Today in Madonna History: May 15, 2015

On May 15 2015, Madonna’s Ghosttown (from the Rebel Heart album) hit the top spot on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart for the week ending May 30th.

Ghosttown became Madonna’s 45th #1 hit on the chart. She had this to say to her fans about the success of the song:

“Thanks to all my fans on & off the dance floor, I’ll always be your partner.”

Today in Madonna History: May 11, 1985

crazy for you sheet music 550 Vision Quest (1) 550 Vision Quest (7) 550 Vision Quest (4) 550

On May 11 1985, Crazy For You hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. for one week. The track had spent the two previous weeks in the runner-up position behind the all-star single, We Are The World. In Canada, Crazy For You took a few weeks longer but also managed to displace USA For Africa’s charity track to become the county’s number-one single on May 25th.

The song was Madonna’s second chart-topping hit, and her first ballad to be released as a single.

Today in Madonna History: May 10, 2003

On May 10 2003, Madonna’s American Life album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart in the USA.

In 2008, Sal Cinquemani had this to say about American Life in Slant magazine:

In hindsight, American Life isn’t the masterpiece that Erotica so quickly revealed itself to be. It’s frequently self-indulgent, misguided, unpleasant, difficult to listen to, silly yet somehow humorless, but it’s also consistent, uncompromising, and unapologetic. The album is a testament to the artist’s willingness to take risks and her refusal to stay inside her comfort zone. In the grand scheme of things, the album might rank as one of the weakest in Madonna’s extensive catalog, and the ones that followed have been as good, if not better, but American Life stands as the last time Madonna seemed to make music without the primary objective of scoring a hit. It’s interesting to imagine what Madonna’s career would look like today had American Life been a success: For better or worse, that pink leotard and Justin duet might never have existed.

Today in Madonna History: April 22, 1989

81611_001.tif lap-canada-4 lap-canada-3 lap-canada-5 lap-canada-2

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 14, 2012

mdna-1 mdna-2 mdna-4 mdna-5 mdna-6 mdna-7

On April 14, 2012, Madonna’s MDNA ranked as the number-one electronic album on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the USA.

MDNA remained number-one for the issues dated April 21, 28, and May 5.

Today in Madonna History: February 25, 1995

take-a-bow-madonna-car-1 take-a-bow-madonna-car-2 take-a-bow-madonna-car-3 take-a-bow-madonna-car-4

On February 25 1995, Madonna’s Take A Bow hit #1 in the USA on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  The hit single remained #1 for 7 weeks, and became Madonna’s 11th single to top the charts in the USA.

Billboard called the song a “plush pop ballad” that was “as close to perfect as top 40 fare gets.” Adding that the lead vocal was “both sweet and quietly soulful.”

Today in Madonna History: January 5, 1991

madonna-justify-my-love-number-one

On January 5 1991, Madonna’s Justify My Love single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

I’m open and ready
For you to justify my love
To justify my love
Wanting, to justify
Waiting, to justify my love
Praying, to justify
To justify my love
I’m open, to justify my love