Today in Madonna History: April 22, 1989

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Starting April 22 1989, and continuing for the weeks of April 29, May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27, Madonna’s Like A Prayer album became and remained the number-one album in Canada!

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 15, 1989

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On April 15 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer became the number one dance single on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Like A Prayer remained number one for the week of April 22.

Today in Madonna History: April 11, 1990

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On April 11 1990, the Keep It Together single was certified gold for sales of 500,000 units in the USA.

Written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray, the main inspiration behind Keep It Together was Madonna’s relationship with her family—whom she dearly missed after her divorce from actor Sean Penn. It became the final Madonna single release to feature a collaboration with Bray—a partnership that had begun romantically when Madonna & Stephen were college students at the University of Michigan, Madonna later persuaded Bray to join her in New York where he became the drummer for her band, Emmy. The two went on to write and produce some of Madonna’s most memorable 80’s hits. A final collaboration between the pair, Get Over, was reworked by Madonna and Shep Pettibone for possible inclusion as one of the new tracks on The Immaculate Collection, but was instead given to Warner Bros artist Nick Scotti to record in 1991.

Today In Madonna History: March 21, 1989

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March 21 2014 marked the 25th Anniversary of Madonna’s Like a Prayer album.  Like a Prayer was released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records.   Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the songs.

Six singles were released from the album: Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Oh Father, Dear Jessie, and Keep It Together.

Today In Madonna History: March 3, 1989

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On March 3 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer video premiered on MTV.

The music video, directed by Mary Lambert, portrayed Madonna as a witness to a murder of a white girl by white supremacists. While a black man is arrested for the murder, Madonna hides in a church for safety seeking strength to go forth as a witness.

Today In Madonna History: February 5, 2012

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On February 5, 2012, Madonna performed the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as part of Super Bowl XLVI.  The performance featured Madonna with special guests LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and Cee Lo Green. Madonna’s performance broke a record as the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history, garnering 114 million viewers.

Madonna performed Vogue, MusicGive Me All Your Luvin’, Open Your Heart/Express Yourself and Like A Prayer.