On July 14 1987, Madonna’s second studio album, Like a Virgin was certified 7x platinum (7 million units) in the USA.
According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, “Every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist’s magic moment; for Madonna, Like a Virgin was just such a defining moment”.
On July 7 1984, Warner Bros. Records took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine to congratulate Madonna on the Gold certification of her self-titled debut album.
The ad featured the first look at a new photo shoot Madonna had recently completed with Steven Meisel. This image would later appear on the back cover of her next album, Like A Virgin.
On June 14 1990, Madonna’s Vogue was certified platinum (for shipment of one million units) in the USA.
On May 25 1985, Madonna performed The Virgin Tour at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The show was filmed by Daniel Kleinman, and released by Warner Music Video and Sire Records on November 13 1985.
Here is the dialog from Madonna’s famous Virgin Tour introduction (filmed by James Foley for the video release, it was not present during the concerts):
“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn’t know anybody, I wanted to dance, I wanted to sing, I wanted to do all those things, I wanted to make people happy, I wanted to be famous, I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard, and my dream came true.”
Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour was an enormous success. The home video release was the top selling music video cassette of 1986 in the USA, and the video was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies.
On February 9 1995, Madonna: The Girlie Show – Live Down Under video was certified gold for sales of 50,000 units in the USA.
Originally released on home video and laser disc in 1994, it later became Madonna’s first commercially available DVD – and one of the first concert DVD’s marketed by Warner-Reprise Video – when it was reissued in the format in 1997.
On January 6 1993, Madonna’s Erotica album was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of 2 million units in the USA.
What is your favourite track from Erotica?
On December 10 1992, Madonna’s Erotica single was certified gold in the USA for the shipment of 500,000 units.
In 2011, Slant Magazine listed Erotica at number thirty-four on their list “The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s”, stating that Madonna’s “throaty” delivery throughout the song was effective in making the lyrics “incredibly honest”. The magazine went on to say that Madonna’s “invitation to the dance, a slithering, sinister snake rising from a gaudily ornate chalice. The beats are, by design, hypnotic—at once alluring and devious. With Erotica, Madonna promises to get you off, but not without giving you something”.
Today In Madonna History 