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Madonna news - Nov. 2015
← Oct. 2015 | Dec. 2015 →
Madonna could perform in Singapore for first time
Source: Straits Times - 29 November 2015Queen of pop Madonna, who was banned from performing her controversial Girlie Show World Tour here in 1993, seems set to strut her stuff in Singapore for the very first time.
Home-grown concert promoter IMC Live told The Sunday Times it is in talks to bring the 57-year-old American star's ongoing Rebel Heart tour here for a one-night concert for 30,000 at the National Stadium.
The expected date is Feb 28, with tickets likely to go on sale in the middle of next month. "We are in the preliminary stage of working out details with the National Stadium," said an IMC Live spokesman.
Singapore Sports Hub spokesman Jose Raymond also confirmed that it is in talks with Madonna's management and a local event organiser "for an engagement" in February.
Responding to The Sunday Times' queries, the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) said it has received an application for an arts entertainment licence to stage Madonna's concert in February.
It said: "MDA is still in the process of assessing the application, and will inform the concert organisers once it has reached a decision."
If confirmed, Singapore will be the seventh and last stop in the tour's Asian leg, which includes Japan, Hong Kong, Taipei, Macau, Bangkok and Manila. Most shows are sold out.
Madonna was banned from performing here in 1993, when police said her performances in the Girlie Show "border on the obscene... (and are) known to be objectionable to many on moral and religious grounds".
For the Singapore gig to be given the go-ahead this time, The Sunday Times understands some songs may have to be dropped from the setlist.
The Rebel Heart Tour, which has played to 300,000 fans in the United States and is now making its way around Europe, has reportedly grossed more than US$46 million (S$65 million) so far.
The show comes after Madonna released her 13th studio album Rebel Heart earlier this year.
But fans of Madonna - rated as the top touring female artist ever, with her concerts grossing over a billion dollars - can still expect the megastar to perform classics such as True Blue, Like A Virgin, Material Girl and Into The Groove. They will also be treated to an array of costume changes, as she dresses up as a 1920s cabaret coquette and a sexy matador, among other personas.
IMC Live, which has staged concerts in the region for the likes of Jay Chou, Faye Wong and Bon Jovi, is believed to have paid about $12 million to bring the Rebel Heart show here.
But its spokesman gave the assurance that ticket prices here "will be kept in the same range as pricing categories in the other Asian stops of the tour". Tickets for the Bangkok show start at $78 and go up to $630 while VIP tickets for the Taipei show cost $1,200.
Madonna fans like financial consultant Benjamin Soh are hoping to score front-row seats here. "It's already such a joy to watch her performances on YouTube and DVD, but to see her in the flesh is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said the 38-year-old.
Let's request FROZEN in Antwerp!
27 November 2015
All Belgian fans know about the dreadful story that got Frozen banned for several years. Some unknown Belgian artist Salvatore Acquaviva claimed Madonna plagiarised his song 'Ma vie fout le camp' and a judge even believed him.
This resulted in Frozen being banned from radio in 2005. Albums such as Ray Of Light and GHV2 were not available in stores. And Celebration even had a special edition, which didn't include the song.
Only in 2014, the court case was reversed and the song has been allowed since.
Wouldn't it be a fantastic statement if Madonna performed Frozen as the request song during tomorrow's show in Antwerp? So if you're attending the show, make sure you shout for Frozen in the Latin segment. Sometimes Madonna changes her mind when the crowd asks for a specific song.
Spread the word!!
Mannheim show to start later
26 November 2015The ICON team send out the following notice:
Please be aware that, due to the production challenges of moving Madonna's Rebel Heart Tour from Saturday night's performance in Antwerp to the concert in Mannheim, the Rebel Heart tour will have a delayed start time on Sunday, 29 November at SAP Arena. The rescheduled show time will now be as follows:
Doors, previously scheduled to open at 6:30 pm will now open at 7:30 pm including all boxes and lounges.
Special Guest Lunice will appear at 9:15 with Madonna's performance scheduled for approximately 10:15 pm.
While the show will be loaded in as quickly as possible, we apologize for any inconvenience.
(Of course we all know that Madonna never starts before 10pm, so in Mannheim it might be closer to 11pm...)
Military at Antwerp show
24 November 2015The police in Antwerp has announced they won't take any additional security measures for Madonna's show on Saturday.
