On March 1 1998, the lead single from Madonna’s Ray of Light album, Frozen, debuted on the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Singles Chart at its peak of number five. The next week Frozen fell to number nine, but it returned to its peak of number five on March 15 1998 where it held steady for another three weeks.
Australia released Frozen with a unique picture CD (5-track).
On February 16 1998, the music video for Frozen premiered on MTV at 4 p.m. Directed by Chris Cunningham, the video was filmed in the Mojave Desert in California from January 7th to 10th.
Initially Madonna had considered filming the video in Iceland but decided that a barren desert would create a similarly desolate backdrop, without the added difficulty of filming in extreme cold temperatures. As it turned out, filming in the desert at dusk in January was far from the warm location she had envisioned; low temperatures and an accompanying rainstorm left much of the crew under the weather.
In an interview with MTV News, Cunningham stated that Madonna became interested to work with him after seeing his Aphex Twin-directed music video, “Come to Daddy” (1997). The black goth gown outfit Madonna wears in the video was designed by Olivier Theyskens, and provided by then-new collaborator, designer Arianne Phillips.
On January 26 1998, Madonna was interviewed by Ian “Molly” Meldrum in Los Angeles, California during the promotional campaign for her upcoming album, Ray Of Light.
The interview aired in early March as an Australian television special, sponsored by Warner Music Australia.
On January 7 1998, filming began for Madonna’s Frozen music video in the California desert with director Chris Cunningham.
Cunningham recalled the initial concept for the video in his book, Directors Label:
“The original treatment was, like, massive piles of bodies in the desert. All these figurative sculptures made up of bodies that were all multiple Madonnas. They were all going to split and break up and change into ravens and then change into dogs. Just a performance video, but a really elaborate one using her, her clothes, and any shapes that would come out of her clothes.”
On July 9 1998, Madonna was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
David LaChapelle was the photographer for the photo shoot.
On June 20 1998, Madonna’s Ray of Light became the #1 dance single on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The hit single remained #1 for 4 weeks!
Ray of Light was written by Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Muldoon, Dave Curtiss, Christine Leach, and produced by Madonna and Orbit. Ray of Light is based on Curtiss Maldoon’s Sepheryn.
“It took a long time to do the album, months. And it wasn’t like we were slacking. We actually did have to work fast, and there were many times when we had to move on. One of Madonna’s favorite phrases was: ‘Don’t gild the lily.’ In other words, keep it rough, and don’t perfect it too much. It’s a natural urge for computer buffs to perfect everything because they can, and we were very wary of that.”
—William Orbit on working with Madonna; Keyboard magazine
On May 29 1998, Madonna visited The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote her album, Ray Of Light.
Madonna sat down for a lengthy interview and performed two songs from her new album, the title track, Ray Of Light, and Little Star – both for the first time on television.
The episode marked Madonna’s second visit to Oprah, following a 1996 appearance to promote her film, Evita.
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