On March 5 2000, The Next Best Thing, starring Madonna and Rupert Everett hit #2 at the box-office in the USA with $5.8 million for its opening weekend.
Today in Madonna History: March 4, 1998
On March 4 1998, Madonna’s Frozen debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.
The lead single from Ray of Light climbed to number two on April 4 1998, behind the K-Ci & JoJo song All My Life. Frozen became the sixth single by Madonna to reach the top two position, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most number-two songs.
Today in Madonna History: March 3, 1989
On March 3 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer single was released.
“Like A Prayer is a very important song to me. I felt the impact that it was going to make. That song means a lot more to me than Like A Virgin. I wrote it and it’s from my heart. It’s a very spiritual song. I think I was much more spiritually in touch with the power of words and music by the time I started recording the song and the album.”
Patrick Leonard had this to say about Like A Prayer:
“I think there was a point when we realized that it was the title track, and the lead track, and it was going to be a powerhouse. It became obvious that there was something unique about it. And that somehow we made this thing work: with its stopping and starting, and a minimalistic rhythmic thing, and the verses, and these bombastic choruses, and this giant choir comes in. This is ambitious, you know?”
Today in Madonna History: March 2, 1989
On March 2 1989, Madonna’s “Make A Wish” commercial for Pepsi premiered during an episode NBC-TV’s The Cosby Show.
A teaser ad had begun airing in the week leading up to the prime-time reveal of the full two-minute spot, which promised viewers the first opportunity to hear Madonna’s new single, Like A Prayer. Unbeknownst to fans at the time, the teaser featured a brief preview of the 12″ Club Version of the song (excluding any Madonna vocals).
An estimated 250 million viewers in over 40 countries tuned in to watch the only airing of “Make A Wish” – which marked the first time that a mainstream artist had launched a lead single in a promotional campaign before its official release to radio or MTV.
A brief but foretelling comment made by Madonna prior to the airing of the commercial was published in Rolling Stone magazine:
“I like the challenge of merging art and commerce. As far as I’m concerned, making a video is also a commercial. But the treatment for the video is a lot more controversial. It’s probably going to touch a lot of nerves in a lot of people. And the treatment for the commercial is…I mean, it’s a commercial. It’s very, very sweet. It’s very sentimental. The Pepsi spot is a great and different way to expose the record. Record companies just don’t have the money to finance that kind of publicity.”
The remark appeared to go conveniently unnoticed by the executives at Pepsi, who later claimed to have had no previous knowledge about the content of the Like A Prayer music video, despite the fact that it was already completed when the commercial was shot.
Banking on the buzz generated by the “Make A Wish” commercial, Sire Records issued the Like A Prayer single and its accompanying music video to radio and MTV the day after the commercial aired.
As for the ensuing controversy–that’s just another day in Madonna history.
Today In Madonna History: March 1, 1995
On March 1 1995, Madonna began to appear in a series of promotional ad campaigns in various North American magazines for Gianni Versace fashions. Photographs by Steven Meisel.
Today in Madonna History: February 28, 2001
On February 28 2001, Madonna announced she was going out on tour for the first time since The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993:
“I’m finally going to fucking drag my ass into a rehearsal studio. I never want to repeat myself. I don’t see the point of doing a show unless you offer something that is going to mind-boggle the senses. It’s not enough to get on the stage and sing a song. It’s all about theatre and drama and surprise and suspense. So I’m looking forward to it, but I’m also nervous about it.”
The Drowned World Tour started on June 9 2001, in Spain. The tour ended after 47 shows in Los Angeles on September 15 2001.
Today in Madonna History: February 27, 1991
On February 27 1991, Madonna’s first greatest hits video collection, The Immaculate Collection video was certified double platinum (for sales of 200,000 units).
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (AllMusic) had this to say about the video collection:
Today In Madonna History 