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Madonna news - March 2023
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Madonna adds 8 US tour stops, dedicates Nashville proceeds to trans rights organizations
Source: Instagram, Madonna.com - 27 March 2023Madonna has responded to the recent attack on the drag community and trans rights by the Republican party in the US. As she announced 8 additional tour stops to her Celebration Tour, she promises that a part of the proceeds from the show in Nashville, Tennessee will be donated to trans rights organizations. The announcement comes shortly after the Tennessee governor has signed a controversial bill that bans gender-affirming care transgender kids.
In a quote on Instagram, Madonna defended the drag and trans community:
“The oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; it’s creating an unsafe environment; making America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color. Also, these so-called laws to protect. our children are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to fuck with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the Queer community!”
Read Madonna.com's official announcement of the additional tour dates below:
With anti-LGBTQ+ legislation passing in Tennessee and other states, longtime social activist Madonna announced an additional stop on her The Celebration Tour in Nashville on December 22nd. A portion of proceeds from the show will go to trans rights organizations. In regard to the over 100 anti-LGBTQ+ bills currently before state legislatures, Madonna says “the oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; it’s creating an unsafe environment; it makes America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color. Also, these so-called laws to protect our children are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to fuck with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the queer community.”
Due to overwhelming demand, in addition to Nashville, Madonna has added seven new dates to her massive global The Celebration Tour, adding shows in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Palm Springs, and Sacramento, along with a second show in Phoenix and a third show in San Francisco and Las Vegas. All new dates will take place between December 2023 and January 2024, and mark the final additional shows in North America where Madonna will perform some of her greatest hits from her unparalleled music catalogue.
TICKETS: Tickets for the new dates will go on sale starting with Citi and Official Fan Club presales on Tuesday, March 28th, with the general on sale starting March 31st at 10am local time on madonna.com (Noon local time for the Dec 20 Philadelphia show).
Christine and the Queens on enlisting Madonna for 'weird musical'
Source: BBC - 27 March 2023French singer Christine and the Queens talks about enlisting Madonna to appear on his new album, parts of which were premiered at the BBC 6 Music Festival on Saturday.
"The first time I met her was actually on stage," Chris explains of his first encounter with the Queen of Pop.
"She was doing a tour and there was a song where she was inviting people she loved on the set - and I was lucky enough to be invited.
"It seemed like a prank at first because I received a text from the choreographer and I was like, 'Are you sure?'
"And so I witnessed the power of the Lord and the Queen on stage."
Chris, who uses he/him, was speaking before unveiling tracks from his new album - titled Paranoïa, Angels, True Love - at the 6 Music Festival in Manchester.
Released in June, it is the second instalment of Christine and the Queens' rock opera concept record project based on Tony Kushner's 1991 play Angels in America.
The follow-up to 2022's Redcar les Adorables Étoile, it was recorded by Kanye West's favoured producer Mike Dean and features Madonna as Big Eye, a mysterious character who appears throughout the album.
Dean had worked with Madonna previously, and when developing the narrative for Paranoïa, Angels, True Love, Chris decided the US superstar would be perfect for the role.
"What is the most emblematic female voice we have in the pop landscape?" Chris asks. "She has such an imprint on everybody's subconscious.
"She did a very risky FaceTime when I explained the whole concept and I was like, 'Do you want to be an actress in this weird musical? To be exactly also the great actress you are?' Because she's multifaceted. She's not even enclosed in one person.
'The wisdom we need'
"And she said, 'Yes!' I think because she was enticed by the insanity of the whole thing. She was like, 'You're crazy. I'll do it!'
"I sent her lines that I wrote because she's embodying the character of Big Eye, a very ambivalent 'being of light'. We don't really know if it's AI, a true angel, or maybe my mum?," Chris adds.
"Or if it's maybe me. She's has this voice that encloses all of the others and she's piercing through in the record to just give the wisdom we need.
"She sent me the lines and she delivered in such a perfect way. So I had the emotions of a stage director having the best, best performer to direct, and she delivered in exactly the right way.
"I'm truly joyful that she trusted me enough to give me this impeccable piece of theatre. And also, any time she wants me to just do something for her, I'll be of service all my life."
Christine and the Queens debuted songs including Lick The Light Out - featuring Madonna's voice - as part of the four-day 6 Music Festival in its new permanent home of Manchester, on a bill that also includes The Lathums, Arlo Parks and Loyle Carner.
Chris is also playing Coachella, Glastonbury and Primavera Sound this year, as well as curating the Meltdown festival at the the Southbank Centre in London in June.
Madonna & Max Martin are in the studio together: 'When in doubt, go to work'
Source: Billboard - 21 March 2023"Nothing shuts Down the Noise or the Naysayers More then being in the Creative Process," she wrote.
Madonna is letting the creative juices flow.
The Queen of Pop took to social media on Monday (March 20) to share a photo of herself writing in the studio with lauded music producer Max Martin. "When in Doubt go to Work," she captioned the post. "Nothing shuts Down the Noise or the Naysayers More then being in the Creative Process."
Madonna's most recent studio album was 2019's Madame X, which topped the Billboard 200 albums chart dated June 29, 2019. She also released a remix album, Finally Enough Love, in 2022.