As long as the terror level remains at 3 for Antwerp (it's 4 in Brussels only), the current security measures will stay in place. "A full Sportpaleis is a full Sportpaleis," says Sven Lommaert from the Antwerp police, "The security measures will be the same as for other events, such as Night of the Proms or the Smply Red concert. It really doesn't matter who performs."
This does mean extra police agents will be present in the neighbourhood of the Sportpaleis. "The organisation itself will perform security checks, " says Lommaert, "And there will probably be military men in the area."
More security info for Paris
19 November 2015MadonnaUnderground reports the following safety procedures, coming from the spokes person at Bercy:
No one is allowed to sleep at Bercy arena the night before the showNo bags, no bottles, no food allowed insideThere will be three checkpoints before the waiting areaThe check will open at 10am on the day of the showNo lockers availableIf any dramatic events occur leading up to the shows, the concerts will be cancelledSecurity info for upcoming European shows
17 November 2015It's on every European fan's mind: how will the recent Paris attacks influence the rest of Madonna's European tour?
As we know, she briefly considered cancelling the show in Stockholm, which followed less than 24 hours after the attacks. She decided not to cancel because she didn't want to give in to the fear. Yesterday the show in Henning went ahead as scheduled as well.
Later this week she'll perform three shows in Turin, followed by 2 shows in Barcelona next week. No changes have been communicated so it looks like these shows will continue as scheduled as well.
As for the show in Antwerp on the 28th. This is closer to Paris and since Belgium is involved in the attacks' investigations, the country is on high alert. Security levels have been increased from level 2 to level 3. The Sportpaleis venue communicated that a separate decision will be taken for each individual event that is scheduled, but so far no events have been cancelled. However, security will be much tighter and fans who are attending should try to limit or even avoid taking bags into the venue.
Similar news from the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam: so far the shows on December 5th and 6th will go ahead as scheduled but security will be tighter.
Now most importantly: what will happen with the 2 shows at the AccorHotels Arena in Bercy, Paris? The Foo Fighters had to cancel their show there on Monday, as requested by authorities. But so far, other concerts at the venue are scheduled to go ahead, eventhough France is still in state of emergency. Madonna's show is only in 3 weeks so everything is still possible. If other concerts before that date will go ahead, there should probably be no reason to think Madonna's show will be cancelled. When there's any official news, you'll of course read it here.
Has the world finally caught up with Madonna?
Source: HuffPo - 17 November 2015
It's not always easy being a Madonna fan. Her occasional slip-ups notwithstanding -- even I cringe at the opening lines to Rebel Heart's "S.E.X." -- the real challenge is listening to and reading the criticism that's been riding the Queen of Pop's coattails for 30 years.
Pretty much no one wants to admit they like Madonna, and any fan who's paid attention knows the drill: Madonna does something, anything, and the nasty words come rolling in. Period. The end. Eye roll. Get a life, lady. Contrary to what you might believe from commentary over the past 10 years, which has focused primarily on how old, redundant and retouched she is, back when she was "semi-" all those things, the words still hurt the one we love.
As for her older music, which is now considered iconic pop, 1998's "Ray of Light" did get Madonna a Grammy for Best Pop Album, but Lauryn (#shewasimPORTANT) Hill got the coveted Album of the Year prize. "Like a Prayer," released in 1989 and widely cited as one of the best pop albums of all time, as well as Madge's best, wasn't nominated for a single Grammy. Anyone too young to know about the woman who rolled on the floor in a wedding dress or displayed her self-stimulant ambitions onstage should know that, even when she was cranking out hits like a beach babe cranks out mermen, her songs were never "good." But, as some were loathe to admit, "fun to dance to."
The I Hate Madonna Handbook came out in 1994 -- proof that pre-Internet trolls existed in the 20th century -- and the following year "The Advocate" gave her their Sissy of the Year award (with her "I am not a lesbian" cover quote she was, apparently, a bigger menace to same-sex equality than Jesse Helms or The 700 Club). She might have graced the cover of every magazine from Life to TV Guide, but she was as putrid as patchouli.
