On November 23 1994, Madonna was interviewed by Jana Lynne White at the St. James hotel in Los Angeles for Canada’s long-running, award-winning series, TheNewMusic. Jana had previously interviewed Madonna in 1992 during promotion for the Erotica album.
On October 5 2015, Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour stopped in Toronto for the first of two sold-out shows. Canadian singer, Nelly Furtado, was brought on stage during the show as Madonna’s Unapologetic Bitch.
Madonna had this to say on Twitter after the show:
“Thank you Nelly for being my b**ch tonight!! Hope you put that banana to good use!… #unapologeticbitch in Toronto! #rebelhearttour.”
On July 18 2004, Madonna played the first of three sold-out dates at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre during her Re-Invention Tour. Playing to a combined total of over 52,000 fans, the shows were the only Canadian stop on the tour and marked her first concerts in Canada in eleven years.
At the second show Madonna proclaimed to those in attendance that they were the best audience of the tour thus far, while the final Toronto date saw Madonna in an uncharacteristically playful mood. Interrupting the show’s normally swift progression between Papa Don’t Preach and Crazy For You, she joked about the infamous 1990 threats of arrest and whipped the audience into a cheering frenzy with her self-described “unprofessional” behaviour.
On July 6 1987, Madonna played the first of two sold-out shows at the Forum in Montreal, Québec, Canada during the Who’s That Girl World Tour.
The gigs marked Madonna’s first concert in the city. The local press gave the shows glowing reviews and complimented Madonna’s sincere efforts in speaking French with her audience.
While the majority of the tour played to stadiums, a handful of arena dates in North America – including the shows at the Forum – required the use of a less sprawling stage configuration.
Thanks to Tonytheturtle, FYO PIX for the video clips & Caroline Duval for the images!
On July 3, 1987, Madonna accepted a rare Canadian Diamond Album certification award at a press conference at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel on the eve of her sold-out concert at CNE Stadium. The certification award was presented by WEA Music Canada president Stan Kulin to commemorate over one million units sold of the True Blue album in Canada.
Madonna would receive a second Canadian Diamond Album certification for Like A Virgin in 1992.
On June 15 1985, Madonna’s Angel peaked at #5 on the Canadian Top 100 Singles Chart (RPM magazine).
Angel was written by Madonna and Stephen Bray and produced by Nile Rodgers for the Like A Virgin album.
On May 28 1990, Madonna played the second of a three show run at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada during her Blond Ambition Tour.
As the story goes, the concert on May 28th was attended by a Toronto police detective who became uncomfortable with Madonna’s simulated sexual theatrics. The detective complained to the Crown attorney, who became convinced–based on how it had been described–that the show on the 29th should not be permitted to proceed with similar content.
Supt. Frank Bergen was one of the constables sent to follow up on the complaint on May 29th, which was subsequently captured in Madonna’s film Truth Or Dare. Bergen recalled the events in a recent interview with The Canadian Press:
What I was struggling with was how do you go to the microphone and tell everyone the show is cancelled? My role and my position was we were not going to shut the show down. We were portrayed as being real knobs, if you will [in the documentary]. I don’t think we were…I don’t think we ever got to the (point), nor would we have, where we walked up onto the stage – and onto her bed – and handcuffed her. Then we would’ve been part of a different history.”
It took a year before the officer would hear about his cinematic debut in Truth or Dare, when one afternoon his teenage neighbour excitedly shouted across the backyard that he’d spotted him on the big screen.
Bergen said he respects concerns over obscenity but concedes it would’ve been difficult to satisfy a “loose interpretation of the Criminal Code.”
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