A fourth song, "Broken", was recorded for the album but not used; eventually it was released in 2012 as a limited edition promotional vinyl single for fanclub members.

[2][3] The next day, Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, asked fans on his Twitter for input regarding the track listing of the greatest hits album.

[6][8] The cover for Celebration was created by street pop artist Mr. Brainwash who is best known for "throwing modern cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to eleven".

[13] 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'", with "only a couple of [songs] which feel dispensable.

"[22] 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", though also noticing that "the album is missing songs, doesn't always include the right ones, [and] seems to have been sequenced by a not particularly intuitive Genius playlist.

"[21] 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", but criticized the inclusion of edit and remix versions and non-chronological order.

[16] 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.

"[18] Alan Woodhouse from NME was unfavorable in his review about the compilation, reckoning Madonna's career as two distinct phases, them being her "80s output" and her later career, or "phaze two", summarizing by saying that "Madonna clearly thinks this collection represents a celebration of her longevity [...] in reality all it does it expose her more recent failings", though Woodhouse also called it "unfair to say Madge hasn't touched magic since 1990" before naming "Hung Up" and "Ray of Light".

[23] Douglas Wolk, from Pitchfork, reviewed the album in the same light, also comparing her early work with the later days, stating that "'Hung Up' is really the only song from the post-GHV2 period that's lodged in the American pop consciousness", concluding with saying that "[Madonna] deserves a retrospective more interesting than this haphazard piece of contract-filling product", though being positive about the opening sequence, calling that "incredibly strong, a convincing argument for her genius.

[26] It was present on the chart for a total of 12 weeks and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 23, 2009, indicating shipment of 500,000 units.

[29] In February 2012 after her appearance on the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show, the album again entered the Billboard 200 at number 24 with sales of 16,000 copies and a 1,341% gain from previous week.

[43] It re-entered the chart again on March 1, 2015, at number 38 with sales of 2,476 copies, following the release of her single "Living for Love" from 13th studio album, Rebel Heart.

[44][45] The album was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipment of 600,000 copies across the United Kingdom,[46] and it sold 666,000 as of 2019 according to Official Charts Company.

[48] In France, Celebration debuted with 21,484 units and it later received a platinum certification from Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 100,000 copies.

[53] In total, Celebration sold over a million copies across Europe, earning a platinum certification from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

[62] "Broken", the fourth song recorded for the album but not used, was written and produced by Madonna and Oakenfold, with additional writing from Ian Green and Ciaran Gribbin.