So after another year of bad press and vitriolic reactions to "Rebel Flop" I hit the tour at Madison Square Garden, lucky to see it early on before I read the inevitable has-been recaps. I -- we -- had a great time, savoring the Queen of Pop's updated versions of "Like a Virgin, "True Blue," and "Who's That Girl" in a show that only got better as it progressed. By the time she sang "Material Girl" with a wink (literally) to her Marilyn-reinvented past, it was obvious that Madonna didn't just build the house; she owned it.
What happened next was like a prayer. Within days, weeks and happening still, I started reading good things about Madonna. Really good things. Like Sally Field accepting her Oscar good. I expected to roll my own eyes at the ceaseless "she's singing old songs cause her new ones suck" intellectual notices, amid the scattering of "she's sitting down a lot because the old broad needs a cane to move" constructive criticisms, and instead got flooded with a ton of articles on just how fantastic Madonna really, really is!
Writing a rave for VH1 and changing his new-album tune, Christopher Rosa said, "the Rebel Heart era is, hands down, Madonna's most personal to date. The smiling, fan drawings, warm musings and recognition of old hits -- she's never been this transparent before." Philip Cosores of "CoS" wrote that "Her songs are cultural touchstones, distinct musical memories, and can often completely stand on their own without the frills of lights, dancers and choreography." And "The Inquisitr" did an entire piece called "Madonna Opens Up 'Rebel Heart Tour' to Fantastic Reviews."
My favorite piece came from Lizzy Acker, from "Willamette Week," who subtitled her review "Consider this my formal apology for any negative thing I have ever said about Madonna." Acker nails the show, and Madonna's popularity, to perfection, speckled with observations like "She missed some notes and that made it so much better. She's 57. She's putting on a show that would make an 8-year-old with ADD tire." It's an especially sweet valentine, because women tend to be Madonna's nastiest critics.
Almost as shocking as the thrilling notices were the remarks defending -- no, applauding -- her age and sex appeal, even her voice. Jon Pareles of The New York Times noted early on in his review that "she hasn't allowed herself to become an oldies act," and adding, "The Lesson: Madonna, the indomitable sexpot would prevail."
Since even I had criticisms of the concert -- the show gets off to a slow start and the omission, on the night I went, of "Ghosttown," made for an uncomfortable, Music-Interruptus ending -- it made the stream of, deservedly, great reactions baffling. And it can't just be attributed to the nostalgia factor.
Yes, Madonna played a lot of old hits in the show, a long overdue treat. She made references to being nostalgic in her patter and in her early 80's song choices, but she ignored (once again, on the night I went) "Like a Prayer" and "Ray of Light" completely. If there were complaints on that front, they were minimal. Among the highlights were the brand-new "HeartBreakCity," "Unapologetic Bitch" and the Rebel Heart title track. When she sang a somewhat ironic "La Vie en Rose" you could almost hear the critics murmuring, "I gotta admit; she sounds pretty good."
The ultimate concert shock had to be how un-shocking her blasphemy came across. Placed near the beginning of the show, Madonna sang the deliciously dirty new song "Holy Water" with nun-stripper pole-dancers, and a "Vogue" interlude complete with Last Supper bacchanal rap that ended with Madonna as the table's feast, right in time for the last line of the song, "Jesus loves my pussy best."
It's not the "New Liberal Pope" that kept this section out of the headlines and boycott calls; it's because in today's pop world we've seen it all. The difference between Madonna and the (mostly pour) imitations is how well she did it/does it and her choice to present that section as theatrical license, not enjoyment ultimatum.
As far as the new album goes, the merciless bad press on Rebel Heart has been absurd, much of it coming from bloggers who are furious that she's still singing songs about sex and silly pleasures -- never mind the introspective tracks and ballads. It's easily one of her best albums to date and another example of Madonna's refusal to rest on her laurels.
Even when Madonna interrupted her show the night after the Paris massacres to deliver a speech about the need for tolerance and love, I read nary a comment telling her to "shut up and pretend to sing." Has America gone to the dark side? Or did the media turn into the Grinch at Christmas; opening its heart so much it couldn't help but bubble over with love? I suspect the answer lies elsewhere.
Performing in Brooklyn, Madonna mentioned Sean Penn's reaction to her MSG concert three decades back. "He'd been to my shows 30 years earlier when I was at Madison Square Garden, and he was very upset with me for wearing a costume that was too revealing... Anyway, after the show he wrote me a letter and said he finally appreciates my art. And that's what I have to say about marriage, okay. Thirty fucking years later."
