The MADAME X TOUR will officially be announced this Monday, this shown after an advertisement in this Sunday’s New York Times newspaper. Dates and ticket info will all be revealed then. It may not bee too long before tickets will go on sale, so get ready!
With her new album Madame X, out June 14th, Madonna stages another reinvention in her revolutionary career. But in a new era of self-expression, individual freedom and all-encompassing diversity, it’s perplexing that her age remains her biggest barrier, argues Anders Christian Madsen.
The morning after Madonna’s red-blooded performance at the Billboard Awards on Wednesday evening, entertainment websites quoted the court of Twitter. It was the same old story: granny emojis, ageist slurs and chauvinist memes. At the release of Madame X, her fourteenth studio album, 60-year-old rebel Madonna is still facing the toughest of all her revolutions: making the world accept that women at sixty can create, perform and make an impact with the same freedom of expression as a thirty-year-old. Regardless of her artistic merit, age and ageism have formed the background noise to every album Madonna has released since she turned fifty; perhaps even forty. What seems to be society’s issue with her is that she refuses to abide by the unwritten rules of age pertaining to everything from behaviour to dress codes and humour. The implication is that Madonna is in denial of her age; that she wants to trick us into thinking she’s young. The nerve!
Yet, on the contrary, Madonna’s music and performances in recent years have owned and celebrated her age and legacy, from the way she proudly references every reinvention of her career on her every tour, to her nostalgically reflective lyrics and samples of her own evergreens on her last album Rebel Heart, and her new single Medellín, which opens with verses that entirely embrace where she’s at in life: “I took a pill and had a dream, I went back to my seventeenth year. Allowed myself to be naïve, to be someone I’ve never been.” At sixty, Madonna is anything but old news. Medellín, a duet with Maluma, is the most experimental work she’s written since Ray of Light: a multi-layered, mostly Spanish-language song that breaks all the conventions of pop music, yet echoes in your ear like the catchiest of Generation Z radio hits. So why is BBC’s Radio 1 – home to all the popstars for whom Madonna paved the way – not adding Medellín to its playlist?
The Queen of pop last month announced a new album, Madame X, and released the first single from it, “Medellín,” featuring Maluma. The pair stormed Las Vegas on Thursday night to perform the song for the first time at the Billboard Music Awards.
And now, a new track, “I Rise,” which arrived at midnight.
It’s a mid-tempo piece with touches of Autotune and, as the title would suggest, its all about self-empowerment. On it, Madonna sings: “There’s nothing you can do to me that hasn’t been done/ Not bulletproof, shouldn’t have to run from a gun/ River of tears ran dry, let ’em run/ No game that you can play with me, I ain’t one.” The song’s intro features a sample of Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor and gun control activist Emma Gonzalez’s signature exhortation, “[They say] us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works. We call BS!”
Madame X is Madonna’s 14th studio album and it’s slated for release June 14.
Less than an hour after she delivered one of the most imaginative awards show performances in a career full of them, Madonna stood backstage in an eye patch at the Billboard Music Awards, explaining how the seeds of her forthcoming album, Madame X, were planted more than three decades ago.
“[Madame X] was a name given to me when I was 19 and I first moved to New York, by a woman who I looked up to and admired,” Madonna told Billboard‘s Senior Director of Charts Keith Caulfield. The woman she was referring to was modern dance genius Martha Graham, who influenced Madonna’s choreography as a mentor, prior to her death in 1991. “And she gave me that name because she said she couldn’t recognize all my different personas, because I kept changing the way I looked.
“And that was in the beginning of my career, when I didn’t think about who I should be or what I should be — I was experimenting,” Madonna continued. “And so I felt like I had come full circle, and gave the record that name, because I’m in the same frame of mind.”
If the title of Madame X, Madonna’s fourteenth studio album due out June 14, reflects the complex, multifaceted nature of her pop aesthetic, so will the way in which the full-length is unfurled. There’s already been “Medellín,” the mid-tempo, multi-lingual Latin pop confection alongside Colombian heartthrob Maluma released last month, as well as its opulent, cinematic music video for the track, which clocks in at nearly seven minutes.
