Pop fans rejoice as Madonna and Kylie Minogue perform together during Celebration tour

Pop icons Kylie Minogue and Madonna performed a duet together in celebration of International Women’s Day, a moment music fans have been waiting four decades for.

Despite being billed as rivals, the two pop queens have often praised one another and are each known in their own right as dominating forces in the music industry. However, they had never performed live together... until now.

Kylie joined Madonna at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, near Los Angeles, California, for a rendition of the Australian star’s hit single “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” on Thursday (7 March), as part of Madonna’s ongoing Celebration tour.

Wearing cowboy boots and a leather jacket, Madonna danced beside the “Princess of Pop”, who was dressed in leather-style pattern trousers and a black T-shirt.

After performing Kylie’s song, the duo performed the Grammy-winning empowerment anthem “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, a favourite among LGBT+ music fans.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Minogue said: “Madonna It’s been a long time coming!!! Loved being with you!!!! Celebration Tour and it is now International Women’s Day …. Thank you and Love Love Love.”

She also shared a clip of her dancing through the crowd while wearing a T-shirt bearing Madonna’s name on the front. Madonna returned the tribute by wearing a “Kylie Minogue” T-shirt during her performance.

Kylie, 55, has been enjoying something of a career renaissance in recent months, winning a Grammy for her 2023 summer smash “Padam Padam” and recently being crowned with the Global Icon award at the Brits last weekend.

With nine No 1 albums, she claims the third most UK chart-topping records of any female artist, following Madonna and Taylor Swift.

Madonna’s Celebration tour sees the Queen of Pop performing a string of her greatest hits, from “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer” to “Holiday” and “Hung Up”.

It was rescheduled last year after the US artist contracted a serious bacterial infection that resulted in a stay in intensive care.

Madonna addressed her health scare in an earlier show at the Kia Forum, where she thanked her doctor and his medical team, many of whom were watching from the audience.

“It was a strange thing to finally not feel like I was in control,” Madonna said, adding that, despite suffering broken bones and having a titanium hip, “nothing can stop me.”

“This summer I had a surprise,” she said. “It’s called a near-death experience. Yes, and I’m not kidding. It was pretty scary. Obviously, I didn’t know for four days, because I was in an induced coma. But when I woke up, the first word I said was ‘No.’

“Anyway, that’s what my assistant tells me. And I’m pretty sure that God was saying to me, ‘Do you wanna come with us? You wanna come with me? You wanna go this way?’ And I said, ‘No. No.'” She emphasised: “No!”

“You are patient and you are kind, and you still are. You still help me take care of everybody I know that’s sick,” she later added. “Thank you so much, wherever you are.”

She is next set to perform at the Kia Forum again on Saturday and Monday, before moving on to the Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs next week.