On April 8 2006, tickets for Madonna’s UK Confessions Tour shows sold out in 10 minutes!
Fans snapped up every ticket for the first two Wembley Arena gigs as soon as the box office opened at 9am. A further four Wembley dates were swiftly added – and all had sold out by lunchtime. Finally, a seventh gig was added for August 15, and also sold out!
On April 7 1990, Madonna’s Vogue single was briefly reviewed in Billboard magazine.
Vogue’s early release to radio and the addition of its music video to MTV’s playlist were also noted in the same issue.
On April 6 1996, Larry Flick’s review of the single release of Madonna’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore was featured in Billboard magazine.
On April 5 2003, an Australian interview aired that demonstrated Madonna’s quick change of heart regarding the American Life music video.
During the interview with Richard Wilkins, the following dialog takes place:
Wilkins: “You’re going to get all sorts of criticism I think.”
Madonna: “Why. Tell me why!”
W: “People are going to say it’s inappropriate to show bombs going off and planes bombing people.”
M: “Why? That’s on the news every five minutes! I’m just using news footage that’s already been seen by everyone.”
W: “I’m suggesting that some people are going to think maybe it’s ill-timed.”
M: “But in a way it’s perfect timing, because it’s what we are experiencing right now – so, it’s American life. It’s very current and appropriate I think.”
Wilkins may have convinced Madonna to go cold on the idea.
“Maybe I did, perhaps I caused her to think again,” he said. “She is very proud of the video, as she should be because it’s incredible.”
By the time the interview aired (a week later), Madonna had already pulled the American Life video and made a statement regarding her choice.
You can read the statement and watch the full music video here.
On April 4 1989, Pepsi-Cola announced it had banned all future broadcasts of the Madonna/Pepsi-Cola commercial, cancelled her 1-year contract and the sponsorship of what would have been the Like A Prayer World Tour, due to the boycott threats from religious groups against her own Like A Prayer music video.
Here’s a snippet of an article from the New York Times (printed April 5, 1989):
”When you’ve got an ad that confuses people or concerns people, it just makes sense that that ad goes away,” said Tod MacKenzie, a spokesman for Pepsico Inc. He would not say whether Pepsico had canceled its sponsorship of Madonna’s tour.
Pepsico paid Madonna more than $5 million to appear in a two-minute commercial that first appeared on March 2. In it, Madonna traveled back to her 8th birthday.
Jay’s Thought: Had the Like A Prayer World Tour gone forward as planned, Madonna might not have participated in Dick Tracy or released I’m Breathless or Vogue for that matter. How different would the Like A Prayer World Tour set-list have been from Blond Ambition?
On April 3 2008, the music video for 4 Minutes – the debut single from Madonna’s 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records, Hard Candy – made its world premiere as a video single available to purchase through iTunes. The digital retailer held exclusive rights to the video for a period of 48 hours, after which it was made available for streaming and broadcast through digital and traditional channels.
The video was filmed in London in February, 2008 and was directed by French duo, Jonas & François. At the time of the video’s launch, the audio download of 4 Minutes was already holding the #1 position on iTunes. When asked about the “4 Minute Fever Phenomenon,” Madonna commented, “Goody goody gum drops.”
On April 2 2005, Madonna was featured in Q magazine as one of the Five Essential Acts in Music, along with The Beatles, Bob Dylan, U2 and The Velvet Underground.
Q magazine listed Like A Prayer as her definitive album:
If you only buy one album….Like A Prayer. Always more interesting when not seeking novelty, Madonna hit artistic and commercial gold with Like A Prayer, her best and least contrived album. The title track, all swirling choruses and kitchen – sink production, remains her major statement, but Express Yourself was ferocious dance, while on the rarely lauded Dear Jessie she had never sounded so human.
Q magazine also listed what they considered to be Madonna’s essential singles:
Holiday, Borderline, Material Girl, Like A Virgin, Crazy For You, Into The Groove, Papa Don’t Preach, La Isla Bonita, Open Your Heart, Live To Tell, Who’s That Girl, Causing A Commotion, Vogue, Justify My Love, Ray Of Light, Frozen, Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Beautiful Stranger, Music, Hollywood.
Today In Madonna History 