OK, we take back every negative thing we’ve ever said about Madonna in recent years.
We’ll admit, we were underwhelmed by her last two albums. Neither felt very inspired or innovative for the woman who was supposed to be the reigning Queen of Pop.
But the music monarch just released the music video for “Living For Love,” the first single from her upcoming Rebel Heart album and one thing is very, very clear: The queen is back. With a vengeance. And, no, she doesn’t need anyone’s help in reclaiming her throne.
Unlike the lead singles off her last two albums (“Four Minutes” featuring Justin Timberlake, and “Gimme All Your Luvin'” featuring Nicki Minaj and MIA), “Living For Love” features just Madonna doing what she does best: kicking ass and taking names. Literally.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Our Lady M harkens back to her days as a Spanish matador, dressed in a scarlet red bullfighting uniform and beating the shit out of her hot male dancers wearing Maleficent-inspired horns on their heads.
Seriously, there’s nothing we don’t love about this video. The music. The lyrics. The dancing. The costumes. It’s pure pop perfection.
Check out the fierceness below. And get ready, boys, because we have a feeling this is only the beginning of a long-awaited Madonna renaissance.
Related stories:
A Look Back At Madonna’s Greatest Live TV Performances
Something To Remember: The 12 Most Underrated Madonna Songs Of All Time
Happy Birthday, Madonna! 56 Reasons Why We Love The Queen Of Pop In GIFs
redcarpet30
YAAAAS! Now this is what Madge is good at!
bnard620
I like Madonna, I just hope this isn’t another case where only one or two of the songs are good. Like what happened with her last album I think or the one before that
SnakeyJ
She needs to pack it in. The lyrics almost sound like Christian rock. LOL Not nice seeing a woman of her age gyrating on stage, no matter how many filters try to make her look 40 years younger.
Scribe38
@SnakeyJ: Yes every one over the age of 30 should just retire and remove their being from public sight. 0_o
Those who can do, those who can’t bitch on the Internet.
Manchester
Yawn
MarionPaige
Isn’t it so appropriate that someone who thinks Madonna is still relevant would use the term “fierceness”?
I mean, seriously … Fierce?
MarionPaige
Let Madonna keep making her music. If people like it, people will buy it. If people don’t like it people won’t buy it. HOWEVER, Madonna has been accused of pumping up her “album sales figures” buy giving away albums to people who attended her recent concert. The albums given to concert attendees technically were counted as “sales”.
robho3
God I wish she would just go away.
CCTR
Haven’t listened to much of her music since Ray of Light but I like this song and video.
bottom72
Ohhh my God she can do no wrong.
Random
@SnakeyJ: People that attack others based on how old they are, say far more about their own fears and anxieties around ageing, than the person they are criticising.
ApolloDionysus
I like it though the visuals were giving me Mylene Farmer teas…The male dancers with horns performing acrobatics on dust, her wearing leather and lace…very Mylene Farmer “Oui mais non” and “A l’ombre”
jason smeds
Madonna must be going through her ‘old drag queen’ phase.
Random
@jason smeds: Takes one to know one! 😉
mediajky
I dont care that she is older, i don’t think that’s the issue. As someone who was a fan (and in some ways still am), I think she has not made made good music in a long time. She has also become a very affected and pretentious person (at least in interviews), where before she never seemed to be. It’s painful to watch. It feels to me like her greed to be #1 is precisely what’s keeping her from it.
DJ STEPHEN V
MADONNA KICKS A$S IN THIS VIDEO AS USUAL. THATS WHY SHE PUTS EVERY OTHER ARTIST IN HISTORY TO SHAME. ALL OTHER ARTISTS, CURRENT AND PAST, SUCK IN COMPARISON TO MADONNA AND IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT STATEMENT WRITE IT ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR A$S.?
AND SAYING MADONNA’S LAST 2 ALBUMS HAVE BEEN UNINSPIRING IS A BUNCH OF HOGWASH…MAYBE YOU’RE THE UNINSPIRING ONE WITH THE INABILITY TO DECIPHER NEW SOUNDS AND MELODIES. EDUCATE YOURSELF OR SHUT THE F*CK UP.
jason smeds
Madonna was always pretentious. She’s still a pretender, Photo Shop and all.
lykeitiz
@MarionPaige: I don’t know what “recent concert” you’re talking about. I went to her last tour in 2012 & don’t recall any giveaways, but if she did, she certainly wouldn’t be the first. Prince did it in 2004 with Musicology & had his first charting album/cd in over a decade. Ditto for Lady Gaga years later, and many others. Taylor Swift won’t sell her singles on iTunes to ramp up her album/cd sales. They all have their tricks.
blackberry finn
Gaga now has fresh stuff to copy.
