Today in Madonna History: December 17, 2014

december-17-versace-madonna-leaks

On December 17 2014, Madonna responded to the leak of songs from her forthcoming album with this statement to her fans:

“Thank you for not listening! Thank you for your loyalty! Thank you for waiting and if you have heard please know they are unfinished demos stolen long ago and not ready to be presented to the world.”

Today in Madonna History: December 9, 2016

On December 9 2016, Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour premiered on SHOWTIME, on-air, on-demand and over the internet.

Here’s a snippet from the press release for the broadcast:

MADONNA: REBEL HEART TOUR was shot around the world and features a collection of live and behind these scenes footage culminating in performances at the Sydney Olympic Park in March of this year. The film is co-directed by Danny B. Tull and Nathan Rissman, both of whom have worked extensively with Madonna on her feature films and tour movies. Madonna will be honored later this year as Billboard magazine’s 2016 Woman of the Year award, at a star-studded event held in conjunction with the publication of Billboard’s Women in Music list, which identifies the 50 most powerful female executives in the industry each year.

“When it comes to putting on a show, there is only one Madonna – an iconic performer that we’re thrilled to have on our air,” said David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc. “With her unique creative vision and unmatched stage presence, our viewers will see an arena show packed with visual theatrics, stunning costumes and intricate choreography, featuring new hits and beloved classic songs.”

The set list for MADONNA: REBEL HEART TOUR spans all decades of the iconic superstar’s illustrious career, including songs from Rebel Heart (the No. 1 dance hits “Living for Love” and “Bitch I’m Madonna“) to classic fan favorites like “Material Girl” and “Holiday” and a “Dress You Up” medley that included “Into The Groove,” “Everybody” and “Lucky Star.” Memorable highlights from the tour include her first-ever live concert performance of “Take a Bow,” acoustic versions of “Like A Prayer,” “Secret” and “Don’t Tell Me.”  At each tour date during the song “Unapologetic Bitch,” Madonna would bring someone up from the crowd to dance with her during the song. Some nights it was a fan, another night it was Katy Perry. Other guest dancers included: Amy Schumer, Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Diplo, Gwendoline Christie, Graham Norton and Anderson Cooper.

Produced by Live Nation Global Touring, the Rebel Heart Tour kicked off on September 9, 2015 in Montreal and visited arenas in 55 cities on four continents over seven months. Madonna performed 82 shows, plus a special fan club show in Melbourne. The tour grossed $169.8 Million with 1,045,479 in attendance, making her the top grossing touring female artist in the history of Billboard Boxscore with over $1.31 billion in ticket sales sold over the course of her career. Madonna is also the fourth top grossing touring act (behind The Rolling Stones, U2 and Bruce Springsteen) since tracking began in 1990.

The Rebel Heart Tour was directed by Jamie King with musical direction by Kevin Antunes (the band’s keyboardist Ric’key Pageot, drummer Brian Frasier-Moore, guitarist Monte Pittman, and background vocalists Kiley Dean and Nicki Richards), lead choreography by Megan Lawson, hair by Andy LeCompte, makeup by Aaron Henrikson, and costume design by Arianne Phillips.

Today in Madonna History: July 24, 2015

july-24-2015

On July 24 2015, Hold Tight was released as a promotional single for the Rebel Heart album in Italy.

Hold Tight was written by Madonna, Thomas Wesley Pentz, Maureen McDonald, Toby Gad, Uzoechi Emenike and Philip Meckseper and produced by Madonna with backing vocals by MNEK.

