LONDON (Reuters) – Madonna kicked off her "Celebration" tour in London on Saturday, with a performance that proved her energy, charisma, and appetite for controversy were little dimmed after four decades of pop super-stardom and a brush with death earlier this year.

The 65-year-old's greatest hits show was pushed back from its original July start date after she was hospitalized in intensive care for a serious bacterial infection.

"I'm really damn surprised I made it this far. And I mean that on so many levels," she told fans at the O2 arena.

Wearing the corset and chains that defined her breakthrough, she sang "Into The Groove" and even brought several of her children (ages 11-29) on stage to perform.

1983's "Holiday" recreated the hedonistic joy of a New York club before the onslaught of AIDS, marked by a tribute to those who had died.

Religious imagery that accompanied Madonna's rise from pop star to cultural icon was the backdrop to "Like a Prayer", while "Vogue", the hit that powered her into the 1990s, saw one of the stages become a catwalk.

Madonna addressed the situation in the Middle East. "There's a lot of really crazy things happening in the world that are so, so painful to witness," she said. "But even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken."

On her health scare, she said: "It was a crazy year for me as well. And I didn't think I was going to make it."

With more than 40 songs in the show, some like "Papa Don't Preach" were dispatched in seconds, but all of her re-inventions, from Catholic Madonna to Country Madonna, were featured.

The seven-time Grammy Award winner has rescheduled the tour's North American leg to start in December after her European concerts.

Check out the concert's video highlights below…

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by William Mallard)

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