Madonna has recruited some former stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race to appear in her upcoming music video.
The Queen of Pop is currently gearing up for her return to the music scene, with the lead single from her upcoming 14th studio album, which is believed to be called Magic, tipped for release in the coming weeks.
Earlier this week, Madonna revealed on Instagram that she was shooting the song’s music video, and it sounds as though she may have some surprise Drag Race cameos.
Among them will be the most recent winner of All Stars 4, Monét X Change, who is reported to have accepted a last-minute offer from Madonna, forcing her to miss a show in Denver.
As a result, Monét has been pulled from the Haters Roast US tour, with a statement from organisers saying: “Sometime during the afternoon, we’re told [Monét] received a phone call from Madonna with an offer to be in an upcoming music video. Monét asked [organisers Murray & Peter] if it would be ok to leave the tour to accept the offer. We said no because it was too short notice to replace her on Haters.
“Just hours before the show was to start and without telling anyone including the other queens on the Denver show, Monet left the venue and flew to LA to accept Madonna’s offer. Therefore, we have decided that Monet will no longer be on any upcoming Haters Roast dates.”
Complex spoke to Maluma about his latest single, the 11:11 album, as well as his recent collaboration with Madonna. Check out that part of the Q&A below.
You recently posted some photos of you and Madonna in the studio. How did that collaboration come about?
It all started when I performed at the [2018] VMAs. She was there in the crowd, and my manager told me Madonna wanted to meet me.
We then met again in Los Angeles last week. She was in the studio working with different composers, producers. Everything was organic and we started making music. We were cooking some ideas, that’s all I can say. We were cooking some beautiful songs.
Madonna just posted a teaser on her Instagram showing her back, jacket, hat and (shorter) hair (wig?) hashtagging #werk, while shooting a music video. If you wouldn’t know better it seemed like this photo was taken during the Music era.
The full list of special releases coming to UK record shops as part of Record Store Day 2019 has been revealed.
545 limited edition products ranging from live LPs, boxsets, albums never-before-released-on-vinyl, movie soundtracks, remix EPs, and unreleased rarities will be available across 7″, 10″, 12″, picture disc, coloured vinyl and flexidisc (!) formats.
Over 250 stores are taking part this year, the highest number in the event’s history. DJ sets, in-store performances and mini festivals are planned in several record shops across the country for the big day on Saturday, April 13.
Iconic stars and Record Store Day regulars like Prince, Madonna and David Bowie and Madonna feature once again in this year’s listings line-up, with Bowie being the most purchased artist in Record Store Day history. More legendary musicians such as Elvis Presley, Queen, Peter Gabriel, Aretha Franklin, Def Leppard and Elton John are also putting out limited edition releases.
Madonna
True Blue (Super Club Mix)
12″ 6 track EP (BLUE COLOUR VINYL)
“Replica of Japanese pressing of Madonna’s “”True Blue Super Club Mix”” , with obi strip. On Blue Colour Vinyl. Tracklisting: A1 True Blue (The Color Mix) A2 Everybody (Dub Version) B1 Papa Don’t Preach (Extended Remix) B2 Everybody (Extended Version) B3 Live To Tell (Instrumental)”
Madonna
La Isla Bonita (Super Mix)
12″ 6 track EP (GREEN COLOUR VINYL)
“Replica of the Japan-only EP release of “La Isla Bonita: Super Mix EP”, originally released on May 1987 by Warner-Pioneer Japan. Includes “La Isla Bonita” (Extended remix), “Open Your Heart” (Extended Version), “Gambler”, “Crazy for You” and “La Isla Bonita” (Instrumental). This version appears on green colour vinyl.”
Only 6 weeks to go before the 51st Mega Record & Cd Fair will take place at Jaarbeurs Utrecht on Saturday the 13th and Sunday the 14th of April. Last November the Financial Times (UK) labelled this fair ‘The largest Vinyl Convention on Earth’. At this fair cratediggers, vinyl lovers, musicians and over 500 dealers from all over the globe come together to buy records, attend book presentations, watch live performances by Sweet Hannah and the Heck and visit exhibitions in the field of music. This spring, the fair will show a major reggae exhibition curated by Aad Brakus.
Acclaimed writer and director Guy Guido chatted with Digital Journal about the new Madonna docudrama “Madonna and The Breakfast Club.”
This docudrama explores her days as a drummer, guitarist, keyboard player and songwriter in the Breakfast Club, a band she formed with Dan Gilroy, who she dated in the late ’70s. The film will be released across digital and on-demand platforms on March 12 via The Orchard.
“As a teen fan of Madonna back in the ’80s I had read a couple of her early biographies which touched on the Breakfast Club band and her time with them,” he said. “Although I always felt that there was more to that story and that this topic was usually just skimmed over.”
