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Today – November 12 – is the 30 anniversary of the release of Madonna’s second album, Like a Virgin. Thirty years – digest that for a moment. If you’re shrugging and asking “What’s to digest?”, you’re probably under 30 and have never known a world without Madonna – you don’t know how different life was for young women before she became a lightning rod for debate on Western female sexuality, and changed the way women view sex, love and ambition.

If her only achievement had been to expand what was considered possible for women in pop music, she still would have been remarkable. Her influence is felt so far beyond pop, however, that she even inspired a strand of academia known as Madonna Studies, which examined her effect on sexuality and feminism. She’s sold 300 million records – more than any other female singer – and may be the only pop star to have generated a new word, “wannabe” – coined in the ’80s, when the aspirations of every teenage girl were summed up by the phrase “I wannabe Madonna”. Though not a conventionally gifted singer, she’s pushed through every barrier that stood between her and success, showing what can be accomplished by unyielding determination and a gift for being one step ahead of the zeitgeist. During her golden years – 1983 – 89, say – she was the zeitgeist.

Around 10 years ago, she was asked by an interviewer how she thought she was seen by the public. “I guess I’m known for being disciplined,” she replied, but she could also have said “controlling”, “independent” and “tough” – traits female singers weren’t supposed to possess, at least not openly, when she started out. It’s now routine for women musicians to call the shots in their careers – or to claim they do – but when Like a Virgin appeared, her insistence on making her own decisions was unique.

It was the album that made her commercially and culturally unstoppable. The cover photo of Madonna acting out the virgin/whore dichotomy by wearing a wedding dress and a belt that spelled out “Boy Toy” was only the start. The album’s title track – which spent six weeks at the top of the American chart – went where no pop single had gone before, equating the experience of falling in love to being sexually untouched. No other female singer had ever shoehorned the subject virginity into a pop song so bluntly, or made it clear that no matter what you were – virgin or sexually experienced – it was absolutely fine.

One of the album’s other massive hits, Material Girl, was about her being motivated by money rather than love (which greatly riled middle american parents, as did almost everything about her). The song was a typical mix of bluntness and coquettish sweetness – boys were okay, the song said, but the one she really wanted was “the boy with the cold hard cash.”

From the start, she knew exactly what buttons to push to be the centre of outraged attention. While writing a new biography of her, Madonna: Ambition. Music. Style, I was struck by the rage she incited in the ’80s: the religious right hated her for saying she found crucifixes sexy because there was a naked man on them; feminists were angered by the Boy Toy belt and others were concerned by her blithe habit of cultural appropriation.

She also lost an endorsement deal with Pepsi by dancing in front of burning crosses and kissing a black Jesus in the video for Like a Prayer. At times, her main occupation seemed to be breaking taboos – “If you want to be a whore, it’s your fucking right to be so” was a typical edict, one of many that encouraged women to celebrate and control their sexuality.

Her own celebration of her unquenchable appetites peaked with the 1992 book Sex, which featured explicit photos of her and male and female partners. To her undoubted delight, many bookshops refused to stock it. “Is it degrading to women? Well, sure, and to men, too,” said the New York Times. Naturally, that didn’t stop it selling 1.5 million copies.

Thirty years later, she’s not going gentle into that good night.

Madonna: Ambition, Music, Style is published by Carlton and out now.

From an article by Huffington Post

Dutch radio station VARA Radio 2 (NPO) will dedicate an item to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Madonna’s Like a Virgin.

MadonnaUnderground will speak live on air at 7.20am local time (Amsterdam) regarding one of Madonna’s most groundbreaking and most talked about songs and the impact it has had.

Listen live here

It has been ten years ago today that I (Kimberly) first met Madonna at her only European signing session to promote The Adventures Of Abdi. The day after I wrote my report on it in full detail.

To read the English version please click HERE

Voor de Nederlandse versie klik HIER

It has been exactly ten years ago today that Madonna did her one and only signing session at Selfridges in London to promote her childrens’ book The Adventures Of Abdi.

It was a very very cold couple of hours but sooooo worth it. A total of 250 fans (yep no children) got to meet Madonna face to face, shake her hand and have a brief conversation. A day some of us won’t ever forget

We can exclusively confirm that there is absolutely no truth to Madonna performing at X Factor. The rumor has been doing it’s rounds for quite a while now, she was supposed to be performing at the show’s finale according to various ‘sources’.

Unfortunately the rumor is not true, Madonna will not be performing at the X Factor finale.

