On December 8 2011, Nicki Minaj tweeted that she was on the set of Madonna’s new music video for Give Me All Your Luvin’. Minaj said that Madonna gave her a birthday kiss on the lips. M.I.A. later tweeted that the video shoot was a success, saying, “Madonna killed it! A legend!”
On December 7 2004, Britney Spears’ collaboration with Madonna, Me Against The Music, was bestowed with the Hot Dance Sales Single Of The Year award at the Billboard Music Awards ceremony at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
On December 6 2004, Madonna’s Re-Invention Tour corset made by French designer Christian Lacroix was put on display as part of the inauguration celebration of the Villa du Marais hotel. Seventeen rooms of the hotel were filled with Christian’s most impressive creations.
Madonna had two variations of the corset: gold and lilac. She wore the corset during Vogue, Nobody Knows Me and Frozen.
On December 5 1992, Madonna’s Deeper and Deeper single was the week’s Hot Shot Debut entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., bowing in at #38.
Pop radio had taken an immediate liking to Deeper and Deeper upon the album’s release, with some stations choosing to spin it in favor of the album’s darker lead single, well ahead of its official promotional launch. The support wasn’t unanimous, however, as Madonna was facing a severe public backlash following the release of her Sex book and the forthcoming release of the film Body Of Evidence.
The fact that Deeper and Deeper managed to climb to #7 on the Hot 100 amidst a tidal wave of contempt is a true testament to song’s irresistible appeal.
On December 4 1987, Madonna filed for divorce from Sean Penn in Los Angeles County Superior Court, California. Twelve days later, Madonna withdrew the divorce papers and the couple stayed together until January 5 1989, when Madonna filed new divorce papers citing “irreconcilable differences”.
Jay’s Note: I often wondered why Madonna released You Can Dance with so little promotion behind it (You Can Dance was released November 17/1987). Understanding that her personal life was falling apart at the time, it makes sense that she wouldn’t have been concerned with releasing singles or filming music videos to promote the remix collection.
I also found this quote from her about You Can Dance:
“I don’t know that I like it, people screwing with my records, remixing them. The jury is out on it for me. But the fans like it, and really, this one was for the fans, for the kids in the clubs who like these songs and wanted to hear them in a new, fresh way.”
On December 3 1990, ABC’s Nightline played the banned music video for Justify My Love video in its entirety followed by a live interview with Madonna by Forrest Sawyer regarding the video’s sexual content and censorship.
When asked whether she stood to make more money selling the video than airing it on MTV, she half-jokingly answered, “Yeah, so lucky me!”
She also expressed that she did not understand why the video was banned when videos containing violence and degradation to women continued to receive regular airplay.
On December 2 1995, Madonna appeared on the cover of NME (New Music Express) magazine. The cover/interview was part of the Something To Remember promotional plan.
Here are a few questions from the interview:
Is ‘You’ll See’ about revenge?
“No, It’s about empowering yourself. As much as I like a song like ‘Take A Bow’, lyrically it only reflects one side of my personality. I have that side which in completely masochistic and willing to, literally, do anything for love. But there’s another side too which is – ‘Don’t f*** with me, I don’t need anybody. I can do what I want’ and ‘You’ll See’ reflects that.”
Are you getting harder as you get older?
“No, just wiser. I’ve read a couple of reviews that say I’m getting harder in my old age but I don’t think that’s true at all. I think that you can’t help but become a little cynical about life and love but I’m still a romantic, I’m still an idealist. I fall in love quite easily so I don’t think I’ve gotten harder at all. It’s just another thing for people to mention when they want to undermine who I am and what I say. Some people have a really hard time resisting thinking in a one-dimensional way in general.”
For a woman whose first hit was a song about holidays, Madonna implies that she is singularly bad at taking them.
“I despise anyone who looks at me and my lifestyle and thinks – ‘Oh God! Her life is so easy!’ Like I was born into it and it happened overnight. Bullshit! I work so f**ing hard.”
Nor is she deluded about her commercial ranking. Though still one of the most famous women in the world – most people have forgotten more about Madonna than they achieve in their entire lives – her record sales don’t always reflect this.
“I’ve gone from having a huge fan base to losing a huge fan base to having a kind of fluctuating fan base. I’ve always had a core of fans who’ve stuck by me but, depending on the kind of music I do, I end up appealing to certain groups of people and alienating others.”
Does this bother you?
“No. I may not be as popular as I once was but people are starting to pay attention to my music and respect me as an artist more.”
Have you lost your nerve at any point over the years?
“Absolutely!” she laughs. “I panic every time I put out a record. I think every artist does. Every time you have a Number One record you think., ‘Well that was great but I’ll probably never be able to do it again’. It’s never-ending.”
Today In Madonna History 