Y&RWorldTurner

A lot of the lyrics on this album seem to be thinly veiled confessions about her marriage to Guy Ritchie...

Girl Gone Wild video: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tYkwziTrv5o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is from MTV Europe, I believe. But MTV US used to be famous for their Madonna Weekends during the 80's and early to mid 90's before they abandoned music altogether. It's where a lot of us who were maybe too young to fully remember and appreciate her early stuff got well acquainted with her discography/videography. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hoExOpn5l6Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Also love this Year in Rock 1990 clip, this was the year that solidified her as a permanent pop cultural icon. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YH5Wpcdn3Ec" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I love how she basically outed him, she knew... "The Diva HIMSELF!"

Madonna wins her first music-related Grammy (she won one for long-form video before) for Ray of Light in 1999. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2HyM-9hFmgk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tEItzaWmSwY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Love this video and song. It was only released in the UK/Europe, and there was a mini controversy at the time in the UK, as many thought it referenced Princess Diana's demise, but the premise was actually a day in Madonna's life.

The Bad Girl SNL performance from 1993 is is great in a subtle way. There was a period between Erotica and Ray of Light where she would release some non-commercial singles and didn't care how well they performed in the US. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sCnNb41UoE8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I always loved this 1995 Bedtime Story performance at the Brit Awards: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_hXdPVFO_s0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Before she played Evita, she mocked-performed Don't Cry For Me Argentina during a Girlie Show stop in Argentina. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GKGlv8pcxqg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I liked the small Latin portion of the Girlie Show tour..... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N3Pe5G_1KpI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Elaine Paige owns the role of course.

Poor Donna suffers from the disco backlash that rock purists will never get over. Madonna is lucky she emerged during the post-disco ever, and was at the forefront of the music video era, or else she could have been grouped in there.

She inducted David Bowie in 1996. He wasn't there to receive the honour however. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_kcm90o9Plk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As Evita was mentioned earlier. Here's Madonna performing You Must Love Me at the '97 Oscar's. The song won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Time Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote it especially for Madonna to song in the film. It has since been incorporated into stage revivals of the musical. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VGgQJf4GrhY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Of course, she was pregnant with Lourdes when this was filmed: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/06F7wOGEUcI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Julie's recently talked about doing a sequel about Madonna's current life, and how hard it would be physically, since Madonna no longer has "any fat on her cheeks."

Madonna said that she was raped when she first arrived in New York, I believe she spoke about this in during the mid 90's. Here's an article about it: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-11-28/news/9511290004_1_raped-nude-british-music-magazine

Madonna said that Oh Father wasn't just about Sean or her dad, but it was a representation of a lot of men that had been in her life. I guess men that abused her in one way or another, and how the experiences made her stronger in the end.

Sorry, see that you posted this already. LOL! Sorry to hear this album reflected parts of your life. It's a pretty dark album overall, but definitely her best and most critically acclaimed work. I'll never forget this Promise To try montage on Truth or Dare, which Julie Brown later parodied. Julie Brown did some of the best Madonna parodies. The audio is pretty bad in this clip and makes her voice sound extra thin, but here it is: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/msaMmFkQAsE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

To be fair, Prince never gave his best material to other artists, lol. Sinead simply covered Nothing Compares 2 U, as Prince had recorded it before. He did play the guitar rift on Like A Prayer (the song) though. Til Death Due Us Part might well be Madonna's best song that was not a single. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/feQXMGG0vpM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Their date to the Oscar's was clearly for publicity. They knew quite a few people in common. Before he had a legendary partnership with Madonna. Freddy DeMann, who was Madonna's manager and business partner from Like A Virgin until Evita, was Michael's manger. DeMann was one of the best managers in the music industry ever. The bridge between Oh Father and Dear Jessie (which was released in Europe) was epic on the album. Such a contrast between the two songs and that bridge just highlights the irony.

Love Song had a purpose on the album, as it was her post-divorce album. Not a favourite of mine, but it plays well into the theme of the album - which is still her most raw and vulnerable album. Oh Father will always be a highlight for me, and the David Fincher directed video is a masterpiece. Though the song wasn't really commercial and broke her string of top 10 singles when it peaked at #20.

I'm Breathless only sold well because it had Vogue slapped on it. She never really promoted it. Hanky Panky was also a top 10 hit with no video and it wasn't radio friendly. Sooner or Later won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and she performed it that night. Michael Jackson was her date to the Oscar's that year, lol. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dzVV6rrY0Ow" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ray of Light was the most important album in her career. It came after a long gap between studio albums, her first since motherhood, and was the album that proved she still had "it". It revitalized her pop career in a different way, and gave her the acceptance that she'd hadn't ever had within the music industry (as she was considered an outsider in that circle for most her career).

Ray of Light was her best selling studio album since Like A Prayer, and it was an even bigger hit in Europe and Latin America. After Like A Prayer, it's also her most critically acclaimed album.

Kylie's big markets are the UK and Australia, though her commercial career has been on a wane in both markets in recent years.

Kylie worked with one of Madonna's old producers, Stephen Bray, on her 1990 Rhythm of Love album. Here's the two songs they did together. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KYzXu5x2KJ8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ErUkBn6KlhM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>