Madonna paused her Miami concert on April 9 to honor the 49 victims of the 2016 mass shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub. The singer invited survivors and victim’s families to the “Celebration” tour stop, delivering an impassioned speech in remembrance.
“I want to draw attention to that moment because nightclubs and music and dance are what bring us together,” Madonna told the crowd of thousands at the Kaseya Center, as seen in a fan-captured video. “They shouldn’t be places or things that we do that bring us sadness and tragedy and murder and death and pain and suffering and trauma. But unfortunately, human beings are still stuck in some kind of a rut.”
She continued, reaffirming that she would “always stand for the gays” because “the gays have always stood for me,” she said. “People getting together to dance in a club that was inclusive and full of love. It was Latin Night, people were dancing to Latin music, and some motherfucker came in there with two guns and started shooting at people.”
Madonna, who referred to the Pulse shooting as “the biggest terrorist attack on America after 9/11,” also took a moment to point out the survivors and family members in the crowd. “I’m very emotional about this,” she said. “I make dance music. My job is to bring people together, to make people dance, to make people happy, to not judge. This shit is not supposed to happen. Don’t forget about it.”
Madonna also typically honors victims of AIDS/HIV at the height of the epidemic in the 1980s during all of her shows when she performs “Live to Tell” as photos of victims are projected across screens.
The “Celebration” tour will close with a free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 4 at Copacabana Beach. The show will be free of charge and no tickets are required for the event, which will be broadcast live on TV Globo.