Then there was the pair’s Billboard Music Awards showcase of the song, which combined live dancers and light BDSM play with augmented reality technology, which allowed multiple avatars of Madonna to seemingly grace the stage on the ceremony’s telecast. Madonna says that she came up with the concept for the eye-popping set piece “many, many months ago,” and required weeks of rehearsals to properly configure her AR personas for the green screen.
Yet as ambitious as the visual presentations of “Medellín” have been, the song represents just the first piece of the multi-track pre-album rollout that Madonna has planned over the next six weeks. The Maluma collaboration has already been followed by “I Rise,” the theatrical solo song that closes out the Madame X track list and was unveiled on Friday (May 3). The inspirational track features a sample of speech made by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School school shooting survivor Emma González.
READ MORE
Madonna Shares Powerful New Song ‘I Rise’ Featuring Sample of Stoneman Student Emma Gonzalez: Stream It Now
Next up is “Crave,” the combustible team-up with Swae Lee, on May 10; the Rae Sremmurd rapper is currently riding a hot streak as a featured artist thanks to his appearance on French Montana’s “Unforgettable,” Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” and Ellie Goulding and Diplo’s “Close to Me.” After “Crave” comes “Future,” a Quavo collaboration that was also produced by Diplo, on May 17, and finally June 7 will bring “Dark Ballet,” one of the more multi-dimensional songs on the new album, according to President of Maverick Music Greg Thompson.
“[The album] is a journey, and there are a lot of chapters,” Thompson explains of the decision to slowly trickle out five tracks ahead of the release, a deviation from Madonna’s previous rollouts. Her last album, 2015’s Rebel Heart, suffered leaks months ahead of release, resulting in six songs being rushed out early for an iTunes pre-order. “In a world where we’re more song-driven than we’ve been in a long time as an industry, it became a real question and a challenge: How do we make sure that people really understand this album by the time it comes out, but still have songs that can be hit singles in certain areas?”
To that end, “Crave” with Swae Lee will become the de facto pop radio single upon its release, with an official music video to soon follow. Meanwhile, “Medellín” — which received a global television launch across Viacom networks in April — will continue being pushed in Latin markets. The decision to lead with “Medellín” instead of “Crave” came down to the belief that it was “the signature track to the body of work, and the right place to start telling the story,” says Thompson. He adds, “I think we have a good shot to get a top five club record with some [‘Medellín’] remixes, and get that song into people’s spaces that they might not anticipate.” (Madonna has notched a record 57 top five-charting hits on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart.)
Aside from the upcoming song and video releases, Madonna confirmed to Billboard that there have already been production meetings for her next tour, which would follow the 82-date run in support of Rebel Heart. The Madame Xcampaign will also feature a few more surprises — including further use of the growing lip-sync video platform TikTok, where Madonna launched the “Medellín cha cha cha challenge” earlier this week. “She started playing with it,” Thompson says with a laugh, “and we’re having some fun with it. We think it’s cool.”
Above all, the rollout is designed to capture the multi-continent creation of Madame X, after Madonna relocated to Lisbon in 2017. “Crave” was one of the songs that was conceived in Portugal as the pop superstar started to focus on the follow-up to Rebel Heart, while other tracks — which range in language, from English to Spanish to Portuguese — were birthed in Colombia, Brazil and the States, among other locations.
So out of that 13-song track list, what do those five pre-release tracks represent to Madonna? “A little smorgasbord of delights,” she says with a wide smile. “Appetizers from around the world.”
photographed by Mert & Marcus, styled by Benjamin Bruno, with hair by Andy Lecompte, make-up by Isamaya Ffrench, nails by @JennyLongworth and set design by Emma Roach for the June 2019 issue of British Vogue, on newsstands Friday 10 May
Madonna today released the empowering and anthemic ballad “I Rise,” the second track of five songs to be previewed before her highly-anticipated new studio album Madame X debuts globally on June 14th. Following the release of the critically-acclaimed “Medellín,” additional songs to be shared with fans include the infectious pop gem “Crave” featuring Swae Lee and produced by Mike Dean on May 10, the Jamaican dancehall vibes of “Future” featuring Quavo on May 17, as well as the sonically innovative “Dark Ballet” on June 7. Listen to “I Rise,” HERE.
