It was perhaps one of the most painful performances for the Queen of Pop, and not because of her singing
Madonna took a tumble as she took to the stage for her much anticipated Brit Awards performance on Wednesday night.
It happened early on in the 56-year-old singer’s performance, when she was dragged backwards falling off the stage with a bang, as one of her backing dancers tried to remove the cloak she was wearing.
Gasps were heard in the O2 arena, where the star-studded crowd included Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Russell Crowe.
But the mum of four managed to recover (as did her backing dancer) and finished her performance of Living For Love.
The fall immediately sparked a frenzied reaction on social media, while celebrities also showed their support for the pop superstar.
The 56-year-old later said she was “fine” in a post on Instagram, telling her three million followers that her cape was “too tight”.
The painful incident came at the end of a ceremony where Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith shared the honours, winning two awards each.
Ed was handed his award by Russell Crowe as he scooped the night’s main prize, album of the year, for his record X – which was the best-selling record of 2014 in the UK.
Mark Ronson won best single for Uptown Funk, while Brighton rock duo Royal Blood were presented with best British Group by rock legend Jimmy Page.
Sam Smith took home the awards for Breakthrough Artist and Global Success at the ceremony.
The winners at the Brit Awards 2015:
Best British Solo Male: Ed Sheeran
British Solo Female: Paloma Faith
British Group: Royal Blood
British Breakthrough Act: Sam Smith
British Single: Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk MasterCard British Album Of The Year: Ed Sheeran – X British Producer Of The Year: Paul Epworth British Artist Video Of The Year: One Direction – You & I International Solo Male: Pharrell Williams International Solo Female: Taylor Swift International Group: Foo Fighters Critics’ Choice winner: James Bay Global Success award, for international sales: Sam Smith