Madonna Delivers Speech About Paris Terror Attacks, Performs ‘Like A Prayer’

Madonna, unlike many other artists, decided to continue touring after the recent terror attacks in Paris. At her Rebel Heart tour stop in Stockholm, Sweden, Madonna explained why in a moving speech that she followed with a performance of “Like a Prayer.”

Madonna Addresses Paris Terror Attacks

After performing a number of songs on her setlist, Madonna paused her concert in order to address the terror attacks in Paris on Friday that ended in 129 deaths and left more than 300 people injured.

“It’s been really hard, actually, to get through the show, because in many ways I feel torn, because it’s like, ‘Why am I up here dancing and having fun when people are crying over the loss of their loved ones?’ However, that is exactly what these people want to do,” Madonna said of the terrorists. “They want to shut us up. They want to silence us, and we won’t let them. We will never let them because there is power in unity, and I do believe, as much chaos and pain and senseless violence and terrorism that occurs around this world — not just in Paris — there is more goodness in this world. We are here to prove it.”

“I was going to cancel my show tonight, but then I thought to myself, ‘why should I give that to them? Why should I allow them to stop me? And to stop us from enjoying freedom,” Madonna added. “All of the places where people were killed were places where people were having fun. Where people were enjoying themselves. Eating in restaurants, dancing, singing, watching a soccer match. These are freedoms that we take for granted of course, and we must not, but they are freedoms that we deserve.”

Madonna then went on to suggest that the only way to put an end to such acts of senseless violence is through love.

“The way we change the world is that we change the way we treat one another on a daily basis, in the simplest ways. We must start treating every human being with dignity and respect, and this is the only thing that will change the world,” she said. “This is the only thing. Only love will change the world, but it’s very hard to love unconditionally, and it’s very hard to love that what we don’t understand or that which is different than we are. But we have to, or this will go on and on forever.”

Following a moment of silence, Madonna led the arena full of people in an acoustic rendition of her hit “Like a Prayer.”