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(CNN) -- What do you call a mother of two who struts her stuff on stage in a sassy tartan kilt?
Answer: Madonna.
Or more correctly, Madonna on her "Drowned World" tour -- her first extended tour in 8 years.
This week the material girl gave Londoners a look at her fancy dance moves and eye-popping costumes as she kicked off the British leg of her tour with a sell-out performance in Earl's Court.
And according to her fans, she's living up to her reputation as one of the world's greatest entertainers.
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Donning a variety of outfits including a kilt, kimono and cowboy hat, she flew across the stage on a trapeze wire and sang atop a mechanical bull.
Trip around the world
Since her last tour in 1993, the world has watched as the 42-year-old made a stack of albums and movies, had two babies and married British filmmaker Guy Richie.
She held a rare performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York last October. And she performed for a small crowd of mainly competition winners and celebrities at a South London gig in November. The rest of the world was invited to view the show via webcast.
Itching to hit the road on a grand scale, Madonna told World Beat last year she needed to "take a trip around the world and sing a few songs."
So off she went.
Her "Drowned World" tour kicked off in Barcelona, Spain, on June 9 and is scheduled to whip through 17 countries. The North America leg begins June 21 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and wraps up in Los Angeles, California, September 14.
The tour follows the release of her latest album, "Music." So far songs from that album have formed the basis of her show, with some oldies such as "Holiday" thrown in.
Madonna's "Music"
"Music" sold an astonishing 4 million copies in the first 10 days of its release.
She chose to work with producers William Orbit and Mirwais Ahmadzai for the album. Madonna had worked with Orbit on "Ray of Light" (1998). That album, which boasts the track "Beautiful Strangers," won four Grammys.
She had never worked with Mirwais, whose "Disco Science" became a hit on the French club circuit. Once Madonna heard a demo, she decided to take a chance.
"Guy Oseary, my partner at Maverick (Records), was given a demo by a French artist called Mirwais," she said. "(He) slipped it to me and said, 'What do you think (of him) as an artist to sign at Maverick?'"
She thought very much of it indeed.
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"I just said 'Omigod, this is what I want,'" she recalled. "I just flipped over it and said, 'Please find out if he wants to work with me.'"
With the help of Mirwais and Orbit, she took "Music" in a different direction than "Ray of Light."
"'Ray of Light' is more trippy, more ambient, more dense," she said. "I think that 'Music' is much more pared down, much more minimalist and in a way, more funky.
"I was really proud of it," she said. "It's exactly what I wanted."
The superstar was determined to make her current tour exactly what she wanted too. She has an entourage of 200 people and two 747 jets in tow for the 13-week trek.
And Madonna devotees are lapping it up -- tickets sold out almost immediately.
To their delight, the American gal who started off as a struggling ballerina in New York City in the late 70s just won't stop boogie woogying in the spotlight.
Warner Bros. Records, Madonna's label, is owned by Time Warner, which is the parent company of CNN.
Shanon Cook compiled this report.
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