When in Doubt go to Work ……….. Nothing shuts Down the Noise or the Naysayers More then being in the Creative Process !! ✍️🎼 🎧🎤🤍 #maxmartin pic.twitter.com/CoFDDDzd0w
— Madonna (@Madonna) March 20, 2023
Madonna is gearing up to head out on a global tour this year, and the massive Celebration Tour — which will honor her four decades of hits — is set to span from July 15 all the way through Dec. 1.
Last month, the iconic superstar shut down haters who criticized her appearance at the 2023 Grammy Awards, accusing the "Vogue" singer of botched plastic surgery. "Many people chose to only talk about Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone's face!!" she wrote on Instagram. "Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny That permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous."
Madonna went on to note that she has "never apologized" for her appearance, and she's "not going to start," before referencing Beyoncé's Renaissance hit, "Break My Soul." "I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come," she wrote.
Madonna is Christine's newest Queen
Source: Vulture - 9 March 2023Who's that girl featured on three upcoming Christine and the Queens songs? None other than the Queen of Pop, Madonna, the latest queen to enter Chris's fold. Christine and the Queens' latest album, Paranoïa, Angels, True Love, is officially out June 9. And "Angel" may be a more fitting title for Queen Madonna, who features on the songs "Angels Crying in My Bed," "I Met an Angel," and "Lick the Light Out" (well, nothing angelic about that one).
The collabs come after Madonna and Chris have been circling each other for years — Madonna's 2015 "Living for Love" video and Grammys performance were inspired by Christine and the Queens' "Saint Claude," and Chris has appeared with Madonna live on tour.
Madonna is not the only one joining the Queens this time, though, with 070 Shake featured on two songs, "True Love" and "Let Me Touch You Once." Chris kicked off the project solo, debuting the slow-burning single "To Be Honest" on March 8.
The three-disc project follows Chris's 2022 release, Redcar les Adorables Étoiles (Prologue). Chris describes the upcoming project as "the second part of an operatic gesture," inspired by Tony Kushner's epic play Angels in America. "Redcar felt colorful and absurd, like Prior sent to his insane dream-space," he said. "The follow-up Paranoïa, Angels, True Love is a key toward heart-opening transformation, a prayer toward the self — the one that breathes through all the loves it is made of." Opening one's heart? Like … a prayer? Sounds like he called the right person. Find the full track list, below, which — someone call Chris's friend Charli XCX — also includes a song called "Track 10."
1. Overture
2. Tears Can Be So Soft
3. Marvin Descending
4. A Day in the Water
5. Full of Life
6. Angels Crying in My Bed (feat. Madonna)
7. Track 10
8. Overture (feat. Mike Dean)
9. He's Been Shining for Ever, Your Son
10. Flowery Days
11. I Met an Angel (feat. Madonna)
12. True Love (feat. 070 Shake)
13. Let Me Touch You Once (feat. 070 Shake)
14. Aimer, Puis Vivre
15. Shine
16. We Have to Be Friends
17. Lick the Light Out (feat. Madonna)
18. To Be Honest
19. I Feel Like an Angel
20. Big Eye
Madonna to bring back iconic cone bra for Celebration Tour
Source: PageSix - 7 March 2023Madonna's set to revisit some of her most famous fashion moments on her upcoming Celebration Tour — cone bra included.
A source told the US Sun the 64-year-old music legend is hard at work on the costumes for her series of 2023 shows, many of which will pay homage to her stage looks from years past.
"Madonna will be reflecting on her entire career in the tour and that won't just be the music — it will be the clothes too," the insider said.
"She wants to wear updated versions of her most recognizable outfits and the cone bra is at the top of the list. She has been a trailblazer with her fashion and is getting a lot of her designer friends involved in helping her."
The Queen of Pop first wore Jean Paul Gaultier's bullet bra-inspired bustier during her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour and has revisited the style a number of times since, including at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival premiere of "Madonna: Truth or Dare," during her 2012 MDNA tour and while performing at the 2018 Met Gala.
Similar conical-cupped designs have also popped up on fellow celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and Kylie Jenner in recent years — and Madonna's daughter Lourdes Leon even channeled her mom in a pointy-busted Area gown on the Grammys 2023 red carpet in February, proving the once-brazen brassiere is now firmly a fashion classic.
"Jean Paul Gaultier is one of those designers that really embodied and celebrated the feminine figure in a way that still had a bit of a futuristic approach. It's definitely stood the test of time," celebrity stylist Zerina Akers, who's worked with Megan Thee Stallion along with Beyoncé and Chloe x Halle, previously told Page Six Style.
While Madonna's 72-date tour doesn't kick off until July, the US Sun's source says, "Madonna is putting absolutely everything into this show and is laser focused on making it a spectacle which the fans will adore. Every single detail is being thought over at length. It will be well worth the wait."
The "Like a Prayer" hitmaker's certainly been busy recently; in addition to prepping for tour and making a much-discussed appearance at last month's Grammys, she's also sparked dating rumors with a new man: 29-year-old "Summer House" boxing coach Josh Popper.
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