Celebration is the third greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, and the final release under her contract with Warner Bros. Records, her record company since 1982. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, The Immaculate Collection (1990) and GHV2(2001). The compilation was released in many different formats including a one-disc edition and a deluxe double disc. A compilation DVD, entitledCelebration: The Video Collection, was released to accompany the audio versions. The album includes three new tracks, the title track, "Revolver" (featuring Lil Wayne) and the bonus track on some editions "It's So Cool".
Celebration was appreciated by contemporary critics who noted the vastness of Madonna's back-catalogue. The album debuted at the top of the charts in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Madonna became tied with Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most number-one albums in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200 at seven. In other nations, it debuted within the top ten. The title track was released as the first single of the album. It became Madonna's fortieth number-one song on Billboard's dance chart. "Revolver" was released as the second single from the album in some territories, but did not achieve significant commercial success.
On March 18, 2009, Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg announced the plans for the release of a greatest hits package by September. She also added that Madonna had plans to go to the studio and record new material for the album. The next day, Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, asked fans on his Twitter for input regarding the track listing of the greatest hits album. It was later confirmed that she wrote three new tracks for the album, with Paul Oakenfold being confirmed as producer for two of the new songs.
Attitude magazine reported in an interview with Oakenfold that the tracks he produced with Madonna are called "Broken (I'm Sorry)" and "Celebrate". He stated that the new music is "lyrically classic Madonna with an edgy modern sound." Her official website also confirmed the presence of the track "Revolver", featuring rapper Lil Wayne, when they announced the final track listing for the CD and DVD on August 26, 2009.
On July 22, 2009, Warner Bros. Records officially announced the release date as September 28, 2009 and confirmed the name of the album as Celebration through Madonna's official website. The compilation was available in a case of two, as well as a single CD. The songs on the album were re-mastered and chosen by Madonna and her fans, while covering the whole expanse of her career. A DVD titled Celebration: The Video Collection was released which included several music videos of Madonna that have never appeared on a DVD before. It includes the completed video of the single "Celebration". The cover for Celebration was created by street pop artist Mr. Brainwash who is best known for "throwing modern cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to eleven". Celebration was made available for pre-order on iTunes on September 1, 2009 to coincide with the music video release of "Celebration". The standard (1 disc) and deluxe editions (2 discs) are available, as well as an iTunes exclusive Premium Edition which includes each track available on the 2-Disc Edition, as well as a new track entitled "It's So Cool", and thirty MP4 music videos.
"The song comes first. And all of those other things that people remember, the imagistic things, are secondary, or certainly not as important. But I think I’ve become pretty good at sussing out when people’s opinions of my work are coming from what they think of me personally. You just have to do your thing and then let it go out into the world. The rest, you’re not in control."
Madonna talking about her songs and Celebration.
Celebration received score of 84/100 at Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim" from music critics. Sarah Crompton from The Daily Telegraph gave the collection four out of five stars and said: "Madonna's Celebration shows just how consistently she delivers the goods, with tracks such as 'Music', 'Ray of Light', 'Frozen' and 'Don't Tell Me'", with "only a couple of [songs] which feel dispensable." Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine gave the compilation four out of five stars and commented that "functionally, what Madonna and fans are really celebrating with the release of Celebration is the hard proof that Madonna's back catalogue is now so immense and so varied that she can release a behemoth, two-disc greatest hits package that shoehorns in 36 songs and still manages to significantly short-change the singer's legacy", though also noticing that "the album is missing songs, doesn't always include the right ones, [and] seems to have been sequenced by a not particularly intuitive Genius playlist." Tim Sendra fromAllmusic praised that "the collection does a fine job of living up to the title — it's certainly a celebration of Madonna's career and includes some of the most celebratory and thrilling pop music ever created." While reviewing the double-disc deluxe edition version of the album, he commented: "The 34-track double-disc Deluxe Edition has an easier time of it than the single-disc 18-track release does."
Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone noted that "Celebration kicks off with pure bliss and never lets up. It's a dizzying, nonchronological spin through the Madonna years, years it makes you feel lucky to be living through. Her hitmaking genius is unmatched and [...] undiminished.", though calling the omission of "Angel" "just plain crazypants." Lean Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly commented that the album "holds up surprisingly well." Bill Lamb of About.com commented that consistency is the hallmark of Madonna's career. He said, "As you listen to all 36 tracks on the Celebration collection one of the most obvious attributes is the impressive consistency in musical quality that Madonna has maintained over more than 25 years. [...] These songs belong in any serious pop music catalog." Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle praised the album saying "every song onCelebration defines a moment in time, a radio sing-along, a twirl under the glitterball. It's a pulsing testament to Madonna's often-overlooked pop prowess, from the scrappy electro beginnings of 'Everybody' and 'Burning Up' to the retro-disco swirl of 'Beautiful Stranger' and 'Hung Up', still a hands-in-the-air highlight."
Alan Woodhouse from NME was unfavorable about this compilation, reckoning Madonna's career as two distinct phases, them being her "80’s output" and her later career, or "phaze two", summarising by saying that "Madonna clearly thinks this collection represents a celebration of her longevity [...] in reality all it does it expose her more recent failings", though Woodhouse also called it "unfair to say Madge hasn’t touched magic since 1990" before naming "Hung Up" and "Ray of Light". Douglas Wolk, from Pitchfork Media, reviewed the album in the same light, also comparing her early work with the later days, stating that "'Hung Up' is really the only song from the post-GHV2 period that's lodged in the American pop consciousness", concluding with saying that "[Madonna] deserves a retrospective more interesting than this haphazard piece of contract-filling product.", though being positive about the opening sequence, calling that "incredibly strong, a convincing argument for her genius."
In the United States, Celebration debuted at number seven, with 72,000 copies sold in its first week. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 23, 2009, indicating shipment of 250,000 copies of the album (it is a double album, the RIAA counts each unit sale twice). According to Nielsen SoundScan, Celebration had sold 251,000 copies by August 2010. In April 2010, the album got a boost in sales from the Glee episode titled The Power of Madonna. The album re-entered the Billboard 200 at position 85 with sales of 6,000 and a 219% gain. In February 2012 after her appearance on the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at position 24 with sales of 16,000 and a 1.341% gain. As of February 2012, Celebration has sold 267,000 in the US and a total of 13 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.
In Canada, the album debuted at the top of the Canadian Albums Chart, with sales of 17,000 copies. In Australia and New Zealand, Celebration debuted at number eight and two on the official charts, respectively. The album was certified gold in both Australia and New Zealand, by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARAI) and Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), indicating shipements of 35,000 and 15,000 copies respectively. The album debuted at number one position in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, Celebration debuted at number one, selling 77,000 copies in the first week. According to The Official Charts Company, the release became Madonna's eleventh number-one album on the UK Albums Chart, tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo act with the most number-one albums in the British chart history. The album was certified platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipment of 300,000 copies across the United Kingdom. According to The Official Charts Company, the album has sold 370,231 copies in the United Kingdom.[citation needed] The album also reached the top of the charts in Canada, Mexico and in the European nations of Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK, while in Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland the album debuted within the top ten of the official charts. It also debuted at number one on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart, topping the chart for four consecutive weeks. The track, "It's So Cool", debuted on the official charts of Finland, Italy and Sweden at positions 8, 20 and 30 respectively, due to digital downloads. It was certified multi-platinum by FIMI for shipments of 300,000 copies.
"Celebration" was confirmed to be the first single from the compilation. A first preview of the song was added on the performance for "Holiday" on her 2009 leg of the Sticky & Sweet Tour. It was to be released to radio stations on August 3, 2009. However, the single leaked on to the internet, so the date was changed to July 31, 2009. The digital download was also released on this date due to the leak. Remixes of the song were released to dance clubs on July 24, 2009. "Celebration" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. The song reached the top of the charts in countries like Finland, Italy and Sweden, while reaching the top-ten in other European nations. It became Madonna's fifty-fifth entry to the Billboard Hot 100 and her fortieth number-one song on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
On December 11, 2009 it was confirmed by Madonna's official website that "Revolver" would be released as the second single off the album in some territories. The digital maxi single was released in many countries on December 29, 2009, followed by a CD maxi single in the US in late January 2010 and a 12" vinyl single in early February 2010. Contemporary critics gave a mixed review of the song. Some praised the chorus line "My love’s a revolver" while others felt that it was underwhelming and not on par with Madonna's previous songs. "Revolver" has charted in the lower regions of the official charts of Belgium, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom while reaching number four on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart of United States. This was Madonna's last single of the 2000s.