On the most surprising aspects that we may learn from the film he said, “For most people, the most surprising thing will be the diligence and life or death determination she had at roughly 20 years old. You don’t see that often, especially today. There also had been a mainstream misconception that Madonna was a talentless girl who used her sexuality to get herself a record deal and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
MADONNA still likes to wear risky outfits – and so does her next collaborator.
I can confirm she has teamed up with Brazilian superstar Anitta, most recently seen twerking in nipple tassels, for her comeback album.
Anitta – whose racy outfit features in the video for Bola Rebola, her new track with J Balvin and Tropkillaz – has become one of Latin America’s most in-demand artists.
A music insider said: “Madonna’s new album is heavily influenced by Portugal after she moved there and as one of the hottest Portuguese-speaking acts, Anitta was someone she really wanted to work with. Their song is very contemporary and the album will show a new side of Madonna. It’s her best since 2005’s Confessions On A Dance Floor.
“All going well, the first single will be released in April. She is putting the finishing touches to the collection.”
Even though out since December the official Record Store Day releases won’t be revealed until March 1st. Website Exclaim has just published the rumoured releases and yes it does include the Japanese re-issues of La Isla Bonita and True Blue.
The 91st Academy Awards were filled with historic firsts and emotional moments, from Black Panther‘s Ruth E. Carter and Hannah Beachler becoming the first black women to win in their respective categories (Costume Design and Production Design) to Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s stirring performance of their award-winning song “Shallow.”
After the event, the biggest names in Hollywood celebrated at “The Party,” entertainment mogul Guy Oseary and Madonna’s famed after-party, where there is a strict ban on social media posts.
TIME partnered at the event with the artist and photographer JR—a 2018 TIME 100 honoree—for an exclusive look at last night’s winners and partygoers.
JR, who says he nearly got thrown out of the party for taking an illicit photo of Michael Jordan and Pharrell the first time he attended, has set up a photo studio at the gathering to take portraits of guests since 2017.
“Cinema has always had a huge influence on me,” JR said. “Last year I was nominated for an Academy Award, and I still spent most of that night creating new images at the very party I was almost kicked out of.
As the sole photographer at the party, JR’s portraits provide a special look at guests like Academy Award winner Lady Gaga, who posed with Madonna and separately, with her fellow winner Mark Ronson, on Hollywood’s biggest night. Other attendees included Aston Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Ibeyi and Swae Lee.
Madonna and Adriano Giannini star in director/screenwriter Guy Ritchie’s contemporary adaptation of Lina Wertmullers’s 1974 romantic comedy “”Swept Away””, a story of love, sex and too much money – all set against the backdrop of a Mediterranean island paradise.
Swept Away will be released on blu-ray on April 8!
1 Disc
90 Minutes
Blu-Ray
PAL
Region: B
English
Subtitles: No
BBFC: 15
Madonna and Adriano Giannini star in director/screenwriter Guy Ritchie’s contemporary adaptation of Lina Wertmullers’s 1974 romantic comedy “Swept Away”, a story of love, sex and too much money – all set against the backdrop of a Mediterranean island paradise.
A rich, spoiled socialite (Madonna) and a handsome Italian (Giannini) find themselves stranded on a deserted island where matters of material wealth and class disparity are meaningless. And in their struggle to survive and coexist in their paradise found, they soon discover that their dramatic differences are suddenly the source of a fierce, passionate and sometimes hilarious animal attraction.
EXTRAS:
Audio Commentary from Director Guy Ritchie and Producer Matthew Vaughn, 16 Deleted Scenes with Audio Commentaries, Making of Swept Away
Could there be a collaboration in the works between Maluma and Madonna?
The 25-year-old “Felices Los 4” crooner took to Instagram on Saturday to share a photo of himself with the only and only Queen of Pop. In the snap, Maluma wears a cream sweater as he sits next to the “Like a Virgin” singer, who’s all dolled up in a floral printed shirt and wearing a black hat. The two appear to be in a recording studio.
“Ms. Crazy & Mr. Safe 🖤,” the Colombian singer wrote alongside his photo. Madonna also left a comment, writing, “Me Gusta,” which translates to “I like it.”
Madonna also shared two photos of her and Maluma in the studio, writing, “Cooking up some Fuego over here!……………🔥🔥🔥! @maluma.”
After the Oscars, there are the parties: the Governors Ball, where winners grab dinner while their trophies are engraved; the ones hosted by movie studios and Netflix; the Vanity Fair bash (which, The New York Times reported this week, has lost its lustre); and the cool-kids-only affair hosted for a second year by Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
But those looking for old-school debauchery head to the Coldwater Canyon home of Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, for an afterparty now in its 12th year.
