tell the crowd that said the media starting calling the virus “the ‘gay cancer’ at the time because it was predominantly in the gay community”.
“To be able to stand up and say ‘I am a homosexual’ was a very brave action. Can you imagine what it was like in that time when being gay was considered sinful and disgusting?
“Suddenly the vast majority of the gay community started dropping like flies and people were dying everywhere. Every day I would wake up and hear a new story, a new friend, I’d be visiting someone new, I’d be sitting by their bedside watching somebody die.
“Meanwhile, nobody in the medical community wanted to do anything about it, because they said, ‘Well fuck it, they’re f*****s. They deserve to die.’”
Nowadays, due to advances in medicine, HIV is entirely treatable, and those living with the disease are able to live normal lives and can take medication that makes it impossible for them to pass it on.
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Madonna added that she would have given anything to be able the save the friends she lost back then, adding: “It was a pretty devastating, scary time. I personally lost so many friends and loved ones. I would have cut off my arms if I could’ve found a cure for them to live,” she said, her voice breaking. For me, it was like a whole generation was wiped out.”
She went on to relive the heartbreaking moment she watched her friend Martin Burgoyne, an up-and-coming artist, pass away of AIDS-related complications at 23 in 1986 while she held his hand.
“I was holding his hand. He was suffering so much, he could barely breathe. He wanted me to play Maria Callas … And I did,” said the star. “I said, ‘Please, Martin, let go.’ And I watched his spirit leave his body.”
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2023-12-08 09:18:31Z
CBMilQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L211c2ljL3RvdXJzL21hZG9ubmEtYnJlYWtzLWRvd24taW4tdGVhcnMtb25zdGFnZS1hcy1zaGUtbW91cm5zLWxvc3MvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS9hNzhmNjBhODhjMTM1N2Y1ZGY1ZDY1MTdhY2I0MTUwNNIBAA
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