Today in Madonna History: November 21, 1992

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On November 21 1992, Madonna was named Most Popular International Solo Female Artist at the 2nd annual Australian Music Awards.

The above posted photo has nothing to do with the Australian Music Awards, but since Madonna did not attend, here’s a beautiful photo from that period in Madonna’s career.  Gorgeous!  

Today in Madonna History: November 20, 1998

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On November 20 1998, the U.K.’s Channel 4 aired a Madonna interview conducted by Johnny Vaughan. The special was titled Johnny Meets Madonna and was part of Madonna’s European promotional campaign for The Power Of Good-Bye and the Ray Of Light album.

Today in Madonna History: November 19, 1986

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On November 19 1986, Madonna’s Open Your Heart single was released.  Open Your Heart was the fourth single to be released from the True Blue album.

The single would eventually become Madonna’s fifth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (topping the chart on February 7, 1987).

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Today In Madonna History: November 17, 2001

On November 17 2001, the promo-only remixes for Impressive Instant by Peter Rauhofer climbed to number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US. It remained in the top spot for the week of November 24th.

Today in Madonna History: November 16, 2002

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On November 16 2002, Madonna’s Die Another Day hit #1 in Canada, Italy and Spain.

Today in Madonna History: November 9, 1985

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On November 9 1985, Madonna hosted the 1985-86 season premiere of NBC-TV’s Saturday Night Live.

The musical guest was Simple Minds.  Simple Minds performed Alive and Kicking and Satisfy Yourself.

During the SNL skits, Madonna performed Take On Me, La Bamba and Lionel Richie’s Three Times A Lady.

For the eleventh season of SNL, Lorne Michaels returned as executive producer after a five-year absence. Michaels wanted his own cast so the entire cast from the previous season was fired.

Read this article by Queerty.com:

Say what you will about Madonna’s acting chops, but the icon has always had our backs and never been afraid to push the envelope. Take, for example, her only hosting stint on Saturday Night Live back in 1985 when she was indisputably the most famous entertainer woman on the planet. In the sketch, which was clearly inspired by the anxiety and, in some cases, furor that surrounded an episode of Dynasty. Superstar actor Rock Hudson had joined the cast as a love interest to series regular Linda Evans. In one episode Hudson kissed Evans on the mouth. Not a big deal, you’re thinking but by the time the episode aired Hudson was revealed to be battling AIDS and had known at the time it was filmed but hadn’t disclosed the information to his costar. It was a different era, friends, an AIDS diagnosis was thought to be a death sentence and there were even tabloid reports that Evans had contracted the disease from a mere smooch. Evans, for the record, bore no grudge against the late superstar.

Anyway, in the skit titled Pinklisting, Madge dons a dark wig to resemble Evans’ other costar Joan Collins and a clipped British accent (a harbinger of things to come!) to play a TV actress unwilling to do scenes with a costar “she doesn’t know” due to her fear of AIDS. The joke, if it can be referred to as one, is that the costar is played by Terry Sweeney (still the only openly gay male SNL player), as a super-femme gay actor who tries to butch it up but he loses his cool when confronted by a snarky Judy-Liza headline.

While the sketch isn’t exactly a rib-tickler it’s surprising in hindsight that it was a comic skit built around AIDS at a time when it was still considered a fatal disease, and broadcast in November 1985, less than a month after Hudson’s death. While that may seem insensitive, remember that this was the year Larry Kramer’s landmark AIDS-themed play The Normal Heart was first produced — and President Reagan hadn’t even uttered the word in public. So let’s hear it again for Madonna, forever at the forefront of progress, bringing a public discourse on the disease into the homes of millions of TV viewers.

Today in Madonna History: November 8, 2005

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On November 8 2005, Madonna recorded an interview with Michael Parkinson for an episode of the British television series Parkinson, for broadcast on November 12th.

Madonna was in great spirits during the appearance, which also included performances of two songs from her soon-to-be-released album, Confessions On A Dance Floor: lead single Hung Up along with the very first live performance of Get Together.

(Thanks Amalio for sharing the video!)