Madonna's grown up, Sean's grown up and perhaps our own rocky relationship with the world's most frustrating star has grown up too. Happy Holiday!
Madonna pays moving tribute to victims of Paris attack
Source: Daily Mail - 17 November 2015Madonna paid an emotional tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist atrocities after admitting she nearly cancelled her performance out of respect for those who died and their families.
The American superstar was in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of her Rebel Heart Tour when she addressed the crowd following Friday's attack, which left at least 129 people dead and many more injured.
But the tearful 57-year-old singer said she decided to carry on with Saturday's gig because she wanted to stand up to the barbaric terrorists, and not let them stop anyone doing 'what they love'.
In the video of the poignant speech uploaded to YouTube, she said: 'It has been very hard for me to get through the show until this point.
'So I need to take this moment to acknowledge the tragedy - the tragic killings, assassinations, and the senseless ending of precious life that occurred last night in Paris.
'Because, in many ways, I feel torn. Like, why are we up here dancing and having fun when people are crying over the loss of their loved ones?
'However, that is exactly what these people want to do. They want to shut us up, they want to silence us. And we won't let them. We will never let them.'
In her poignant speech, which was met with huge applause and cheering from the crowd, she urged the world to unite to bring about positive change in the face of terrorism across the globe.
'Because there is power in unity and I do believe that - as much as there is chaos and pain and senseless violence and terrorism that occurs around the world, not just in Paris,' she said.
'There is more goodness in this world. We are here to prove it.
'I was going to cancel my show tonight but I thought to myself: "Why should I give that to them?" Why should I allow them to stop me? And to stop us from enjoying freedom?"
'All of the places where people were killed were places where people were having fun, where people were enjoying themselves.
' Eating in restaurants, dancing, singing, watching a soccer match. These are freedoms that we take for granted, of course, and we must not - but they're freedoms that we deserve - we work hard, we deserve to have fun.
'And there is no one in this world that should have the right to stop us from doing what we love.'
The singer continued: 'Another important point that I want to make is that, yes, there are people who have no respect for human life and there are people that do atrocious, degrading, and unforgivable things to other human beings, but we will never, ever, ever change this world we live in if we do not change ourselves.
'The way we change the world is not to elect another president, not to kill a hundred more people - the way we change the world is we change the way we treat one another on a daily basis.
'In the simplest of ways. We must start treating every human being with dignity and respect.
The star, who said her Rebel Heart tour embodied the idea of celebrating life and standing up for our rights, added: 'Only love will change the world, but it's very hard to love unconditionally, and it's very hard to love that what we do not understand and that what is different to what we are, but we have to. Or this will go on and on forever.'
Wiping back the tears, Madonna then called on the crowd to join her in a minute's silence to remember the victims of the Paris attacks, before performing a poignant and pared-down version of her hit Like A Prayer.
She is one of many celebrities, including David Beckham, to speak out about the horror of the murderous assault on the French capital.
Something to remember: 'The Immaculate Collection' turns 25
13 November 2015Today it has been exactly 25 years since Madonna released her first hit compilation album, The Immaculate Collection (in certain regions it was on the 9th).
At its release, Madonna was 7 years into her career, had released 4 highly successful studio albums and finished 3 tours. She already had scored eight #1 hits in the US Billboard, as well as seven #1's in the UK, and several more in other countries.
The Immaculate Collection bundled no less than 15 of her biggest hits in chronological order. And even with this many hits on the album, there were still other hits that didn't make the tracklist. Most surprisingly, the international #1 hit Who's That Girl was left out. The selected tracks were remixed by Shep Pettibone, Goh Hotoda and Michael Hutchinson. Most notable are the different versions of Like A Prayer, Express Yourself and Vogue.
Two new tracks were added to the tracklist as well. Though both were released as a single, Justify My Love stands out as the most famous one, creating yet another #1 hit and an international controversy with its very explicit and avant-garde video, shot by Mondino in the Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris. MTV did Madonna a favour by banning it, after which she released it as the first ever video single and making it even more popular.
In 1991, Sire Records released the accompanying EP 'The Holiday Collection' in the UK, which featured Holiday as lead track, as well as three tracks that were omitted from The Immaculate Collection: True Blue, Who's That Girl and Causing A Commotion.
