On September 16 2003, Madonna made an hour-long appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote her first children’s book, The English Roses. It was Madonna’s third appearance on the popular daytime talk show.
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Today in Madonna History: September 13, 2001
On September 13 2001, Madonna resumed the final string of dates on her Drowned World Tour after having postponed the September 11th show due to the terrorist attacks in New York. She donated the proceeds from her second Los Angeles concert on the 13th to benefit children who were orphaned following the tragic attacks that killed thousands of parents.
Several changes were made to soften some of the show’s violent theatrics for the final three shows: at the end of the Geisha segment she was lowered from the stage with her arm around the dancer’s shoulder instead of shooting him; her kilt in the opening section was changed to an American flag design; she did not perform The Funny Song but instead took the opportunity to share some more serious thoughts with the audience.
Madonna told the crowd at the Staples Center:
“Any of you who purchased a ticket to the show tonight will be contributing to a fund that will be for children orphaned by this tragedy, so thank you all. Now on a personal note I think that each and every one of us should look inside our own hearts and examine our own personal acts of terrorism, hatred, intolerance, negativity, the list goes on and on, we’re all responsible. If you are homophobic or racist or hate, you contributed to this disaster. It’s not just Bin Laden, it’s all of us, we’ve all contributed to hatred in the world today. And I would like to have one minute of silence to say a prayer for those who have died; to say a prayer for the friends and families of those who have died; to say a prayer for the rescuers who have worked night and day to rescue people from the rubble. And most of all say a prayer for anyone who thinks that it is right to kill in the name of God. Where there is violence, there is no God. Let’s have a moment of silence. Hold hands with those around you. Or stay still and reflect.”
A minute of silence followed before Madonna launched into Secret, which she prefaced by adding:
“One more thing–if you want to change the world, you must first start with yourself!”
Today in Madonna History: September 7, 1995
On September 7 1995, Madonna won Best Female Video for “Take A Bow” at the 12th annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY. Madonna also presented the award for Best Rap Video.
Later, a post-show chat with Kurt Loder to promote her upcoming ballads collection Something To Remember quickly went off the rails when Courtney Love infamously interrupted the interview. While it may have been Liz Rosenberg’s worst nightmare, the hilarious encounter certainly gave viewers something to remember!
Today in Madonna History: September 6, 1989
On September 6 1989, Madonna performed Express Yourself at the 6th annual MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA. The Express Yourself music video picked up awards for Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, while Like A Prayer won the Viewer’s Choice Award.
Serving as a sneak preview for 1990’s Blond Ambition Tour, the performance marked the first of many to feature the vocal trio of Madonna, Donna De Lory and Niki Haris. De Lory and Haris had previously toured with Madonna during the 1987 Who’s That Girl Tour, but had been joined by a third background vocalist, Debra Parsons. The pair would be more heavily featured as vocalist/dancers from this point forward, rather than simply band members who rarely left the confines of their microphone stand.
It was during rehearsals for the 1989 VMA performance that Niki Haris brought voguing to Madonna’s attention, and stylized poses were then fittingly incorporated into the performance’s choreography.
Today in Madonna History: August 29, 2004
On August 29 2004, Madonna played to over 62,000 fans at Ireland’s Slane Castle during the only open-air performance of The Re-Invention Tour.
A fan who attended the show shared their review with Madonna fan-site Mad-Eyes.net:
“I can’t believe I’ve finally come to Ireland. Jesus Christ, what took me so fucking long!” Yesterday evening Madonna gave her first open air concert in 11 years. And Madonna didn’t disappoint. Even though it rained and she had to cover herself with a jumper sometimes, she put on a magnificent show. During the first part of the show, she wore the golden corset again. Later, while spinning during Papa Don’t Preach, she said “I’m just trying to keep myself warm!” while wearing an “Irish Do It Better” shirt. The crowd was certainly warmed up and gave her a lot of energy. When it was raining during Nothing Fails, a crew member sat on his knees on stage, covering Madonna under an umbrella while she was playing the guitar. Madonna laughed and sang “rain, rain, go away”. Because of the open air, the catwalk was present all the time and even much lower than usual, giving Madonna the chance to skim hands of the fans. The confetti for Holiday was blown into the air. As the message “Re-Invent Yourself” appeared on screen, Madonna thanked the crowd “thank you goodnight” and added “Ireland you’re the best!” Afterwards, huge fireworks broke out over the place.
Madonna herself recalled the performance in her tour documentary I’m Going To Tell You A Secret, although her recollection of the show’s attendance appeared to be slightly hazy. Billboard magazine reported ticket sales of 62,275 for the event rather than the 80,000 people capacity of the grounds.
(Thanks to Madonnalicious & their readers for the pics and to Mad-Eyes.net!)
Today in Madonna History: August 27, 1983
On August 27 1983, Holiday/Lucky Star made its debut on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the U.S., entering at #31.
The promo-only double A-side single was serviced to clubs by Sire/Warner in order to gauge public interest before deciding which track should be promoted to radio. Although technically serving as the B-side, Holiday was given top billing for its chart entry when it proved to be the more popular selection with club DJ’s. It was subsequently issued as Madonna’s third commercial single in North America, while Lucky Star was released as her fifth single a year later.
Today in Madonna History: August 25, 1984
On August 25 1984, Lucky Star entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. at number forty-nine.
