Culture

Madonna Kicks Off Rebel Heart Tour in Montreal

Madonna attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, May 4, 2015.
Karwai Tang/Getty Images

September 09, 2015, 4:19 PM

 -- It seems like a long time coming, but Madonna's Rebel Heart tour finally gets underway tonight in Montreal.

The start date was originally Aug. 29 in Miami, but it was moved forward to allow more time for Madonna, a notorious perfectionist, to get everything just right.

Diplo, a top DJ and one of the producers who worked on Madonna's “Rebel Heart” album, will also open for her tonight and Thursday night in Montreal.

"I'm not sure anybody's going to know who or what I am but, hopefully, I can surprise them and give them something new. You know, just warm them up, let them know that Madonna's about to shut down the whole arena," he told ABC News. "She's been working on the live versions of the songs for, like, three to four months, so it's just going to be crazy."

Madonna has already revealed her set list will include classics like "Dress You Up," "Who's That Girl," "Vogue" and "Holiday," plus a big helping of songs from “Rebel Heart” because, in general, as she told Entertainment Weekly, "I'm not a 'greatest hits' kind of girl."

"You could say it's reinventing, but a real artist is continuously changing and evolving because the art is continuously changing and evolving," she explained.

How Madonna Got Beyoncé, Kanye West and Katy Perry to Be in Her Music Video

Madonna Kissed Drake Onstage at Coachella, and Drake's Reaction Was Interesting

Madonna, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry Pose at Met Gala

A huge part of every Madonna tour is, of course, the costumes, and this time around, the Material Girl will be rocking designs by Alessandro Michele for Gucci, Alexander Wang, Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Nicolas Jebran, Miu Miu, and Prada. Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips will be overseeing all of Madonna's looks for the sixth time, and also contributing some of her own designs.

"I'm not going to tell you a word about that, because I value my relationship with her too much to ever divulge any of her secrets," Jeremy Scott said when asked to spill some details about his designs for the tour.

The Rebel Heart tour will visit North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand before wrapping up March 27. Madonna's shows in Australia will be her first Down Under in 23 years, and she'll do her first-ever shows in New Zealand as well.

The Michigan native, 57, has a lot to live up to when it comes to raking in the bucks on tour: Her 2008 Sticky & Sweet tour still holds the records for the highest-grossing tour by a female artist, the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist and the second-highest grossing tour of all time, behind only The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour. Her last tour, the MDNA tour, ranks in the top 10 highest-grossing tours of all time.

Of note, Madonna's opening act for three shows in her adopted hometown of New York City will be red-hot comedian Amy Schumer.