In 2001, also on November 13th, Madonna released her follow-up compilation GHV2, which bundled her 90s hits.
The Immaculate Collection has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. In 2001, the RIAA honored Madonna with a Diamond Award, denoting shipments of more than 10 million copies in the US. In a dozen other countries it received one or several Platinum awards.
Check out the popularity ranking People Magazine made of the 17 album tracks and tell us if you agree on our Facebook page.
Billboard declares Madonna 'Greatest Female Artist of All Time'
Source: Billboard - 12 November 2015
Billboard has announced their 'Greatest of All Time' lists. With her many chart records, our Queen obviously features in several of them.
Most importantly, Madonna is named the 'Greatest Female Artist of All Time'. Among the male artists, only Elvis does better.
Another fantastic feat is her reign over the list of 'Most Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Hits'. With her 38 Top 10 hits she has 4 more than The Beatles, who come second place.
Madonna paces the rundown of artists with the most top 10 Hot 100 hits, with 38. She and the Beatles, who last reached the region with reunion single "Free as a Bird" in 1995, were tied with 34 until Madonna notched her 35th, "Die Another Day," in 2002. She scored her 38th and most recent top 10 with "Give Me All Your Luvin'" (featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.) in 2012.
With eight #1 albums, she also scores the 7th place in the list of 'Most #1 albums'.
New Japanese Tour Edition of Rebel Heart out in January
Source: Universal Music - 11 November 2015
Universal Music Japan announced the release of a 'Japan Tour' edition of the Rebel Heart album on January 22nd, in advance of the tour stops in Tokyo.
The package will contain a CD and a DVD:
The CD will feature the 19 tracks of the Deluxe edition plus the Dirty Pop Remix of Living For Love.
The DVD features the music videos for the singles Living For Love, Ghosttown and Bitch I'm Madonna as well as the Sander Kleinenberg Remix video of Bitch I'm Madonna.
Idris Elba will open for Madonna in Berlin
Source: EW - 10 November 2015Idris Elba isn’t James Bond yet, but he’s linking up with a former Bondtheme singer. Madonna announced Monday that Elba, a DJ, producer, and rapper will open her Rebel Heart Tour stop in Berlin on Tuesday.
Beyond acting in BBC series Luther and Netflix film Beasts of No Nation, Elba has a strong music resume. He occasionally dabbles in bars, but the Emmy nominee has played in Ibiza and at Glastonbury.
The pop legend has cycled through opening acts on the international tour supporting her May record. In North America, comedian Amy Schumer, DJs Diplo, and Lunice were among the opening acts. Rejjie Snow and Mary Mac were the previous openers on the first two European stops.
Opening acts for Rebel Heart Europe
Source: Madonna.com - 10 November 2015Madonna announced that Lunice, and Rejjie Snow will be the supporting artists for select upcoming Rebel Heart Tour dates. Following a critically acclaimed North American run, The Rebel Heart Tour kicked off November 4th in Koln, Germany before heading to 15 additional cities across the UK & Europe.
Recognized as a pioneer for female DJs all around the world, International DJ Mary Mac kick-started the European tour with her opening slot November 4 & 5 in Koln, Germany. With a combination of natural talent, passion and cultural music influences from her Haitian background, this quickly led to Mary Mac becoming a highly sought-after female Producer, Song Writer, MC & DJ. www.djmarymac5star.com
Rejjie Snow will open the Rebel Heart Tour dates in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Glasgow. The Irish-born rapper honed his distinctive style in the US, while living in Georgia & LA. Following Diplo and Kaytranada, Rejjie will join Madonna on tour hot off the release of his latest single “Blakkst Skn”. Rejjie Snow: www.rejjiesnow.com; www.facebook.com/rejjiesnow
After wrapping a three-city supporting slot for the Rebel Heart Tour in North America, Montreal born producer and DJ Lunice will open the Rebel Heart Tour dates in Barcelona, Antwerp, Mannheim, Amsterdam, Paris, and Zurich. A disciple of hip hop, Lunice is an international sensation - overthrowing the live arena everywhere he goes with his unique style and approach to music. Lunice: https://soundcloud.com/lunice
The Rebel Heart Tour kicked off in Montreal on September 9thand has been selling out shows along the way including three SOLD OUT shows in NYC alone which included Madonna’s 25thconsecutive sell-out at Madison Square Garden. The press has been raving about the performances including: PITCHFORK: “It’s nice to be reminded how refreshing it is to simply lovesomething because it makes you feel alive.” ROLLING STONE: “Madonna spent three hours in New York proving what a goddess she is.” THE WASHINGTON POST: “Madonna doesn’t miss a beat.” NY DAILY NEWS: “An infectious night that brought the Canadian crowd to a series of spontaneous, and escalating, standing ovations.” NEW YORK TIMES: “Unstoppable.” COURIER POST: “Madonna is seriously one of the most important pop figures of ever.”
