Fans who attended Madonna's The Celebration Tour in Chicago on Friday night (February 2) got to hear something the Queen of Pop has never done before: perform her No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit 'This Used to Be My' live Playground” from 1992. (Well, a bit of it, at least.)
The song was written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone for the 1992 film A union of their own. Madonna co-starred in the baseball comedy-drama as “All the Way” Mae Mordabito, and the song was played over the film's end credits. Until last night, it was the only one of her 12 No. 1 Hot 100 hits that she had never performed live.
During the concert at The United Center, Madonna recalled filming the movie, which was a fictional story about the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
“I hope you remember,” he told the audience, “I made a movie called A union of their own, and I had to learn how to play baseball in this town. I've been here for months! And, um, I was kind of a mess at first, but I did it. I did well. All the Way Mae, that's right. Do you remember her? I learned how to play baseball in this damn town! And do you remember the song? While we take a trip down memory lane in my retrospective [show].”
She then sang a few verses, a cappella, from the beginning of “This Used to Be My Playground,” with the help of the crowd, telling the audience, “Aw, blessed one,” after they joined her. He then joked: “I thought only 10 of you would know. Turns out 20 of you knew. Just kidding.”
“I have very fond memories of this town, I'm just saying,” he said.
In addition to topping the Hot 100 for a week in 1992, “Playground” reached No. 2 on the Radio Songs chart and No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart. It would also receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. In 2023, it ranked as Madonna's 19th biggest song of all time on the Hot 100 chart.
Fun fact: In 2019, Advertising sign asked Madonna to consider performing three songs on the then-upcoming Madame X tour—her three Hot 100 top 10 hits that, at the time, she had never performed live before. They were “This Used to Be My Playground”, “I'll Remember” and “Rescue Me”. During preparations for the Madame X tour, she rehearsed “Rescue Me”, but eventually included it in the performance as a pre-recorded spoken word interlude while offstage.
