Today in Madonna History: January 27, 1984

madonna hacienda 1984 550hacienda manchester 1984 3 550

On January 27 1984, Madonna performed Burning Up and Holiday on the UK television program, The Tube.  The show was broadcast live from The Hacienda club in Manchester.

Malcolm Gerrie, executive producer of The Tube, has been quoted as saying that the show paid for Madonna to travel to Manchester because Warner Bros. didn’t yet consider her a “priority artist” and were unwilling to cover her travel costs.

Today in Madonna History: January 26, 2007

On January 26, 2007, Madonna’s second live album, The Confessions Tour was released by Warner Bros. Records.  It was recorded at Wembley Arena in London, and was released in both CD and DVD formats.  The DVD was directed by Jonas Åkerlund.

Today in Madonna History: January 25, 1989

madonna-like-a-prayer-pepsi-deal-1 madonna-like-a-prayer-pepsi-deal-2 madonna-like-a-prayer-pepsi-deal-3 madonna-like-a-prayer-pepsi-deal-4 madonna-like-a-prayer-pepsi-deal-5 madonna-like-a-prayer-pepsi-deal-6

On January 25, 1989, following eight months of negotiations, Pepsi announced that they had signed Madonna to a year-long endorsement contract, for which they would pay her $5 million. In return, Madonna would appear in a series of television commercials and Pepsi would sponsor the Like A Prayer World Tour, tentatively slated for later that year.

Pepsi was undaunted by Madonna’s image in the tabloids. “Her appeal is in her music and her acting. That’s where people’s interests are,” announced Pepsi spokesman Tod MacKenzie.

If the Like A Prayer World Tour had gone ahead as planned, do you think it would have been drastically different from Blond Ambition? What would have changed? Vogue and all the songs from Dick Tracy (or I’m Breathless) would have been omitted. What else? 

Today in Madonna History: January 24, 2004

madonna-nrj-awards-2004-1 madonna-nrj-awards-2004-2 madonna-nrj-awards-2004-3 madonna-nrj-awards-2004-4 madonna-nrj-awards-2004-5

On January 24 2004, Madonna received the NRJ Award of Honor during the NRJ awards ceremony in Cannes, France. Madonna accepted the award from Britney Spears and thanked her French fans for two decades of support.

“My ambition may be American, and I may have married a Brit, but my heart belongs to France.”

Today in Madonna History: January 23, 1985

madonna-like-a-virgin-cover

On January 23 1985, Madonna’s Like A Virgin album was certified 2x platinum (for sales of 2 million units) in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: January 22, 2010

revolver-a revolver-b

On January 22, 2010, Madonna’s Revolver was released in Europe.

Today in Madonna History: January 21, 1995

take-a-bow-madonna-january-21

On January 21 1995, Madonna’s Take A Bow climbed to #5 (from #8) on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.