Entertainment Music Gloria Gaynor Approves of Madonna's 'I Will Survive' Cover on Tour: 'You Have Excellent Taste in Music' The Queen of Pop performs an acoustic rendition of Gaynor's 1978 disco classic on her Celebration Tour, which launched Saturday By Jack Irvin Jack Irvin Jack Irvin has over five years of experience working in digital journalism, and he’s worked at PEOPLE since 2022. Jack started in the industry with internships at Rolling Stone and Entertainment Tonight, and he worked as a freelance writer for publications including Bustle, MTV News, Shondaland, L’Officiel USA, Ladygunn, Flood and PopCrush before joining PEOPLE. In his current role, Jack covers daily music news and has interviewed both up-and-coming and established artists including Dolly Parton, Michelle Branch, Ashanti, Cyndi Lauper, Normani, Carly Rae Jepsen and Coco Jones. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 16, 2023 12:15PM EDT Close Madonna performs in London in October 2023; Gloria Gaynor in Nashville in September 2023. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage, Jason Davis/Getty Many people would be afraid, or even petrified, to cover Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" — but according to the singer herself, Madonna nailed it. The Queen of Pop includes an acoustic cover of the 1978 disco classic on her new Celebration Tour, which kicked off at London's O2 Arena on Saturday, and Gaynor took to social media the following day to express her approval. "@Madonna congratulations on the launch of #TheCelebrationTour at the @TheO2," wrote Gaynor, 80, on X (formerly Twitter) alongside a video of the "I Will Survive" cover. "So happy that you are in good health and ready to have a holiday with fans around the world! By the way, you have excellent taste in music!" Madonna Talks Her 'Crazy Year' Onstage at Celebration Tour Launch — and Leads Singalong for Lourdes' Birthday The "I Will Survive" cover's inclusion in the Celebration Tour setlist feels especially meaningful for Madonna, who was hospitalized over the summer for a serious bacterial infection and had to postpone the tour's original opening date. She spoke about the health issues during the first of six sold-out O2 Arena concerts. "I didn't think I was gonna make it. Neither did my doctors," Madonna told the crowd. "That's why I woke up with all of my children sitting around me." "I forgot five years of my life, or my death, I don't really know where I was. But the angels were protecting me, and my children were there. And my children always save me every time," she said of Lourdes, Rocco, 23, David, 18, Mercy, 17, and Stella and Estere, 11. "If you want to know my secret and you want to know how I pulled through and survived, I thought, I have to be there for my children. I have to survive for them." Madonna's Tour by the Numbers: 4 Kids, 8 Humidifiers, 3 Traveling Gyms and More Surprising Revelations Madonna performs in London on Oct. 14, 2023. Kevin Mazur/WireImage In especially celebratory moments throughout the night Madonna's kids joined her onstage: Mercy played piano for "Bad Girl," Estere deejayed and danced with her mom to "Vogue," Stella appeared onstage during "Don't Tell Me" and David played guitar on "Mother and Father." Saturday's show marked the first stop in a world tour of 78 shows that will take Madonna from Europe to North America through April 2024, before closing in New York City. "I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for," she said in a press release when the Celebration Tour was initially announced in January.