Something to Remember: Trouble seemed so far away
7 November 2015Even though Madonna has long been associated with dance music in many people's minds, two of her earliest number one hits were the ballads Crazy For You & Live To Tell, the latter credited for being her first true reinvention and cementing her long time success. With albums Like A Prayer & I'm Breathless, Madonna's vocal abilities grew and she showed the world she could sing slow songs emotionally.
As the 1990s clocked in, Madonna lost some of her ground in terms of commercial success as the dance/house sound she's planted herself in for a couple of years quickly became the everyday sound of the radio and her string of hits became slow jams: This Used To Be My Playground, Rain, I'll Remember, Secret & Take A Bow.
At the same time dance music became homogenized, stale and eventually simplified into Eurodance, a new bred of chart-dominating female artist emerged, singing heartfelt ballads, so Madonna made a wise move into accentuating her balladeer side. Of course in retrospect it can be seen as an ulterior motive to score her Evita role as since then she's referred to the Dancing Queen more often than not, during the mid-1990s it was a natural transition.
Her string of ballad hits culminated into the compilation Something To Remember, released 20 years ago today, on November 7th, 1995. Five years after her mega-successful The Immaculate Collection compilation, it mostly focused on her more recent output, granted, her first couple of albums were scarce in slow moments. For the fans it was the first opportunity to own This Used To Be My Playground & I'll Remember and of course to rediscover some of her great slow gems, namely the torch song Something To Remember from I'm Breathless that became the title track here and the Babyface-penned Forbidden Love that is one of the earliest entries of her long list of should-have-been-a-single.
Madonna recorded three new songs for the compilation, the Marvin Gaye cover with Massive Attack, I Want You which would unexpectedly end up as her last collaboration with Nellee Hooper and the two longtime diva collaborator David Foster-helmed tracks You'll See & One More Chance. The former track would become the only proper worldwide single from the effort and also the most current-sounding track fitting alongside ballad megahits of Celine Dion & Whitney Houston.
The video of You'll See is also the first time Madonna did a sequel video, continuing the plot of Take A Bow that became her longest running number one hit in the US earlier that year, obviously trying to ride that wave as the two singles inbetween were her then-lowest performing, even rehashing some of the old footage. The ploy worked as You'll See was another top ten single for Madonna but strangely it has been absent from her subsequent compilations possibly to keep the ballad compilation commercially viable. Perhaphs it would be one of the few tracks shared with the long-rumoured second ballad collection?
The most interesting aspect of the otherwise straightforward project that still raises discussion up to today is the Rose Royce cover Love Don't Live Here Anymore, first appeared on Like A Virgin. At that point some of the biggest hits of the 1990s were covers and almost any diva album contained some so it was a commercially justified decision to remaster the track, slightly remix it by toning down the drums while accentuating the strings and adding more keyboards into the production.
In the end, some countries including the US received a single release and a video of Love Don't Live Here Anymore as an afterthought in the Spring of 1996 and most likely it was just something to tide fans over until the Evita project. Interestingly the low-budget video used another remix with completely new, more contemporary R&B instrumentation by Soulshock & Karin who would go on to produce hits for Toni Braxton and Whitney Houston. Untouched were Madonna's vocals, however, which do not feel out of place alongside her mid-1990s belting and still hold up today, making the cover song one of her most notable vocal performances.
Celebrating 25 years of making love in a train with Justify My Love
Source: Gay Times - 6 November 2015Madonna’s no stranger to controversy – she practically invented the word – and controversies don’t come much bigger than Justify My Love, which turns a whopping 25 years-old today.
The song first appeared on The Immaculate Collection compilation, and marked a transitioning period for the Material Girl, as she left the camp upbeat sounds of Vogue and Hanky Panky behind and became a bonafide sex pioneer.
