Today in Madonna History: December 25, 1989

December 25, 2015 By Jay in 1989, December Tags: 25 Most Intriguing People, On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine 1 Comment

In the December 25, 1989 issue of People magazine, Madonna was named one of the 25 Most Intriguing People In The World.

Madonna and Warren. Madonna and Sean. Madonna and Sandra. Madonna and Pepsi. The Material Girl, the Boy Toy, Papa Don’t Preach, the stigmata debacle, a used bustier that sold at Sotheby’s for $3,750… So what is it about this 31-year-old woman with a mole on her upper lip that aroused such curiosity, even among, for example, Belgians, who bought 62,656 copies of her Like a Prayer LP this year? Only one person can approach that question with both the authority and seriousness that it deserves, and that person, of course, is Dr. Joyce Brothers. “Madonna is a sexy person for our time,” says Brothers. “She’s independent and on her own two feet. Women like her because they don’t feel she’s a victim. Men like her because she’s sexy, but not straight out, like in Penthouse. She is childlike and innocent but at the same time naughty. Madonna,” concludes the good doctor, “is walking that line very successfully.” Thank you, Dr. Brothers. And thank you, Madonna Louise Ciccone.

Today in Madonna History: December 17, 1990

December 17, 2015 By Jay in 1990, December Tags: Justify My Love, People Magazine, Tony Ward 1 Comment

On December 17 1990, Madonna’s Justify My Love video was the subject of a feature by Steve Dougherty, in People magazine: Madonna Exposes, MTV Opposes: Is her new, naughty video art or just a Boy Toy marketing ploy?

How does Justify My Love differ from other skin-with-a-beat videos? Let us count the ways. Here’s Madonna, in black bra, stockings and stiletto heels, putting the moves on her real-life boyfriend, model Tony Ward. Moments later she’s lip-synching with Parisian model Amanda Cazalet, 25, who is dressed like a Nazi hooker with suspenders that barely cover her nipples. Now Madonna, Cazalet and Ward are offering free instruction in a certain Kama Sutra technique while two very androgynous gents pat each other more affectionately than football players after a big play. All of which has left fans hot, censors bothered and fearless news programmers lined up to air the forbidden footage. The video single will be on sale before holiday shopping malls close; could it have been teed up better?

Today in Madonna History: December 11, 1989

December 11, 2015 By Jay in 1989, December Tags: On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine, Worst-Dressed 1 Comment

On December 11 1989, Madonna was featured on the cover of People magazine as one of the best-dressed celebrities of 1989.

Topping the list of the best dressed were Princess Diana, Kevin Costner, John Candy, Jacqueline Onassis, Mick Jagger, Angela Lansbury, Madonna, Marlon Brando, Michelle Pfeiffer and Mel Gibson.

People listed Bruce Springsteen, Kim Basinger, Sean Young, Elizabeth Taylor, Rod Stewart, Roseanne Barr, Jerry Hall, Geena Davis, Kathleen Sulilvan and Prince Andrew as the worst dressed.

Today in Madonna History: September 2, 1985

September 2, 2015 By Jay in 1985, September Tags: Marriage, On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine, Sean Penn 1 Comment

On September 2 1985, Madonna and Sean Penn are featured on the cover of People Magazine with the headline: Madonna Weds Sean.

Here’s a snippet of the article inside People:

The World Watches (From Afar) as the Pop Princess Takes Reclusive Film Star Sean Penn on a Walk to the Altar. From above the bluffs of Point Dume, Malibu, a half-dozen choppers filled with photographers sent down a windy backwash and a constant din. Below, at the huge wooden gates fronting real-estate developer Dan Unger’s $6.5 million home, blue-blazered guards oversaw an I.D. check of all who entered, while inside others prepared for the evening ahead by arming themselves with infrared binoculars to scan the perimeter for intruders. One interloper—an Italian photographer in camouflage gear and blackened face who had been hiding in the shrubbery since 1:30 in the morning—was ejected and his pictures of the blessed event were destroyed.

Today in Madonna History: July 2, 1990

July 2, 2015 By Jay in 1990, July Tags: Dick Tracy, I'm Breathless, On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine, Warren Beatty 1 Comment

On July 2 1990, Madonna was featured on the cover of People Magazine with Warren Beatty to promote Dick Tracy.

“Tell me you want me,” Breathless Mahoney implores to Dick Tracy in the wide-screen moonlight. “Tell me you want it all.”

Today in Madonna History: May 26, 1997

May 26, 2015 By Jay in 1997, May Tags: Lourdes Maria Ciccone, On the Cover of a Magazine, People Magazine 1 Comment

On May 26 1997, Madonna appeared on the cover of People magazine as part of the “New Sexy Moms” feature.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Even Madonna, who moved a month before Lourdes’s birth from her Hollywood Hills mansion to a more baby-friendly one-story spread in a quieter neighborhood, is becoming downright strait-laced. “TV is poison,” saying that she would forbid Lourdes to watch it. “To be plopped in front of a television instead of being read to or talked to or encouraged to interact with other human beings is a huge mistake.”