Sticky & Sweet Tour

The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth concert tour by American singer Madonna, launched in support of her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy (2008). It marked her first major undertaking under a new 360 deal with Live Nation. Following a series of promotional appearances, the tour was announced in May 2008 with shows across Europe and North America, and also marked her return to Latin America after fifteen years. Though initially planned, the tour did not visit Australia. The first leg began on August 23, 2008, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and concluded on December 21 at Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo. In early 2009, a summer extension was confirmed, focusing primarily on European markets; this second leg ran from July 4 at the O2 Arena in London to September 2 at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv.

The show was divided into four thematic segments —Pimp, Old School, Gypsy, and Rave — and described as a "rock-driven, dancetastic journey". Critical reception was generally positive, with praise for the tour’s production values, choreography, and Madonna's stage presence. Commercially, the tour was a major success: after earning $282 million ($411.84 in 2024 dollars) it became the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo artist at the time. An additional $129 million ($188.4 in 2024 dollars) was generated from the 2009 extension, bringing the final gross to $411 million ($600.24 in 2024 dollars), making it the second highest-grossing tour of all time, behind only the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour (2005―07). It remained the highest-grossing tour by a female artist for almost fifteen years.

The tour generated some backlash. A video interlude titled "Get Stupid" drew criticism for placing images of then-US Republican presidential candidate John McCain alongside those of Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe. During a 2009 concert in Bucharest, Madonna addressed discrimination against the Romani community in Eastern Europe, which was met with audible boos from the audience. The shows at Buenos Aires' River Plate Stadium were filmed and later broadcast as Madonna: Sticky & Sweet —first airing on Sky1, and subsequently on EPIX. The broadcast was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and CD in 2010 under the title Sticky & Sweet Tour.