10 unforgettable performances by Madonna.

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August 16th is, to us fans, the day the music was born.

To celebrate Madonna's birthday I decided to go through some of her most memorable and unforgettable moments on stage.

Are you ready? Let's go!

10. Dress You Up, Virgin Tour, 1985. 

The opening number of Madonna's first concert tour couldn't have been ignored. This colorful, energetic performance was the perfect introduction to Madonna "the stage chameleon". Her signature 80's look, a microphone and her dancing skills were all she needed to completely rock this one. It's a performance that exudes vitality and youth.

9. Like a Virgin/Love Spent Medley, MDNA Tour, 2012. 

Performance art at its best from one of the greatest tours of all time, the legendary MDNA Tour. Madonna shows the audience the birth and death of a relationship and the disillusionment the character she embodies goes through. The woman realises her man doesn't love her but uses her fame and money to his own gain.

Seeing this performance live in a packed stadium under the starry sky was an experience I'll never forget. The atmosphere was magical.

8. Sooner or Later, 63rd Academy Awards, 1991. 

Possibly the best live vocal performance of Madonna's career....but she has always been more than just vocals.

Here Madonna looked stunning, a mix between Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe. Her confidence, sensuality and irony carry the performance that culminates in a final, glamorous strut on the stage as the entire theater gives her a standing ovation.

Incredible.

7. Living for Love, Brit Awards, 2015. 

An inspirational performance that shows Madonna's professionalism and work ethic. After a wardrobe malfunction results in her accidentally being pulled off the stage by her two dancers, she gets up and completes the number. It's a performance that could be symbolic to her entire career. If you fall, don't stay there crying, get up and keep going. That is how she became Madonna.

6. In This Life, Girlie Show Tour, 1993. 

Another pivotal moment in Madonna's touring career.

This moving performance sees our Diva not only singing impeccably but also addressing the LGBT community, at the time marginalized and decimated by AIDS. The song itself is dedicated to two friends of Madonna's, who died of AIDS at a young age.

Don't give up. 

5. Vogue, MTV Video Music Awards, 1990. 

This is what is called an iconic performance.

We are catapulted in the eighteenth century, at the French court of Marie Antoinette.

Madonna was disguised as the Queen of France and along with her (also disguised) Blond Ambition crew made the audience experience a live music video.

Dance music, old Hollywood, pre-revolution France and Voguing all blend together in this number.

When we Madonna fans say she created the MTV VMAs, we mean it.

4. Live to Tell, Confessions Tour, 2006. 

Madonna has a defining performance for each decade and this one was simply it for the 2000's.

We see Madonna hanging on a mirrored cross, wearing a crown of thorns. At the end of the performance the number 12 million appears on the backdrop screen along with pictures of African children, indicating how many of them have been orphaned by AIDS.

Visually stunning, poetic and meaningful.

3. Like a Prayer, Blond Ambition Tour, 1990. 

A performance that symbolises the desire of redemption after having sinned. It grows and grows, explodes with joy and culminates in an orgasm.
To Madonna, God and Sex are the same entity.

The performance that appears in Truth or Dare is particularly amazing.

2. Vogue, MDNA Tour, 2012.

Second entry for both Vogue and the MDNA Tour. This performance perfectly blends fashion and pop music. It is basically a fashion show in a concert.

The new arrangement of the song, which was first premiered at the Super Bowl Halftime Show earlier that year, has been one of my favorites since then. Jean Paul Gaultier's new cone bra (that he designed specifically for Madonna) has become an iconic outfit and a definitive one for 2010's Madonna.

1. Express Yourself, Blond Ambition Tour, 1990. 

Call me when you find another artist this powerful and fierce on stage.

This is the number that not only cemented Madonna as a performance artist but also the one that created modern pop music performances (along with its parent tour). After 29 years, it has lost none of its sensuality, none of its meaning and none of its impact.

A performance that screams independence, freedom and femininity.

Do you agree with this list? Tell me down below or leave a comment on our Facebook page.

Happy birthday Madonna!

Let your body move to the music