Today in Madonna History: May 2, 2019

On May 2 2019, Hello Magazine published a glowing review of Madonna & Maluma’s live performance of Medellin at the Billboard Music Awards (which aired on May 1).

Here’s a snippet of the review:

Madonna made a comeback like no other on Wednesday night as she broke boundaries once again on stage at the Billboard Music Awards. The American pop sensation took to the stage as she performed her new single Medellin with singer Maluma. Halfway into the performance, the pair were joined by four life-like holograms of Madonna, which appeared alongside them before quickly vanishing in puffs of smoke. Each hologram was wearing one of the costumes Madonna modelled in the music video for Medellin, and appeared again later in the performance, continuing to dance alone on the stage as Madonna and Maluma made their way into the crowds. The holograms were created by world-leading volumetric and 3D capture studio Dimension.

This was Madonna’s first performance at the Billboard Music Awards in over four years, and Maluma was only too happy to be sharing the stage with her. This was the Colombian star’s first-ever performance at the prestigious awards, and told E! on the red carpet how their collaboration came about. He said: “It was crazy, I went to the VMAs. I met her [Madonna] over there, then I was touring in Europe and in London she called me and she said she had a song for me called Medellín. I’m from Medellín, Columbia and it’s crazy that she said that she wanted me to be part of the project.” Madonna was just as happy to perform with Maluma, and said after the performance: “Madame X on stage performing with her favourite Papi – thank you @maluma.”

Today in Madonna History: May 1, 1999

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On May 1 1999, the music video for Madonna’s Beautiful Stranger was shot at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.

Beautiful Stranger was directed by Brett Ratner, and went on to win an MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film.

Today in Madonna History: May 31, 1986

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On May 31 1986, Madonna’s Live To Tell hit #1 for 3 weeks on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary singles chart in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: May 30, 2009

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On May 30 2009, Madonna attended the second annual Vueve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic polo match on Governor’s Island in New York.

She was joined by designer Marc Jacobs, photographer Steven Klein and her children Rocco and David.

The event raised money for Prince Harry’s organization supporting orphans with AIDS in the African nation of Lesotho.

Today in Madonna History: May 29, 1998

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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.

Today in Madonna History: May 28, 1994

On May 28 1994, I’ll Remember (Theme From The Motion Picture With Honors) peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Sales chart (one week), Hot 100 Airplay chart (five weeks) and Top 40 Mainstream chart (three weeks).

This combined push allowed the single to reach its overall peak of #2 on the Hot 100 Singles chart.

Had the single’s slower growing success on the Hot AC chart (which would peak at #1 for four weeks beginning June 11th) aligned with its sales peak on May 28th, I’ll Remember might have advanced to the top spot on the Hot 100. Instead, a very respectable four-week run at #2 would have to do.

Today in Madonna History: May 27, 1990

On May 27 1990, Madonna played the first of three shows at the Toronto Skydome during her Blond Ambition Tour. The shows were Madonna’s only Canadian dates for the tour.

I was fortunate enough to have attended this show when I was twelve years old. Not only was it my first Madonna live experience, it was my first live concert experience. The morning tickets went on sale my mom was working out-of-town so she let me skip sixth-grade for the morning and I headed downtown to Sunrise Records…I managed to score two 100-level tickets directly facing the stage. I don’t think the word “excited” would sufficiently describe how elated I was to be going to see Madonna. The next two months felt like the longest two months of my life, but I couldn’t have been happier. I watched the Ciao Italia! concert on VHS daily during the lead-up, hoping that the new tour would be equally good. Needless to say it far exceeded my expectations – and my mom’s as well! We had the best time dancing and singing and just being utterly blown away by the spectacle. I couldn’t have asked for a better first concert experience, or for a better memory. Much love to the two M’s for making it possible! – Justin