Madonna celebrates 58th birthday in Havana
Madonna thanks fans for birthday wishes
HAVANA: Madonna celebrated her 58th birthday on Tuesday in Havana, dancing to Cuban beats during a night on the town and drawing crowds as she toured the city.
The Material Girl’s visit got a write-up in the Cuban Communist party’s official newspaper, Granma, which reported that she “toured different city squares to start the first day of her visit, which will last until Wednesday.”
It said the US pop superstar was in Cuba with her eldest daughter, Lourdes, a 19-year- old model whose father is Cuban dancer and fitness trainer Carlos Leon.
American photographer Steven Klein and stylists B. Akerlund and Andy Lecompte are travelling with them, it said.
Madonna posted a picture of herself to her Twitter account with the caption “Cuba Libre.” It shows her wearing a revealing black dress with yellow flowers and smiling as she tips a black hat.
Videos posted online by fans show her dressed in the same outfit strolling through the streets of Old Havana and dancing to Cuban beats at a restaurant in the historic city centre as onlookers cheer.
The news site Cubadebate said Madonna was planning a “big party” on Tuesday with the “rhythms and flavours” of Cuba.
Madonna is the latest in a string of US celebrities to visit Cuba since its historic rapprochement with long-time enemy the United States was announced in December 2014.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Usher, Paris Hilton, and Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian have all toured the Caribbean island recently.
US citizens are still officially banned from travelling to Cuba as tourists under the embargo Washington has maintained on Havana since the 1960s.
But President Barack Obama’s administration has loosened travel restrictions, enabling more Americans to make the trip under permitted categories such as “cultural exchanges.” — AFP
Captioning a photograph of herself, she wrote: “Thank you to all my fans and everyone who is in my gang for all your birthday Wishes!!!! You know how to make a girl feel special!! (sic)”
Social media has flooded with sweet messages for the ‘ Rebel Heart’ singer.
One wrote: “Happy happy birthday Madonna!wish you all the best and more (sic)”
Whilst another added: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! And many more!! You have always been a source of inspiration to me, thank you... @ madonna (sic)”
Meanwhile, Madonna — who has Lourdes, 19, Rocco, 16, Mercy, 10, and David, 10 — previously revealed she thinks it is easy to become famous.
She said: “I was already famous before social media, so for me fame isn’t the burden. Fame is the manifestation or the byproduct of my work, and that was two decades before social media.
“Now to me the burden is people are more focused on fame than actually doing the work or being an artiste. Now it’s easy to become famous. What isn’t easy is to develop and grow as an artiste without being distracted or consumed with fame.
“I don’t consider myself a pop act, I consider myself an artiste. And it’s an artiste’s responsibility to be revolutionary in our work. It’s our responsibility, our duty and our privilege.” — BANG Showbiz
Thank you to all my fans and everyone who is in my gang for all your birthday Wishes!!!! You know how to make a girl feel special!! Madonna, pop superstar