Today in Madonna History: May 3, 1988

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Speed-the-Plow premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre in a production by the Lincoln Center Theater, opening on May 3, 1988 and closing on Dec 31, 1988 after 279 performances. The cast featured Joe Mantegna (Gould), Ron Silver (Fox) and Madonna (Karen). The play was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and Best Direction of a Play (Gregory Mosher). Silver won a Tony Award for Best Actor (Play). It has since been produced countless times in regional theaters and schools across the country.

Today in Madonna History: May 2, 1987

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On May 2 1987, La Isla Bonita, the fifth and final single from Madonna’s True Blue album hit #4 in the USA.

The instrumental version of the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna both accepted it and wrote the lyrics and melody. La Isla Bonita is noted for being the first Madonna song to have a Latino influence in it, with arrangements of Cuban drums and Spanish guitar,maracas, harmonicas and a mix of synthesized and real drumming.

Today in Madonna History: May 1, 1990

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On May 1, 1990, Madonna was a guest on the Arsenio Hall Show.  During her appearance, Madonna promoted Dick Tracy and made Arsenio sweat about Paula Abdul, etc.

 

Today In Madonna History: April 30, 2006

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On April 30 2006, Madonna made her festival debut at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California.

Madonna performed six songs in front of one of the largest crowds ever to witness an artist at the event. The set featured her latest hit single Hung Up, Get Together, I Love New York, Ray of Light, Let It Will Be and the vintage Everybody. The show served as a warm-up for the May 21 kick-off of her Confessions Tour in Los Angeles.

Today In Madonna History: April 29, 1989

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On April 29 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer enjoyed a second (of three) weeks at #1 in the USA.

Today In Madonna History: April 28, 2013

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On April 28, 2013, Sir Elton John told Extra that his decade-long feud with Madonna had ended.

“We were in a restaurant in France in the summertime,” he explained. “She came in, and I sent over a note. She was very gracious. I apologized profusely because what I said should never have appeared in public.”

Their altercation began in 2002 when John had choice words over Madonna’s song for the James Bond Die Another Day film. He remarked that it was “the worst Bond tune ever.”

If that weren’t enough, the “Candle in the Wind” singer accused Madonna of lip syncing during her Re-Invention Tour in 2004 and deepened that speculation when he said, “Make sure you lip-sync good” before her Super Bowl performance.

Even John’s husband David Furnish insulted the Queen of Pop when he said “I like Madonna’s music, but not her movies,” while attending the 2012 Golden Globe Awards. Even more, Furnish said “she should stick to what she is good at,” when Madonna beat John for the Best Original Song (Masterpiece).

Now the couple’s attempt to extinguish the drama seems to have been well received by M.

“She accepted our apology, and then we bought her dinner,” John said. “That’s over and done with. She was fantastic. She was just like, ‘Okay, let’s get a move on.’”

Furnish added, “We don’t believe in putting negativity out in the world, both of us were embarrassed when all that stuff came out. But you’ve got to put all that behind you and just go forward with the positivity.”

Today In Madonna History: April 27, 1985

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On April 27 1985, Madonna’s Angel debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at 48, while her previous single Crazy for You was at number-two on the chart.

After ten weeks, Angel reached a peak position of five on the chart. The song tied Madonna with Olivia Newton-John, as the female artist with most top-five hits on the Hot 100 at that time.  It was ranked at 75 on the year end chart for 1985.