“You look around, and you’re blinded by fame. It’s the people who aren’t famous who stick out,” said one attendee. “Everyone dances, everyone gets loaded. It’s the one party Leo [DiCaprio] says he actually looks forward to every year.”
Stars who have made the guest list — which is planned and approved by co-host Madonna herself — include Oprah, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Julia Roberts (who wore Converse sneakers to be more comfortable on the dance floor), Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, Jack Nicholson, Diane von Furstenberg, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Lady Gaga. While DiCaprio regularly brings his mom as his red-carpet Oscars date, Page Six reported that he switched over to then-girlfriend Toni Garrn for the 2014 party. That same year, Madonna’s ex Sean Penn was spotted making out with new girlfriend Charlize Theron on the dance floor.
Photos are not allowed, and there is a full-on gag order for all guests, party planners, caterers, set builders, etc. Madonna is known to stay on the dance floor for hours (sometimes on her own, sometimes with her kids Lourdes and Rocco). Paul McCartney has jammed with members of the Rolling Stones, and last year Cardi B performed. Penélope Cruz once showed up sporting a mustache, while her husband Javier Bardem wore a feather boa. And the drunkenness is legendary.
British actor Sam Claflin — now said to be in the running to be the next James Bond — told Elle he spilled a glass of wine on Derek Hough and puked on Oseary’s porch.
Jennifer Lawrence has admitted she did the same on his porch in 2013, the year she won for “Silver Linings Playbook.” The next year, Eddie Redmayne continued the tradition after he won for “The Theory of Everything.”
Someone who was there recalled to The Post, “He was dancing in a circle around his Oscar” while Mark Ronson DJ’ed.
“They’ve learned how to deal with it,” revealed one guest who found himself puking as well. “They give you stuff to sober up, and clean it all up very fast.”
Added a second guest, “The night owls love that it doesn’t get going till 2:30 a.m. And by the time you’re really wasted, there’s a major carb breakfast.” In 2017, there were Egg McMuffins from McDonald’s. “I didn’t see Madonna digging in, though,” the second guest said.
It all started when the writer’s strike of 2008 caused the cancellation of the then-top draw Vanity Fair party. Madonna, Oseary and Demi Moore decided to fill the gap with a late, late super-private party.
Congratulations, Madonna! It’s not like you needed another award on your shelf, but this May GLAAD will award gay icon Madonna with its Advocate for Change Award at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City.
So what’s behind this gesture? And how did gay icon Madonna reach that status?
Madonna’s long been an icon to many in the queer community, dating all the way back to the ’80s. GLAAD says it’s important to recognize her work around HIV, international queer liberation and visibility and acceptance for LGBTQ people.
“Her music and art have been life-saving outlets for LGBTQ people over the years, and her affirming words and actions have changed countless hearts and minds,” the organization says.
Madonna’s exposure to the gay community began early in life, with her ballet teacher Christopher Flynn. Flynn brought her to queer-friendly venues and pushed her to pursue fame in New York City, leaving Michigan behind.
Some of her younger fans might not remember, but back in the ’80s Madonna included an informational brochure on HIV inside the Like a Prayer album. At the time, Republicans were blocking research and education into the epidemic, and so it often fell to advocates with large audiences to provide information to the public.
And then there’s her Truth or Dare documentary, highlighting the lives of the gay men who danced in her tour. And to this day gay icon Madonna continues to use her platform to advocate for equality in countries like Romania, Malawi and Russia.
Madonna even had a role — albeit off-screen — in the revolutionary coming-out episode of Ellen DeGeneres‘ ’90s sitcom Ellen. It wasn’t publicly revealed until years later, but Madonna called Ellen out of the blue to encourage her to use her platform for good.
When New York was in the midst of considering marriage equality legislation, Madonna spoke up in favor of the freedom to marry. “Your voices must be heard,” she wrote to her fans, urging them to contact elected officials in support of the marriage bill. Just a few days later, it passed the legislature.
In recent years, Madonna has continued to inject activism into her live shows. At a concert in Russia, she spoke out against anti-LGBTQ laws enacted under Trump ally Vladimir Putin. In response, Putin threatened to have her arrested — a threat that was never carried out against Madonna, although dozens of her fans were apprehended by authorities who accused them of “gay behavior.”
Madonna also issued a special statement in response to the government-sponsored kidnapping of two gay men in Malawi. “I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion or sexual orientation,” she wrote. “This week, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved.”
Whether hiring artists from the queer community, speaking out in defense of equality or taking a stand against evil government officials, Madonna has never forgotten her friends and the people who have always been in her corner.
“I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for the gay community,” she says.
