Today in Madonna History: April 23, 2015

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On April 23 2015, Tori Amos came to Madonna’s defense when questioned about the ageist undertones on social media – and by the media at large – in reaction to her “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2015 Brit Awards:

Madonna is an entertainer. There are very few people who could’ve gotten up off that floor. It wasn’t because of her that she fell, but it was because of her that the performance carried on. Some of the vilification comes from women as much as men. She’s making choices and she’s able to do things physically that a lot of people 25 years younger can’t; she got up and refused to allow that to shame her. I think people want her to be shamed into a role that they find acceptable for her age. It makes me sad that we can’t embrace Madonna and say, Wow, this is an artist who’s expressing herself in a certain way.”

— Tori Amos

Tori often incorporates one or two cover songs by other artists into her live shows, but there are only a handful of artists whom she has covered multiple songs, and Madonna is one of them. She has performed both Live To Tell and Like A Prayer at numerous concerts, with the most recent Madonna composition to join her live repertoire being Frozen, which made its debut in Amsterdam in 2014.

(Many thanks to YouTube user LittleQueenbee77 for the great live footage of this performance!)

Today in Madonna History: April 22, 1989

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On April 22 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer album and single reached #1 simultaneously in the USA.

The album stayed at the top of the charts for 6 weeks, while the single stayed at the top of the Hot 100 for 3 weeks.

Today in Madonna History: April 20, 1991

On April 20 1991, Rescue Me peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart after making its debut at #4 the previous week. It slid to #5 in its third week before falling out of the Top 10.

Rescue Me was the third single release from The Immaculate Collection in the UK, where it was issued in between re-releases of Crazy For You and Holiday.

Because the photo on international pressings of Rescue Me had already graced the cover of the Crazy For You reissue, Warner UK chose to market the single using an alternate shot taken from Jean-Baptiste Mondino’s June 1990 spread in Harper’s Bazaar. Ironically, the international Rescue Me cover photo was snapped on the set of the Mondino-directed music video for Justify My Love, although not by Mondino himself. It was instead photographed by another (future) Madonna music video director, Stephane Sednaoui.

Today in Madonna History: April 19, 2008

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On April 19 2008, Madonna’s eleventh studio album, Hard Candy was released by Warner Bros. Records.

Hard Candy was Madonna’s final album with Warner Bros., marking the end of a 25-year recording history together.

Madonna started working on the album in 2007, and collaborated with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell and Nate “Danja” Hills.

Tracklisting:

Candy Shop
4 Minutes
Give It 2 Me
Heartbeat
Miles Away
She’s Not Me
Incredible
Beat Goes On
Dance 2night
Spanish Lesson
Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You
Voices

Today in Madonna History: April 18, 1985

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On April 18 1985, Desperately Seeking Susan hit number-five at the U.S. box office, bringing its total U.S. gross to $8,488,528 to date at the time (it would eventually earn over $27,000,000 at the box office). The film had screened in 760 theaters across the country for the week ending April 18th.

Today in Madonna History: April 17, 2019

On April 17 2019, Madonna issued the press release for her forthcoming album, Madame X:

MADONNA TO RELEASE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED 14th STUDIO ALBUM MADAME X GLOBALLY ON JUNE 14th

FIRST TRACK MEDELLÍN WITH MALUMA IS ZANE LOWE’S WORLD RECORD ON BEATS1 TODAY

MTV PRESENTS MADONNA LIVE & EXCLUSIVE: MEDELLÍN VIDEO WORLD PREMIERE ON APRIL 24

PRE-ORDER MADAME X NOW: ALBUM PRE-ORDERS INCLUDE DOWNLOAD OF MEDELLÍN

Madonna’s highly-anticipated 14th studio album Madame X will be released on June 14th globally from Live Nation, Interscope Records and Maverick. The first track from the album Medellín, with Colombian superstar Maluma, will be Zane Lowe’s World Record today on Apple Music’s Beats 1. Madame X is now available for pre-order. Album pre-orders include a download of the first track which is available across Apple, Spotify (pre-save), Amazon and all DSPs. Select additional tracks will become available before the album release.

Madonna will exclusively unveil the world premiere of her video and single Medellín with Maluma, during a globally televised MTV music event, MTV Presents Madonna Live & Exclusive: Medellín Video World Premiere, on Wednesday, April 24 at 9:00 pm BST / 4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT. Madonna will join British DJ Trevor Nelson and fans live from London for a conversation about the influences of her new album, and the creative forces behind her transcendent career. Medellín collaborator and Colombian pop star Maluma will join live from Miami. Madonna will also take questions during the global event via satellite from MTV’s Sway Calloway and fans in New York City, with additional MTV-hosted events in Milan and São Paulo.