Madonna says, “I wrote ‘I Rise’ as a way of giving a voice to all marginalized people who feel they don’t have the opportunity to speak their mind. This year is the 50th anniversary of Pride and I hope this song encourages all individuals to be who they are, to speak their minds and to love themselves.”
As previously announced, on May 4 GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization will honor Madonna with the Advocate for Change Award at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. Madonna is the second person and first woman to ever receive this recognition, which is awarded to a person who changed the game for LGBTQ people around the world through their work.
Influenced creatively by living in Lisbon, Portugal over the past several years, Madame X is a collection of 15 new songs that celebrate Madonna’s career-long affair with Latin music and culture as well as other global influences. Singing in Portuguese, Spanish and English, Madonna collaborated on Madame X with longtime producer Mirwais, as well as with producers Mike Dean and Diplo, among others.
NPR says, “Medellín is a carefully dosed combination of…coolly narcotic dance-pop…and energetic reggaetón,” while Entertainment Weekly declares the song is, “A breezy, summer-ready anthem…” NME calls Medellín a “self-reflective gem of a pop song” and The Guardian says, “Medellín is a potent reminder of Madonna’s deft history of meshing genres.”
Madame X from Live Nation, Interscope Records and Maverick will come in a standard and deluxe version of the album and is now available for pre-order. Album pre-orders include a download of “Medellín” and “I Rise,” which is available across Apple, Spotify (pre-save), Amazon and all DSPs. Further details regarding the album, videos and appearances will be announced in the coming weeks.
Madonna has shared a new track, ‘I Rise’. The song’s intro features a sample of Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor and gun control activist Emma Gonzalez’s signature exhortation: “[They say] us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works. We call BS!” You can check ‘I Rise’ out below.
As this suggests, ‘I Rise’ is all about self-empowerment. On it, Madonna sings: “There’s nothing you can do to me that hasn’t been done/ Not bulletproof, shouldn’t have to run from a gun/ River of tears ran dry, let ’em run/ No game that you can play with me, I ain’t one.”
The singer told Rolling Stone: “I wrote ‘I Rise’ as a way of giving a voice to all marginalized people who feel they don’t have the opportunity to speak their mind. This year is the 50th anniversary of Pride and I hope this song encourages all individuals to be who they are, to speak their minds and to love themselves.”
As uDiscover Music previously reported, The Queen of pop last month announced a new album, Madame X, and released the first single from it, ‘Medellín,’ featuring Maluma. The duo performed the track this week at the Billboard Music Awards with the help of a few holograms. Madame X, the singer’s first release since 2015’s Rebel Heart, will feature several other collaborations, including with Migos’ Quavo, Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee and Brazilian singer Anitta. Maluma will also appear on another track titled ‘Bitch I’m Loca.’
Madame X is Madonna’s 14th studio album and it’s scheduled for release on 14 June.
Madonna said of her new album, “Lisbon is where my record was born. I found my tribe there and a magical world of incredible musicians that reinforced my belief that music across the world is truly all connected and is the soul of the universe.”
In Billboard’s backstage chat with Madonna at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, the conversation turned from her new music on her forthcoming album Madame X (out June 14) to the possibility of a new concert tour. (Watch the interview above; tour chat starts at the 5:55 point.)
Billboard asked about the possibility of a tour maybe happening at some point, though also wondered aloud to the diva if she is even allowed to say anything about a tour right now.
“Uh, it’s… it’s been spoken about in such a deep way,” Madonna said, “that I’m actually having production meetings.”
So, the tour is probably happening? “Yes!”
Billboard then made an appeal to have Madonna consider adding in one of her three top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits (out of a record 38) that she’s yet to play live: “Rescue Me” (No. 9 in 1991), “This Used to Be My Playground” (No. 1 in 1992) and “I’ll Remember” (No. 2 in 1994).
“I’ll tell you why [they haven’t been performed]: Because they’re very laidback dreamy songs,” she said, suggesting that they don’t fit into her very high-energy, kick-butt shows.
