Today in Madonna History: April 2, 2005

April 3, 2025 By Jay in 2005, April Tags: Dear Jessie, Essential Singles, Express Yourself, Like A Prayer, On the Cover of a Magazine 1 Comment

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: April 1, 2012

April 1, 2025 By sonicboy19 in 2012, April Tags: Charts, Elvis Presley, MDNA (Album), Remix Videos, UK 1 Comment

On April 1 2012, Madonna achieved her 12th UK #1 album with MDNA, overtaking Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most chart-topping albums of all-time in the UK.

Today in Madonna History: April 30, 2020

April 30, 2024 By Jay in 2020, April Tags: Babyface, Bedtime Stories, Bedtime Story, Erotica (Album), Evita, Human Nature, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Secret, Take A Bow, The Sex Book 2 Comments

On April 30 2020, Madonna’s 1994 Bedtime Stories album topped the U.S. iTunes Albums Chart after her fans kicked of th #JusticeForBedtimeStories campaign.

This is how the Daily Mail reported it:

More than 25 years after its initial release, one of Madonna’s most under-appreciated albums is getting some love.

Bedtime Stories, the Material Girl’s sixth studio album released in 1994, shot to the top position of the U.S. iTunes chart on Thursday, thanks to a fan-led hashtag campaign ‘#JusticeForBedtimeStories’.

The campaign follows in the footsteps of #JusticeForEMC2, a similar move made by the Mariah Carey fandom in support of her 2008 album, as well as an effort on behalf of Janet Jackson’s 1986 record Control.

Madonna’s Bedtime Stories marked a transitional time in the career of the now 61-year-old performer, after she pushed the envelope with 1992’s salacious Erotica album and the publication of her Sex book, and before her Golden Globe-winning role as buttoned-up Evita Peron in 1996’s musical film Evita.

And while Bedtime Stories‘ final track, Take A Bow, spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 – to date her longest-running number-one single – only one of the album’s other singles, Secret, managed to break the top 10.

Still, Bedtime Stories remains to this day one of Madge’s most cohesive and melodic albums, containing one of her best songs of all time – the brazen and unapologetic anthem Human Nature.

Today In Madonna History: April 29, 1996

April 29, 2024 By Jay in 1996, April Tags: Carlos Leon, On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine 1 Comment

On April 29 1996, Madonna appeared on the cover of People Magazine, with the headline: Maternal Girl: Madonna’s with child.

Today in Madonna History: April 28, 2003

April 28, 2024 By Jay in 2003, April Tags: Guy Ritchie, Lourdes Maria Ciccone, On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine 1 Comment

On April 28 2003, Madonna graced the cover of People Magazine: Madonna’s Real Life

Here’s a snippet of the article that went with the cover:

Once a naughty material girl, the pop icon has turned into a doting mom and devoted wife. But she’s still making waves. Visitors to Madonna’s $6.5 million Beverly Hills mansion on a recent afternoon could stroll through and behold master-works by Picasso, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and…resident artist Lourdes Leon, age 6. Alas, Lourdes belongs to the enfant terrible school of art, which has her famous mom clenching her teeth in frustration. “My daughter spilled black paint on the bedroom rug,” says a stressed Madonna. “We’re not really sure how it happened. She was left alone for two minutes, and, well, it’s not pretty.” So where is her husband, British film director Guy Ritchie? “He’s upstairs, working on a script,” she says. “I’m much more the disciplinarian of the house, although Guy is getting more involved.” Then, flashing a playful grin, she adds, “I’d have to fire him as a dad if he didn’t get more involved. I can’t be the hard one all the time.”

Today in Madonna History: April 27, 1993

April 27, 2024 By Jay in 1993, April Tags: ASCAP Film & Television Music Awards, Best Song Writing, Shep Pettibone, This Used To Be My Playground 1 Comment

On April 27 1993, Madonna was honoured for Best Songwriting for This Used To Be My Playground at the 8th annual ASCAP Film & Television Music Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.