Written with the help of Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez, the track is recognised for its uniquely seductive spoken lyrics, while the accompanying black and white music video was banned by MTV for its explicit portrayal of sex, sadomasochism, and bisexuality.
In a typically unapologetic style, Madonna responded to the ban saying:
“Why is it that people are willing to go and watch a movie about someone getting blown to bits for no reason at all, and nobody wants to see two girls kissing and two men snuggling?”
The song was then released as a “video single” on VHS tape for $10 – this was a time before YouTube, remember – and consequently sold over a million copies.
In what appeared to be an effort to get even more mouths agape at her infamous lack of boundaries, the artist released The Beast Within remix – a version of the track that replaces the sexual lyrics with passages from the Bible.
Two years later, the sensual trip hop beats of Justify My Love would blossom into arguably her most explicit and divisive album ever, Erotica, as well as its printed companion, the SEX book.
Rebel Heart Tour: $46 Million Grossed (So Far)
Source: Billboard - 5 November 2015The diva's tour has played to more than 300,000 fans… and counting.
Madonna heads up Billboard’s weekly ranking of concert touring artists, landing at No. 1 on the Hot Tours recap (see list, below) based on $25.4 million in sales reported from her Rebel Heart Tour This tally includes the final 12 stops on the first leg of the tour that played 20 cities in North America during September and October.
Since the tour launched on Sept. 9, Madonna has performed for more than 300,000 fans at 24 shows, generating box office sales totaling $46 million. The trek through U.S. and Canadian markets wrapped on Oct. 29 in San Diego, but the tour began its second leg just six days later. A seven-week jaunt through 11 European countries began on Nov. 4 in Köln, Germany and will continue until Dec. 20, wrapping for the year in Glasgow, Scotland.
Top box-office stats from the tour so far include a $5.2 million gross from two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sept. 16-17, the highest-grossing engagement among all of the venues on the schedule. The Garden’s sold ticket count of 28,371 is also the highest attendance recorded. Among the arenas that hosted the tour for just one performance, the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas produced the top sales total with $3.5 million on Oct. 24. Brooklyn’s Barclays Center logged the largest crowd among the single-show dates with 14,258 present on Sept. 19.
U2 follows at No. 2 in the Hot Tours ranking with $17.4 million reported from three arenas on the European leg of the band’s Innocence + Experience tour. Following a summer trek through North America that racked up $76.2 million at the box office, the 12-city run through Europe kicked off on Sept. 4 in Turin, Italy. Revenue from the first seven European venues adds $41.6 million to the tour’s overall sales total that currently tops out at $117.8 million. More than one million tickets have been sold at 58 performances on the six-month trek.
| ACT |
| Total Gross |
| Show Date Range |
| Show Venue/City (Shows/Sellouts) |
| Total Attendance (Capacity) |
| MADONNA |
| $25,466,660 |
| Oct. 1-29 |
| Joe Louis Arena, Detroit (1/1) |
| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. (1/1) |
| Air Canada Centre, Toronto (2/2) |
| Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn. (1/1) |
| Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta (2/2) |
| Rogers Arena, Vancouver (1/1) |
| Moda Center, Portland (1/1) |
| SAP Center, San Jose (1/1) |
| Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz. (1/1) |
| MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas (1/1) |
| The Forum, Inglewood, Calif. (1/1) |
| Valley View Casino Center, San Diego (1/1) |
| 172,166 (172,166) |
Adele inspired by 'Ray Of Light' for her '25' album
Source: Rolling Stone - 3 November 2015In an interview with Rolling Stone, Adele discussed how Madonna's 1998 album 'Ray Of Light' was an inspiration for her new album '25'.
The direct sonic influence is hard to find, but one of the chief inspirations for 25 was Madonna's Ray of Light. "You know what I found so amazing about that record?" Adele says. "That's the record Madonna wrote after having her first child, and for me, it's her best. I was so all over the place after having a child, just because my chemicals were just hitting the fucking roof and shit like that." She felt detached from her artistic self.
"I was just drifting away, and I couldn't find that many examples for myself where I was like, 'Fuck, they truly came back to themselves,' until someone was like, 'Well, obviously, Ray Of Light.'" Adele listened to it over and over, and was particularly captivated by "Frozen." "I took that song as 'I've gotten my confidence to come and do me again.' "
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