Billboard countered: “‘Rescue Me”s kinda punchy.”
Madonna: “‘Rescue Me”s kinda dope! I’ve actually… I’ll consider that one. Your love has given me hope, OK? To quote the song.”
We closed the interview by bidding Madonna farewell, letting her know how we’re looking forward to seeing her on whatever that tour is that may or may not be announced soon. “Whatever dressing room I might be performing in,” Madonna says, jokingly, adding: “You’ll come anywhere, right? Small cabaret? A stadium?”
Billboard: “Starbucks down the street? I’m there.”
The Queen of pop last month announced a new album, Madame X, and released the first single from it, “Medellín,” featuring Maluma. The pair stormed Las Vegas on Thursday night to perform the song for the first time at the Billboard Music Awards.
And now, a new track, “I Rise,” which arrived at midnight.
READ MORE
Madonna Says Plans for Her Next Tour Have Been ‘Spoken About in Such a Deep Way’
It’s a mid-tempo piece with touches of Autotune and, as the title would suggest, its all about self-empowerment. On it, Madonna sings: “There’s nothing you can do to me that hasn’t been done/ Not bulletproof, shouldn’t have to run from a gun/ River of tears ran dry, let ’em run/ No game that you can play with me, I ain’t one.”
Madame X is Madonna’s 14th studio album and it’s slated for release June 14.
The politically-charged anthem samples Emma Gonzalez’s pro-gun control speech
Madonna’s artwork for “I Rise”
On the heels of her show-stopping, $5 million dollar performance at the Billboard Music Awards, Madonna has released a new song. “I Rise” serves as closing track to her upcoming album, Madame X. The politically charged anthem begins with a sample of Emma Gonzalez’s speech calling for stricter gun control in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018. Take a listen below.The release of “I Rise” comes one day ahead of the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City, where Madonna will be honored with the Advocate for Change Award.
Madame X arrives June 14th via Interscope Records. Along with the Maluma-featuring lead single, “Medellín”, the album features collaborations with Migo’s Quavo and Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee, along with production from Diplo and Mike Dean.
Madame X Tracklist:
01. Medellín (feat. Maluma)
02. Dark Ballet
03. God Control
04. Future (feat. Quavo)
05. Batuka
06. Killers Who Are Partying
07. Crave (feat. Swae Lee)
08. Crazy
09. Come Alive
10. Extreme Occident *
11. Faz Gostoso (feat. Anitta)
12. Bitch I’m Loca (feat. Maluma)
13. I Don’t Search I Find
14. Looking for Mercy *
15. I Rise
Universal Music cannot confirm any official ‘Medellin’ remixes are to be released at this time. It is unknown whether official remixes are on the release schedule in the near future. We hope to update you with positive news soon.
The avatars (not holograms, so they weren’t visible to the naked eye) wove in and out of the inventive performance, bursting into butterflies and puffs of smoke. There were a number of environmental effects that livened up the show, including digital rain, clouds, greenery and splashes of color, which married with the physical side in an attempt to tell a cohesive story. Madonna has reinvented herself countless times over her storied career, so it’s perhaps little surprise that she tried something like this, a spectacle for which she reportedly paid $5 million.
Jamie King, Madonna’s long-time creative director said he was looking for something special for the BBMAs. “After meeting with [Madonna’s manager] Guy Oseary, we settled on the idea of incorporating augmented reality into the performance,” he told Engadget. “I wanted to explore a way to involve her Madame X personas into the performance as well as the possibility of the real Madonna actually being able to perform with [them].”
The team brought the concept to a new creative AR company called Sequin, which took on the challenge of piecing the performance together. While it was the first time Madonna and Maluma performed the song live, it also marked the first project for Sequin.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
geo
session
This cookie is used for identifying the geographical location by country of the user.
sp_landing
1 day
The sp_landing is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
sp_t
1 year
The sp_t cookie is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
2 years
The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_EFG7W3DQ07
2 years
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
vuid
2 years
Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
c
6 months 2 days
This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services.
uuid
1 year 27 days
To optimize ad relevance by collecting visitor data from multiple websites such as what pages have been loaded.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.