On March 21 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer album was released. Today marks the 29th Anniversary of this classic album. Do you remember the first time you heard Like A Prayer? Did you have it on cassette, CD or vinyl?
To celebrate this anniversary, we invite you to follow this link and explore the many exciting releases and controversies that came with this epic release: https://todayinmadonnahistory.com/tag/like-a-prayer/
On March 20 1990, the lead single from Madonna’s I’m Breathless album, Vogue, was released.
Vogue was written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone in December 1989. The song was recorded with the intention of being the b-side to the upcoming (and last single for the Like A Prayer album), Keep It Together (released on January 30 1990).
The finished product was too good to be a single b-side, so it was decided that Vogue would be a stand-alone single on Madonna’s forthcoming album, I’m Breathless (even though the song had nothing to do with Dick Tracy).
On March 19 1996, Madonna’s cover of Rose Royce’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore was released as the fourth single from her Something To Remember greatest ballads collection.
The song originally appeared on the Like A Virgin album.
The idea to cover the song was Michael Ostin’s (head of the A&R department at Warner Bros. Records).
In author Warren Zane’s book Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Records, the First 50 Years, he recalled:
“I had the good fortune of finding material that Madonna really responded to, Love Don’t Live Here Anymore for instance, which was the old Rose Royce record. I was driving into work one day and heard it on the radio, I called producer Nile Rodgers and Madonna, they were in the studio. I said, ‘I have an idea, you know the old Rose Royce record, ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore‘? Why don’t you try and record a version of it for Like a Virgin?” Initially both Rodgers and Madonna were apprehensive of tackling an already well-known ballad, but in the last minute they decided that if Madonna wanted to bring diversity to the album, there could be no better song than ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’.
On March 18 2015, Madonna’s Rebel Heart album debuted on Billboard’s Canadian Top Albums chart at #1.
All seven of Madonna’s studio albums released since Nielsen SoundScan began monitoring album sales in Canada in 1996 have entered the Canadian chart at #1, as did her 2009 hits collection, Celebration.
In contrast to Billboard’s Top 200 in the U.S., where Rebel Heart entered at #2 before falling to #21 the following week, sales remained relatively steady in Canada, with the album dipping only one position to #2 in its second week.
Interestingly, the album that blocked Rebel Heart from reaching the top spot in the U.S. (the Empire: Season 1 soundtrack) charted for only one week in Canada, peaking at #25.
On March 17 1999, Madonna won Best Dance Artist – Solo and Best Dance Video (Ray Of Light) at the 14th annual International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, Florida.
On March 16 2004, Love Profusion was commercially released in North America on CD maxi-single. In the U.S., a double 12″ vinyl edition of the maxi-single was also released one week later, on March 23rd. Written & produced by Madonna & Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Love Profusion was the fourth and final North American single release from the American Life album. In the UK, Warner chose to issue the song instead of Nothing Fails as the album’s third and final single in December, 2003.
Though lack of radio support kept Love Profusion from charting on the Hot 100 in the U.S., it nevertheless managed to top the Hot Dance/Club Play chart. North of the border, the track peaked at #3 on the Canadian singles chart.
North American pressings of the CD maxi-single included a fold-out tester square of the Estée Lauder fragrance Beyond Paradise. The television commercial for the fragrance featured the song Love Profusion – and although Madonna was replaced by supermodel Carolyn Murphy, it used the same computer-generated imagery as the music video’s “daylight” scenes. Both the video and the commercial were created simultaneously by director Luc Besson.
On March 15 1995, Madonna signed on to star as the late Eva Peron in film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical Evita.
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