Uppity
@SnakeyJ: Madonna will still be selling out tours at 70. But as for new music, she is now at that stage that Cher was at in ’98 with Believe. It’s not exactly her “last gasp,” but the reality is that radio doesn’t play new music by anyone over 40. She’s done really well for a woman in her mid 50s. But her sales will start to decline and videos and promotional material will feature heavily photoshopped images of her, which will be met by derision. I am a fan, but she clearly is not at peace with the ageing process. She will frame the argument that she is an iconoclast who wants to challenge preconceived notions about ageing, but most will not read it that way, especially if she’s still baring her breasts and photoshopping her image so heavily. She’s clearly very vexed by the competition, having now written three songs about other female singers (Two Steps Behind, Give Me All Your Luvin’ and She’s Not Me). But whether she likes it or not, the future does belong to these artists. The rest of her journey is going to be an interesting one, and I imagine we’re going to see her even more aggrieved and defiant. She’s always been preoccupied by unnamed, unseen forces which are supposedly out to suppress her. It’s all in her own head of course, but expect a lot more of it in years to come.
tricky ricky
for madonna this is incredibly minimalist.
jantheman4903
i remember. she went to london and after 2 weeks she had an accent,drank tea..and referred to it as “o i don’t watch the telly much”. i left..anyone that phony at that age, even with her talent, no respect for.
topshelf
This song is just bad. I know she can’t go back and create the same style of music from 1984. But her music used to be so unique, fun and controversial. This is boring.
Tobi
Madonna rips off Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. 😉
odowd4sure
What you fail to mention is that she is somebody’s mother now, would you deem it proper for your mother to be taking her clothes off at age 56 for no reason at all, and it is for no reason at all. She can say it is for the sake of art, but she has yet to produce one single piece of art and don’t say that these albums, videos, and tours are art, they can haarly be considered music, videos or anything of that nature when she warbles, or attempts to warble, such as Pariah Scarey recently did with that fake lip synching job, did ya see that, huh? Well, go ahead and waste your money on her cd, her tour, her merchandise, because that is what it will be, a complete waste! You are merely buying into a gimmick, nothing more, there was never an original thought or concept produced from that baby factory. Nuff said! And please for the sake of everyone here, do not be reductive! Peace!
Sweet Boy
Same old…same old….the days of Ray of Light are gone..never to come back…
Sweet Boy
@odowd4sure: Didn`t she show a boob a few years ago in Barcelona?….on the other hand I am glad she`snot taking her clothes off anymore, it`sd be kind of gross
musctop
I was never much of a fan, although I think she’s a good entertainer. I’m just here for the comments from bitter queens who act like Cinderella’s stepsisters because they’re not invited to the ball, and they never will be. And ladies–your comments did not disappoint.
Realitycheck
Amazing video, love the song and i she deserves high point for her hard work.
Very few people can do what she does.
To the detractors, a simple fact, Madonna is the highest-grossing artist
on the planet, nobody makes more money then her in concert.
She is also top famous world wide, some artist like Beyonce will do better in the USA and some like Kylie Minogue do better in Europe, while others do better
in latin countries, but Madonna like Michael Jackson (did) is on the top world
wide.
Realitycheck
@musctop:
ha ha ha love it and well said.
odowd4sure
@musctop , I believe you meant to sign in as @bigmuscqueenbottom4all
smittoons
Why link to an out of sync Vimeo when there’s an official Vevo version on youtube?
Ladbrook
If Madonna still wants to make music, then good for her… She’s still got it. She might not be the edgy taboo-breaker she was in the 80’s, but so what? No one expects her to be. Sir Paul is still relevant even though he’s no longer rewriting the rules of rock. Lay off of Madonna. She’s kicking ass.
Realitycheck
@Ladbrook:
True, Tina Turner 75, sang up to her 70s and Paul McCartney 72 still does,
and Cher 68 just had her best selling album ever, if one has the mind set and energy and the public is still supportive why not?
According to Forbes, Madonna latest center tour grossed over $305 millions.
By contrast Beyonce can’t sell her tickets anymore her late tour made $100
millions according to Forbes.
Better grossing artists of all times by the date (not right now) U2 at $376 millions in 116 dates, Rolling Stones by total at $558 millions for 144 dates.
Madonna’s best was the Sticky Sweet at $407 millions, 85 dates.
Tommy25
@Odowd4sure You can’t compare Madonna to your mother. Most people’s mothers aren’t pop stars. Being a pop star is all about fantasy and taking people out of the realm of the everyday. Most everyday people in their twenties don’t go around dressed like Lady Gaga or Rihanna either and if they did, they’d be fired from their jobs. So to expect Madonna to dress and act like a normal 56 year old mother in her videos or tours is crazy. It’s fantasy and entertainment not real life.
You wouldn’t be Boy George in disguise would you? I guess you are jealous because your big comeback album flopped and no one cared. And people are still very interested in Madonna! Must drive you nuts!
