Madonna - Celebration album

Sarah Crompton from The Daily Telegraph gave the collection four out of five stars and said: "Madonna's Celebration shows just how consistently she delivers the goods, with tracks such as 'Music', 'Ray of Light', 'Frozen' and 'Don't Tell Me'." Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine gave the compilation four out of five stars and commented that "functionally, what Madonna and fans are really celebrating with the release of Celebration is the hard proof that Madonna's back catalogue is now so immense and so varied that she can release a behemoth, two-disc greatest hits package that shoehorns in 36 songs and still manages to significantly short-change the singer's legacy." Tim Sendra from Allmusic praised that "the collection does a fine job of living up to the title — it's certainly a celebration of Madonna's career and includes some of the most celebratory and thrilling pop music ever created." While reviewing the double-disc deluxe edition version of the album, he commented: "The 34-track double-disc Deluxe Edition has an easier time of it than the single-disc 18-track release does." Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone noted that "Celebration kicks off with pure bliss and never lets up. It's a dizzying, nonchronological spin through the Madonna years, years it makes you feel lucky to be living through. Her hitmaking genius is unmatched and undiminished." Lean Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly commented that the album "holds up surprisingly well." Bill Lamb of About.com commented that consistency is the hallmark of Madonna's career. He said, "As you listen to all 36 tracks on the Celebration collection one of the most obvious attributes is the impressive consistency in musical quality that Madonna has maintained over more than 25 years. These songs belong in any serious pop music catalog." Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle praised the album saying "every song on Celebration defines a moment in time, a radio sing-along, a twirl under the glitterball. It's a pulsing testament to Madonna's often-overlooked pop prowess, from the scrappy electro beginnings of 'Everybody' and 'Burning Up' to the retro-disco swirl of 'Beautiful Stranger' and 'Hung Up', still a hands-in-the-air highlight." Alan Woodhouse of New Musical Express was not impressed with the collection and said, "while Madonna clearly thinks this collection represents a celebration of her longevity in reality all it does it expose her more recent failings."

In the United States, Celebration debuted at number seven, with 72,000 copies sold in its first week. In Canada, the album debuted at the top of the Canadian Albums Chart, with sales of 17,000 copies.

In Australia and New Zealand, Celebration debuted at number eight and two on the official charts, respectively. The album debuted at number one position in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Celebration became Madonna's eleventh number-one album on the UK Albums Chart, tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo act with the most number-one albums in the British chart history. This tally includes the Evita soundtrack album, which is not a Madonna solo album as it featured other artists as well. The album also reached the top of the charts in Canada and in the European nations of Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and UK while in Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland the album debuted within the top ten of the official charts. It also debuted at the top of the chart, on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart.

"Celebration" was confirmed to be the first single from the compilation. A first preview of the song was added on the performance for "Holiday" on her 2009 leg of the Sticky & Sweet Tour. It was to be released to radio stations on August 3, 2009 However, the single leaked on to the internet, so the date was changed to July 31, 2009. The digital download was also released on this date due to the leak. Remixes of the song were released to dance clubs on July 24, 2009. "Celebration" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. The song reached the top of the charts in countries like Finland, Italy and Sweden, while reaching the top-ten in other European nations. It became Madonna's fifty-fifth entry to the Billboard Hot 100 and her fortieth number-one song on the Billboard Dance Club chart.

Another track from the album, titled "It's So Cool" debuted on the official charts of Finland, Italy and Sweden at positions eight, twenty and thirty respectively, due to digital downloads.