2007–09: Live Nation, Hard Candy and the Sticky & Sweet Tour

            In May 2007, Madonna released the download-only song "Hey You", for the Live Earth series of concerts. The song was available as free download the first week of its release. She also performed it at the London Live Earth concert in July 2007. In October, Madonna announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records, and a new $120 million, ten-year contract with Live Nation. She became the founding recording artist for the new music division, Live Nation Artists. The same year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Madonna as one of the five inductees of 2008. The induction ceremony took place on March 10, 2008. Madonna produced and wrote I Am Because We Are, a documentary on the problems faced by Malawians. The documentary was directed by her former gardener Nathan Rissman. She also directed her first film titled Filth and Wisdom. The Times said she had "done herself proud" while The Daily Telegraph described the film as "not an entirely unpromising first effort [but] Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job."
Madonna released her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy, in April 2008. Rolling Stone complimented it as an "impressive taste of her upcoming tour." The album debuted at number one in 37 countries worldwide, including the Billboard 200. The album received generally positive reviews worldwide, though some critics panned it as "an attempt to harness the urban market". Its lead single, "4 Minutes", reached number-three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was Madonna's thirty-seventh Hot 100 top ten hit, thus surpassing Elvis Presley, as the artist with the most top-ten hits. In the United Kingdom, she retained her record for the most number-one singles for a female artist, "4 Minutes" being her thirteenth. To further promote the album, Madonna embarked on the Sticky & Sweet Tour, which was her first major venture with Live Nation. It became the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo artist with gross of US$ 280 million, surpassing the previous record held by her Confessions Tour. The tour was extended to the next year, adding new European dates. The total gross by the end of the whole tour was US$ 408 million.
Life with My Sister Madonna, a book by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone, was released in July 2008. The book debuted at number two on the New York Times Bestseller list. It was not authorized by Madonna, and led to a rift between them. She filed for divorce from Ritchie, in October 2008; it was finalized in December. On March 2, 2009, Madonna was honored with the Gold International Artist of the Year, at the Recording Industry Association of Japan Gold Disc Awards, for Hard Candy. She decided to adopt again from Malawi. The country's High Court, initially approved the adoption of Chifundo "Mercy" James. However, the adoption was rejected since Madonna was not a resident of Malawi. Madonna re-appealed, and on June 12, 2009, the Supreme Court of Malawi granted Madonna, the rights to adopt Mercy James. In September 2009, Madonna released Celebration, her third greatest hits album, and the closing release with Warner. It contained the new songs "Celebration" and "Revolver", plus 34 hits spanning her career. Celebration was Madonna's eleventh number-one album in the UK Albums Chart, tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo act with most number-one albums in the British chart history. Madonna appeared at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009, to pay tribute to deceased pop star Michael Jackson, with a speech.