Influenced creatively by living in Lisbon, Portugal over the past several years, Madame X is a collection of 15 new songs that celebrate Madonna’s career-long affair with Latin music and culture as well as other global influences. Singing in Portuguese, Spanish and English, highlights on the album include Medellín, which was co-produced by Mirwais and captures the spirit of Maluma’s hometown, the anthemic song I Rise, the Jamaican dancehall vibes of Future featuring Quavo, and co-produced by Diplo, as well as the sonically innovative Mirwais produced Dark Ballet. Recorded over 18 months in Portugal, London, New York and Los Angeles, Madonna collaborated on Madame X with longtime producer Mirwais, as well as with producers Mike Dean and Diplo, among others.

“Lisbon is where my record was born,” Madonna says. “I found my tribe there and a magical world of incredible musicians that reinforced my belief that music across the world is truly all connected and is the soul of the universe.”

Madame X will come in a standard and deluxe version of the album. A Target CD version will feature the deluxe version of Madame X plus an additional two tracks. Pre-order the Target deluxe at Target stores or online at Target.com. A variety of special bundles of Madame X with one-of-a-kind limited merchandise, as well as special vinyl and cassette versions of the album, are available now for pre-order as well HERE. Further details regarding the album, videos and appearances will be announced in the coming weeks.

This is the cover for the standard CD version:

The full track listing for Madame X CD standard version (pre-order):

  1. Medellín with Maluma
  2. Dark Ballet
  3. God Control
  4. Future ft. Quavo
  5. Batuka
  6. Killers Who Are Partying
  7. Crave ft. Swae Lee
  8. Crazy
  9. Come Alive
  10. Faz Gostoso ft. Anitta
  11. Bitch I’m Loca ft. Maluma
  12. I Don’t Search I Find
  13. I Rise

The double black vinyl version (pre-order), web-exclusive double clear vinyl version (pre-order), cassette version and digital deluxe version all contain the following 15-tracks (see below for the digital deluxe cover):

  1. Medellín with Maluma
  2. Dark Ballet
  3. God Control
  4. Future ft. Quavo
  5. Batuka
  6. Killers Who Are Partying
  7. Crave ft. Swae Lee
  8. Crazy
  9. Come Alive
  10. Faz Gostoso ft. Anitta
  11. Bitch I’m Loca ft. Maluma
  12. I Don’t Search I Find
  13. I Rise
  14. Looking for Mercy
  15. I Rise

This is the cover for the digital deluxe and FNAC exclusive double-CD versions:

This is the cover for the cassette version:

This is the cover for the deluxe 2-CD version with additional 3-bonus tracks:

The 3 tracks on the bonus CD are:

  1. Fuana
  2. Back That Up To The Beat
  3. Ciao Bella

And finally, the Madame X box set:

The Madame X box set includes:

  • Deluxe CD (15 tracks + 3 bonus tracks + 32-page book)
  • Double poster
  • 7″ picture disc for I Rise
  • Cassette (standard version with 13 tracks)
  • Temporary tattoos

Jay’s Note: Please forgive me if I’ve confused any of these versions. I’ll update if I notice any mistakes .. there are a LOT of versions to keep track of!

Today in Madonna History: April 16, 2021

On April 16 2021, a new digital album or remix EP for Madonna’s What It Feels Like For A Girl single was loaded to digital platforms. 

The digital single was loaded with 12 remixes, including some promo-only cuts never before available commercially:

  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Radio Edit) 4:03
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Paul Oakenfold Perfecto Mix) 7:19
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Richard Vission Velvet Masta Mix) 8:06
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Calderone & Quayle Dark Side Mix) 6:43
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Tracy Young Club Mix) 8:56
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Above & Beyond 12″ Club) 7:25
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Tracy Young Cool Out Radio Mix) 4:46
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Richard Vission Velvet Masta Edit) 3:39
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (Above & Beyond Club Radio Edit) 3:44
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (George Best Saturday Night Mix) 5:23
  • What It Feels Like For A Girl (That Kid Chris Caligula 2001 Mix) 9:51
  • Lo Que Siente La Mujer 4:43

Download or stream the remixes now!