On July 20 2015, Madonna announced that Diplo would be the opening act for the launch of her Rebel Heart Tour on September 9 and 10th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec:
“To have Diplo open for me is my dream come true. Montreal is about to TURN UP!!!! We Go Hard or We Go Home!”
With Madonna, Diplo produced and co-wrote the songs Living For Love, Bitch I’m Madonna, Unapologetic Bitch, Veni Vidi Vici, Best Night and Hold Tight.
On July 9 2015, Adi Lederman was sentenced to 14 months in prison for hacking Madonna’s song library and leaking early demos from her yet-to-be-released Rebel Heart album.
Under a plea bargain, Lederman confessed to computer trespassing and infringement of privacy and property rights. Lederman was fined 15,000 shekels ($4,000 US dollars), in addition to his prison sentence.
The court released this statement:
“The ease with which crimes such as this can be committed by those who have skills in the field, such as the accused, require an appropriate punitive response that has a deterrent and uncompromising message.”
Madonna said the crime was an “invasion into my life – creatively, professionally and personally remains a deeply devastating and hurtful experience“.
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
On June 4 2015, the first batch of remixes for the single Bitch I’m Madonna were released:
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.
On May 27 2015, Forbes magazine announced that Madonna topped the annual list of top-earning musicians and also claimed the No. 28 spot on their list of America’s richest self-made women.
Here’s what Forbes had to say:
The wealthiest musician on the list, Madonna has an estimated net worth of $520 million, with her main source being from music, clothing, and real estate One of the top pop divas of all time. Her tours have grossed an estimated $1.2 billion over the years, including $305 million from her 2012 MDNA tour. That helped her earn an estimated $125 million during the ensuing 12-month period during which Forbes calculated celebrity earnings, more than any other musician. Look for another bump when she goes on the road with her latest album, Rebel Heart, in August.
On May 8 2015, Madonna replied by saying “um, thanks” to Marilyn Manson’s tweet that he’d like to fornicate with her:
I’m kind of interested in this Madonna record. She looks hotter than ever. I’d also like to let it be known that I still have a crush on Madonna and I would definitely fornicate with her.
On April 7 2015, it was announced that the Ghosttown music video would premiere on the Meerkat mobile app that enables users to broadcast live video streaming through their mobile device:
“When it all falls, When it all falls down, I’ll be your fire when the lights go out…” Join us on Meerkat at 10am PST tomorrow for the world premiere of the full Ghosttown video!!”
Jay’s comment: Why Madonna’s management decided to premiere her video through Meerkat instead of a more widely used distributor, I’ll never understand. The distribution for this video was a disaster. Advertised as premiering at 10am on April 8 — it never appeared on screen. By 1pm, Meerkat was still trying to figure it out. The video ended up premiering the following day.
Madonna’s management seriously needs to review Madonna’s core fanbase and realize that we’re not 14-18 year olds using every brand new gimmicky social media application. We’re 35-60 now — and getting older by the day. Her hardcore fans were turned off by this method of release. Her casual fans were annoyed by the perplexing release strategy. Was there a kick-back that served to pay for the video? Is that why Guy allowed this disaster to proceed? As a long-time fan — and after so many unacceptable hiccups in the Rebel Heart era, I’m surprised Madonna wasn’t asking for his resignation. It was her strongest video in years, her best song/single in years — and it was treated as if it were Jimmy Jimmy — Baffling! Madonna – you can do better — you DESERVE better!
Today In Madonna History 