Today in Madonna History: June 2, 2005

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On June 2 2005, Madonna.com confirmed Madonna’s participation of Live 8:

“Sir Bob Geldof confirmed in a press conference yesterday the details and confirmed the artists featuring in Live 8 – a series of five live shows in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Berlin on Saturday July 2nd. The concerts have been organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure as part of a campaign to force the world’s richest nations to relieve poverty in the third world. The concerts – which will be free – are aimed at raising awareness of poverty just before leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations meet in Scotland…”

Madonna went on to perform a three-song set from London’s Hyde Park consisting of Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light & Music.

Today in Madonna History: June 1, 1990

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On June 1 1990, Madonna was controversially featured grabbing her crotch and breast on the cover of Interview magazine.

Madonna was interviewed by Glenn O’Brien at the Disney Studios, where she was rehearsing the Blond Ambition Tour. Here’s a snippet from the interview:

Glenn: Let’s talk about your show.

Madonna: Let’s not. Today was a horrible day. That was the worst rehearsal.

Glenn: Well, I liked it, but I haven’t seen it when you thought it was good. I loved the number where you’re lying on the piano singing a torch song.

Madonna: You saw only one segment of the show. I’ve created five different worlds, and the set is all based on hydraulics. One is going down and another is coming up. The world changes completely. I think of it more as a musical than as a rock concert. There is a straightforward Metropolis section, like my Express Yourself video – that set with all the gears and machinery; it’s very hard and metallic. That’s the heavy-duty dance music. Then the set changes and it’s like a church. We call it the temple ruins. It’s all these columns, trays of votive candles, a cross. I do Like a Virgin on a bed, but we changed the arrangement, so it sounds Indian. Then I’m being punished for masturbation on this bed, which is, as you know, what happens. Then we do the more serious, religious-type material – Like a Prayer, Papa Don’t Preach… Then it changes to what you saw, this Art Deco ’50s-musical set. That’s when we do three songs from Dick Tracy, and then after that we do what I call the camp section. Then it gets really serious again and we go into our Clockwork Orange cabaret set.

Today in Madonna History: May 22, 2001

On May 22 2001, VH1 published their list of 100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock ‘N Roll. Madonna appeared on the list twice:

#87 – Madonna scandalizes with her Like A Prayer video (1989)

  • #11 – Madonna bares all in her racy SEX book (1992)

Today In Madonna History: April 29, 1989

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On April 29 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer enjoyed a second (of three) weeks at #1 in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: April 20, 2010

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On April 20 2010, The Power of Madonna – Glee episode (Season 1, Episode 15) aired on the Fox network.

When cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) demands that Madonna’s music be played over the school intercom system, Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) sets the club a Madonna-themed assignment, hoping to empower the female club members.

Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna, an EP containing studio recordings of songs performed in the episode, was released on April 20, 2010. Its tracklist includes Express Yourself, a mash-up of Borderline and Open Your Heart, Vogue, Like A Virgin, 4 Minutes, What it Feels Like for a Girl, and Like a Prayer.

The iTunes edition features a bonus track, Burning Up, which was not performed in the episode.

Lynch received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the episode.

Today in Madonna History: April 4, 1989

On April 4 1989, Pepsi-Cola announced it had banned all future broadcasts of the Madonna/Pepsi-Cola commercial, cancelled her 1-year contract and the sponsorship of what would have been the Like A Prayer World Tour, due to the boycott threats from religious groups against her own Like A Prayer music video.

Here’s a snippet of an article from the New York Times (printed April 5, 1989):

”When you’ve got an ad that confuses people or concerns people, it just makes sense that that ad goes away,” said Tod MacKenzie, a spokesman for Pepsico Inc. He would not say whether Pepsico had canceled its sponsorship of Madonna’s tour.

Pepsico paid Madonna more than $5 million to appear in a two-minute commercial that first appeared on March 2. In it, Madonna traveled back to her 8th birthday.

Jay’s Thought: Had the Like A Prayer World Tour gone forward as planned, Madonna might not have participated in Dick Tracy or released I’m Breathless or Vogue for that matter. How different would the Like A Prayer World Tour set-list have been from Blond Ambition?

Today in Madonna History: February 6, 2005

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On February 6 2005, BBC Radio One announced that Madonna was the most voted for female artist to be included in the UK’s Greatest Number One Singles of all-time.

Madonna had two songs in the top ten: Like A Prayer at #4 and Vogue at #5.

Music landed at #21.

BBC Radio One asked fans to vote for the Greatest UK Number One Single to celebrate the 1000th number one single.

The top ten included:

  1. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
  2. Iron Maiden – Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter
  3. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
  4. Madonna – Like A Prayer
  5. Madonna – Vogue
  6. Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock
  7. Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger
  8. Abba – Dancing Queen
  9. Mariah Carey – Without You
  10. John Lennon – Imagine

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