On February 1 1985, Madonna’s music video for Material Girl premiered in the U.S. on MTV.
The Mary Lambert-directed clip was a tongue-in-cheek homage to Marilyn Monroe’s performance of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend from the 1953 film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
On November 10 1984, Billboard magazine reported that Madonna’s Like A Virgin music video had been added to MTV’s playlist, immediately earning heavy rotation status on the network.
Filmed in Venice, Italy, the video marked Madonna’s second collaboration with director Mary Lambert. Lambert later recalled of the shoot:
“For Like a Virgin I said ‘Lets do it in Venice!’ The idea of Madonna singing in a gondola was the most outrageous thing I could think of. And Madonna dug it, because she has the whole thing with the Catholic Church and her Italian heritage. It turned into a huge party.”
On February 3 2014, Billboard announced The 50 Greatest Grammy Moments, with Same Love and Open Your Heart performed by Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Madonna and Queen Latifah ranking #2/50.
The performance made history by performing a wedding ceremony for 33 diverse couples.
On November 13 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin video premiered on MTV.
Mary Lambert, the director of the video had this to say:
“For Like A Virgin I said ‘Lets do it in Venice!’ The idea of Madonna singing in a gondola was the most outrageous thing I could think of. And Madonna dug it, because she has the whole thing with the Catholic Church and her Italian heritage. It turned into a huge party.”
Madonna had this to say about shooting with the lion:
“The lion didn’t do anything he was supposed to do, and I ended up leaning against this pillar with his head in my crotch… I thought he was going to take a bite out of me so I lifted the veil I was wearing and had a stare-down with him and he opened his mouth and let out this huge roar. I got so frightened my heart fell in my shoe. When he finally walked away, the director yelled ‘Cut’ and I had to take a long breather. But I could really relate to the lion. I feel like in a past life I was a lion or a cat or something.”
On September 3 2015, Billboard announced the 50 Greatest Grammy Moments:
#2 – Love Is All Around: Macklemore (January 26, 2014): Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert perform the gay-rights anthem Same Love with an assist from Madonna, while Queen Latifah makes history by performing a wedding ceremony for 33 diverse couples.
On February 1 1985, Madonna’s music video for Material Girl premiered in the U.S. on MTV.
The Mary Lambert-directed clip was a tongue-in-cheek homage to Marilyn Monroe’s performance of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend from the 1953 film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
On March 3 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer single and music video were released.
Happy 30th anniversary to one of Madonna’s most enduring and beloved songs. It still takes us there!
Today In Madonna History 