Madonna’s clothing included the Material Girl video dress and stole and her wedding dress from her first marriage

A collection of dresses and outfits worn by Madonna during her career in music and film helped a celebrity auction raise $3.2m (£2m).

The highest lot was a jacket from Desperately Seeking Susan, which fetched $252,000, while a gown from her Material Girl video reached $73,125.

The Californian auction also saw lots from Michael Jackson, Cher and The Beatles.

A red sequinned cape worn by James Brown sold for $41,600.

The wedding dress Madonna wore when she wed actor Sean Penn in 1985 sold for $81,250 (£51,192), while a dress she wore on her Who’s That Girl tour reached bids of $50,000 (£31,503).

Other lots which attracted the bidders were a pair of John Lennon’s spectacles which sold for $25,000 (£15,751) and a ring worn by Elvis Presley for $57,600 (£36,291).

Guitars from a host of rock greats formed part of the two-day sale including Prince’s Sign of the Times Love guitar and a 1940 Gibson J200 owned by Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, which sold for $43,750 (£27,565).

Michael Jackson memorabilia continues to attract bidders

(https://www.bbc.com/news)

…’Even Madonna, who presented dancer and protégé Lil Buck with an award, remarked at the interesting mix. “This is really weird. Only for you [Lil Buck],” said the megastar, who delivered a charming, yet quirky speech. “The light is strange here because I can’t see my speech. I’ll just stand here and you can guess what I’m thinking. ‘I wish I had more Champagne. I wish the podium was shorter. I wish I had eaten dinner and I don’t have that shaky feeling I have right now.’ OK, comedy over.”

But the comedy was just beginning. Equating Lil Buck to her “little brother,” she then instructed the audience when to applaud.

“I’ll show you when there are applause moments. I can see you need help. This is a museum audience,” she deadpanned. “Applause moment.”

Her antics continued, as she talked to Lil Buck and audience members. “How did I meet you at a Smirnoff contest? That’s pretty weird. I think you should put your phone down, sir,” she said, then continued her monologue about how she discovered Buck.

“Everyone knows I have an affinity for dancers — that’s not an applause moment,” she laughed, before the dancer came to the stage, wowing the crowd with a heartfelt acceptance speech and a dance performance that drew a standing ovation.

Taken from an article by WWD

Madonna managed to boss around the entire crowd at MoMA on Wednesday night — even instructing guests including Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, Grace Coddington, Doutzen Kroes, David Chang and Jimmy Iovine on when to put their hands together by barking, “Applause moment!”

Madge was at the museum to present a WSJ Innovator Award to dancer Lil Buck, 26, whom she discovered in a contest and brought on tour.

But when the Material Girl — looking sexy at 56 in Miu Miu — didn’t get the glowing reception she apparently wanted at the beginning of her remarks, she finally sighed, “I’ll tell you when there are applause moments. You need help. This is a museum crowd.”

She then peppered her presentation with the “applause moment” command, which effectively coaxed clapping. She also warned Valentino’s partner in the audience, expert Instagrammer Giancarlo Giammetti, to “please put your phone away, sir.” And she poked fun at her predilection for seducing backup dancers by saying with a wink, “Everybody knows I have an affinity for dancers — a sympathetic nerve, so to speak.”

Buck then made a gracious, heartfelt speech and brought the house down with his moves.

Iovine and his Beats Electronics partner Dr. Dre were given an award by reclusive rapper Eminem, who explained, “Dre and Jimmy are a force of nature . . . They got me to fly here all the way from Detroit to speak publicly. And I really hate public speaking. My palms are sweaty.”

Connelly presented an award to Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquière in front of guests Joan Smalls and Karlie Kloss and the night’s host, WSJ magazine editor Kristina O’Neill.

Guests were later invited to tour MoMA’s hot Matisse exhibition upstairs, where honoree Kara Walker, fresh from her own acclaimed Domino Sugar Factory show, briefly took off her towering heels and walked about the works in bare feet, with LA MOCA director Philippe Vergne.

Lil Buck was last seen in an intense dance-off at a Doubles after-party.

Taken from an article by Page Six

….’Highlights of the night included Madonna’s delightfully unhinged, meandering speech in honor of dancer Lil Buck. Equal parts irritated mom and supportive mentor, the queen of pop complained, “Buck shows up uninvited at my house for dinner all the time,” but went on to praise his tenacity, grace, and talent. Midway through her speech, she scolded a man in the audience for taking a photo of her at the podium. None of that mattered once Lil Buck took the stage and performed his now-famous “Swan” dance. He received both the Performing Arts Innovation award and a standing ovation from the crowd.’

Taken from an article by NY Mag