 

Lyrics:

A million miles later
We walked through the valley of the darkest night
We made it through the fire
We’re scarred and we’re bruised but our hearts will guide us

Together
I know our love’s gonna last forever
We’re gonna be alright
Tonight

We’ll live with no limits
We’ll dance in the middle of the freezing rain
With you and I in it
Survive the eye of the hurricane

Together
We’re gonna make this better
We’re gonna be alright tonight

Hold tight
As long as you’re by my side
Hold tight
Everything’s gonna be alright

Only love, only love tonight
Lights off, we’re burning so bright
Hold tight
Everything’s gonna be alright

Everything’s gonna
Everything’s gonna
Everything’s gonna

A million miles later
We walked through the valley of the darkest night
We made it through the fire
We’re scarred and we’re bruised but our hearts will guide us

Together
I know our love’s gonna last forever
We’re gonna be alright
Tonight

Hold tight
As long as you’re by my side
Hold tight
Everything’s gonna be alright

Only love, only love tonight
Lights off, we’re burning so bright
Hold tight
Everything’s gonna be alright

Everything’s gonna
Everything’s gonna
Everything’s gonna

I don’t wanna breathe
Air that you’re not breathing
I don’t wanna hear
If your heart’s not beating
If you hurt then I
Wanna be the one that’s bleeding
Wanna be the one that’s bleeding

Hold tight
Everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna
Everything’s gonna

Only love, only love tonight
Lights off, we’re burning so bright
Everything’s gonna
Everything’s gonna

Today in Madonna History: July 3, 2015

july-3-madonna-bitch-im-madonna

On July 3 2015, the third single off Madonna’s Rebel Heart album, Bitch I’m Madonna, climbed eight spots on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart to #7 in the USA.  The hit dance song remained the Greatest Gainer for the second week in a row.

Thank you Justin for the great artwork above! – Jay

Today in Madonna History: June 12, 2015

On June 12 2015, Madonna’s Bitch I’m Madonna music video teaser premiered.

The video was shot in New York City at the Standard Hotel and was directed by long-time fan-favourite director, Jonas Åkerlund.

Jonas explained how the video evolved:

Madonna called me about Ghosttown. We hadn’t worked for a while because of different circumstances so when I heard all the songs from Rebel Heart, I was very excited about Ghosttown. I connected to it creatively. And, yeah, we enjoyed working together. I was supposed to start something else right after and that got pushed [back] and she asked me to do Bitch I’m Madonna. I saw it being so completely different from Ghosttown, something a little bit less serious, just fun and crazy.

Today in Madonna History: June 4, 2015

bitch i'm madonna

On June 4 2015, the first batch of remixes for the single Bitch I’m Madonna were released:

  • Bitch I’m Madonna (Oscar G 305 Dub) 8:45
  • Bitch I’m Madonna (Oscar G Bitch Beats) 8:45
  • Bitch I’m Madonna (Rosabel’s Bitch Move Dub) 7:36
  • Bitch I’m Madonna (Sander Kleinenberg Club Mix) 5:00
  • Bitch I’m Madonna (Rosabel’s Bitch Move Mix) 7:06

Oscar G previously remixed Madonna’s cover of Fever back in 1993. Sander Kleinenberg was commissioned to produce remixes of Hollywood in 2003, although his mixes remained shelved until they surfaced on the internet in 2010. Clearly Madonna was more fond of Kleinenberg’s treatment of Bitch I’m Madonna, as it was featured in her first official remix video since leaving Warner Bros. Records.

Today in Madonna History: May 18, 2015

ghosttown cover

On May 18 2015, the remix EP for Ghosttown was released by digital retailers. The release followed the news that song had hit the number-one position on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Club chart. It became her 45th song to top the dance chart – the most number-ones for any artist on any Billboard chart.

Tracklist:

01 – Ghosttown (Offer Nissim Drama Remix) – 07:17
02 – Ghosttown (Armand Van Helden Remix) – 06:16
03 – Ghosttown (S-Man Mix) – 06:08
04 – Ghosttown (Razor N Guido Remix) – 07:46
05 – Ghosttown (Mindskap Remix) – 05:35
06 – Ghosttown (Don Diablo Remix) – 04:47
07 – Ghosttown (Dirty Pop Intro Remix) – 05:20
08 – Ghosttown (DJ Mike Cruz Mix Show Edit) – 07:05
09 – Ghosttown (THRILL Remix) – 06:27
10 – Ghosttown (DJ Yiannis String Intro Mix) – 01:40