Madonna grabbed the headlines at the Brit Awards on Wednesday night, but probably not in the way she would have wanted.

The 56 year old star was closing the annual music industry spectacular with a live performance of her new single ‘Living For Love’ when a costume malfunction caused her fall backwards off the mounted podium upon which she was standing and down a small flight of steps.

Madonna
Madonna at the Grammy Awards earlier this month

The singer has assured everyone that she was not hurt when she fell, and took to her Instagram account shortly after the ceremony to explain why it went wrong. Apparently, the cloak she was wearing was “tied too tight”, which meant that the back-up dancer who was supposed to remove it with a flourish pulled Madonna with him.

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But with consummate professionalism, the star got straight back up on her feet and delivered the rest of the performance with confidence and panache. There’s a reason she’s been at the top of the music business for more than three decades, you know.

It was Madge’s first live show at the Brits in twenty years, when she sang ‘Bedtime Stories’ with a stripped-down wind machine performance in 1995. The choreography this time round was matador-themed, with Madonna intending to deliver a message of empowerment.

‘Living For Love’ is the first single to be lifted from Madonna’s new album Rebel Heart, which has suffered from internet leaks of some of its tracks. Ironically, the single contains the lyrics “lifted me up and watched me stumble” and “took me to heaven and let me fall down.”

The fall promises to be up there with Adele’s middle finger to James Corden, Belle & Sebastian’s shock win and Jarvis Cocker’s bum-wiggling when it comes to memorable Brit Awards moments.

The ceremony was held at London’s O2 Arena, and was hosted by Ant & Dec. British solo artists Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran were the big winners of the evening, taking home two trophies each.

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