The tour began on June 9, 2001, at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, and ended on September 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, United States.

Set to start in 1999, it was delayed until 2001 as Madonna filmed and starred in the movie The Next Best Thing (2000), began working on Music, gave birth to her son Rocco and married Guy Ritchie.

Madonna appointed Jamie King, Alex Magno, and Deborah Brown choreographers, while French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, who had worked with the singer in the past, was in charge of the tour's wardrobe.

After the release of her seventh studio album Ray of Light (1998), Madonna stated in an interview on Larry King Live in January 1999 that she was involved in an upcoming movie titled The Next Best Thing.

[13] The Drowned World Tour officially began at Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi on June 9, 2001, and ended at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in September;[10][14] it was originally scheduled to kick off with two shows in Cologne's Kölnarena, but said concerts had to be canceled due to technical difficulties; as a result, 35,000 tickets were refunded.

[23][21] The singer herself said that she envisioned the show as "a theatrical representation of my music [...] I have taken my inspiration from many things — martial arts, flamenco, country, punk, rock and roll, dance, and circus".

They developed a custom icon and type of logo to convey the "unique and ethereal qualities" of Madonna's show, which was described by the group's founder Margo Chase as "a multilayered musical and spiritual journey through diverse worlds".

A number of designs were prepared by Chase and the one ultimately chosen by Madonna made it to the main poster of the show, which featured her face-shot from the "What It Feels Like for a Girl" video.

[...] It goes from screaming heavy metal to techno dance, to Country and Western; there's even a flamenco hootenanny where everyone comes down front, beats on logs and plays acoustic guitars and pennywhistles.

[21] Brothers, Dean and Dan Caten, creators of the DSquared2 fashion line, contributed with ghetto fabulous costumes, which represented the phase of Madonna's career at that time.

Afterwards, "Beautiful Stranger" was performed by the singer, Niki Haris and Donna De Lory; the backdrops displayed scenes from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and psychedelic fluorescent whirls.

The final act, Spanish Girl/Ghetto Girl, began with an instrumental interlude of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"; several dancers did a Tango number with lit candles placed along the side of the stage.

On the European leg, an additional video played after the concert ended: It showed Ali G announcing, "she ain't comin' back, so go on, piss off.

[33] Following the September 11 attacks, certain changes were made to the final Los Angeles concerts: Madonna wore an American flag as kilt during the opening segment as a display of patriotism; the closing of "Mer Girl" omitted the shooting —the singer instead put the shotgun down, hugged the dancer and they left the stage together.

[39] According to ABC News, Drowned World "took [Madonna's] reputation for entertaining above and beyond literally: one routine found her flying above the stage suspended by trapeze wires".

[24] For The Independent's Simon O'Hagan it proved that, "as a solo artist, Madonna is without equal [...] her desire to put on a spectacle, not just a concert, creates challenges that have extended the boundaries of what a rock'n'pop tour can achieve".

[25] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani felt the "technically flawless" show was "further evidence of the Big M’s perfectionist blond ambition" and concluded that, "[Madonna] is still unmatched in her ability to lift cultural iconography into the mainstream".

[20] On the contrary, Rafael Estefanía expressed that, "the technological visual feast sometimes overshadowed the music itself", an opinion that was shared by El País, and Entertainment Weekly's John McAlley.

[38][39][19] NME's Alex Needham called the tour a tribute to her "incredible graft, magnetic appeal and, above all, her supreme ability at making pop music"; he also said that if other musicians were to put "a tenth of the creative energy" into concerts as Madonna, "we would all be a lot better off".

[43] On a similar note, Phil Gallo from Variety opined that the "mesmerizing and confident" Drowned World Tour "puts to shame any singer who thinks she might have a shot at Ms. Ciccone's pop throne".

[41] Writing for The Guardian, Alex Petridis explained that, "her contemporaries are either in reduced circumstances or languishing in the middle of the road [...] Madonna, however, still twists hip dancefloor trends to her own design".

[35] It was deemed a "highly imaginative [...] mind-numbing spectacle of aural and visual bravado from one of the world's most eminent artists" by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian's Nikolas Markantonatos, who also singled out the singer's energy.

[19] Joel Selvin from the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out: "In a show that was more Broadway musical than rock concert, Madge [...] is a phenomenon, not a musician [...] often overwhelmed by all that she had set in motion around her.

[45] Alberto Armendáriz, from Argentinean newspaper La Nación, felt the only "criticizable" aspect was that, "the whole affair [was] so tightly scripted, it left no room for spontaneity or interactions" between the singer and the audience.

"Madonna is a frustratingly small stage presence, too, mostly standing motionless or strumming rudimentary chords on an acoustic guitar [...] the music was equally airless", he concluded his review.

[49] For The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan wrote that the tour's lack of "classics" would disappoint the singer's "die-hards", and that, "no right-thinking person would rather hear 'Candy Perfume Girl' than 'Like a Virgin'".

[50] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson remarked that, "anyone who expected to see a greatest hits concert left sorely disappointed", but praised the singer for creating the show "she wanted to do, not the one she thought would be the safe choice".

[52] Alex Petridis also defended the singer's decision to focus on new material; "it's a pleasingly defiant gesture no other stadium-filler could match – imagine the Rolling Stones only playing songs from their last two albums and try not to shudder".

[35] On a similar note, Sal Cinquemani felt album cuts such as "Candy Perfume Girl" translated into "edgier numbers", and complemented the concert for being aimed at "true fans—critics (and hits) be damned".

[51][71] In the United States, it became Madonna's fifth number one on the Billboard Top Music Videos chart, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of more than 100,000 copies.