MarionPaige
Do you realize that “concert artists” (like KISS) were once considered “B” artists because they couldn’t sell albums? Album sales (by groups like Fleetwood Mac) were ONCE what the music industry used to use to crown music royalty?
I read an article some time ago that Madonna had refocused her attention (marketing, management and label) to focus on concerts / live appearances to make up for the reality that album sales are down (for Madonna and everyone else).
Not too long ago, Madonna celebrated in the media her XXX number one album and then the next day that album dropped in sales by the biggest sales drop reportedly in history. According to the media, Madonna used album giveaways to people who attended her concert to beat out Lionel Ritchie’s country album for top album.
I just read some article that claimed Barbara Streisand “the best selling female artist in the United States with 72.5 million units shipped according to the RIAA”. There are probably clever ways to characterize record sales to make almost any one of many female artists ” best selling female artist”.
AND AS FAR AS PROFITABLE TOURS GO … If an artists tours for a year at every little venue around the world then that artist will make more money that an artist who doesn’t tour as long or who doesn’t charge as much. The time that CHER had the most profitable tour it was admitted that Cher just kept touring after the originally scheduled dates had been fulfilled.
AND,
I saw some of beyoncé’s Super Bowl act and at first I thought that she was pretty motionless compared to how much Madonna moves around. But then I realizes something, IF MADONNA HAD BEYONCE’S BODY, MADONNA WOULD PROBABLY SHOW IT OFF LIKE BEYONCE (and jump around less). Madonna may in fact be a better dancer than Beyonce but, you can bet the young guys getting off on Beyonce don’t even see Madonna.
cflekken
The Queen never left the throne. She simply gave others a trial run and they all failed. All hail the Queen.
Clark35
Vadge is all dry and washed up.
The real queen is and always will be Grace Jones.
wade.l
Boring song and boring video
spiffy
The song is not bad, but not great either. However, the video is creatively lazy. She already has a matador-themed video (Take A Bow), so is this new and refreshing because she’s wearing the outfit instead of a man?
Well, at least no real bulls were harmed in this video.
Madge needs to work with innovative producers and song writers again.
MarionPaige
I walked out of The Gaiety once because these really annoying people came in and were acting like they were the show (instead of the nude dancers). I read in the papers the next day that those annoying people were Madonna, some of her idiot dancers and her director. They were “scouting” out The Gaiety for Madonna’s sex book. All I saw of Madonna was the back of her head, since she was sitting in front of me (dressed in jogging clothes).
According to reports, Guy Ritchie hated the “people” Madonna had around her, I can understand why.
Suburban
I like the song and video. I didn’t even buy her last 2 CDs and I’ve been a fan since Borderline. Lot of negative comments about a woman who’s supported the gay community back when it wasn’t popular. And she didn’t have to either.
Ttrotski
She phoned this one in. Can we please stop treating Autotune as acceptable in any case other than when it does what is impossible for the human voice. Really, Madge was never a “singer”, she is a provocateur, a celebrity, and a Pop Art figure.She was always so adroit at reinventing herself but now seems to be stuck in this incarnation of a tight skin walker doing an age defying performanceand: frankly she seems bored. Marlena Dietrich embraced her age and despite being a worse singer than Madonna and someone who could not dance, she managed to, late in her career, put together a stage show that, despite pandering to her fanbase, it stands up as an amazing work of art. Come on Madonna, you have the capability of beinga fine wine that improves exponentially with age,this though,is a store brand sodat hat’s been left out overnight: flat and tepid.
NoCagada
@odowd4sure: Is there supposed to be an insult to being a bottom?
NoCagada
@odowd4sure: And , you helped to validate and prove his point.
buffnightwing
@mediajky: I totally agree. She’s the mother of five children and she dates 20 year old dancers and thinks thats a serious relationship. OLDonna, your fans have moved on, WHY DON”T YOU???
Random
@MarionPaige: Your post is a bit strange since you point out that record sales are down for everyone, not just Madonna. So what point are you trying to make then?
And also, you have to look at the gross, not just how many shows an act puts on. So Lady Gaga’s Artpop tour staged 79 shows and grossed $83million, whereas Madonna’s MDNA tour put on 88 shows and grossed $305million. That means Gaga would have had to play over 200 more dates to get anywhere close to Madonna’s takings. Madonna definitely isn’t touring ‘every little venue’ she can rock up at, but rather she fills up arenas and stadiums and generates large grosses in a comparatively short space of time.
buffnightwing
@DJ STEPHEN V: DUDE, you seriously have a peter pan complex. OLDonna is OVER. go pay yer 600 dollars and save the bitching for people who care. ALL the comments say it SUCKS BALLS! LOL
buffnightwing
Everyone notice, they have PHOTOSHOP for videos now! