Madonna opened up about her MDNA Tour, admitting to crying from being so exhausted half of the time and finding the strength to perform over and over despite all of the crazy things that happened this past year.

During a Q&A session after the world premiere of Madonna: The MDNA Tour in New York City, Madonna admitted this tour was “probably the hardest tour I’ve ever done.”

She said “49 percent of the time” she was “crying from overexhaustion” and she also needed to push herself in light of events that were out of her control.

“There were so many weird, bizarre things happening [during the tour], from the trial of Pussy Riot to gays being arrested at my concert in St. Petersburg to the election of Obama,” she said, New York Magazine reports. “The world was changing rapidly — the shooting of Malala — it was just a crazy time. And I was personally and tremendously affected by it, and sometimes I just didn’t feel like I had the strength to go on and sing and dance and pretend that crazy shit wasn’t happening in the world.”

She says, however, “by the end of each show I felt victorious that I had pushed through something. The world needs to be inspired — it’s my job, it’s all of our jobs to bring people up.”

Madonna also talked about having her 12 year old son Rocco on tour with her. “He’s disconcertingly comfortable onstage, and I was thrilled to see him every night. He gave me a little boost of energy,” she said.

In conclusion, her philosophy for touring? “Go hard or go home.”

image: INF Daily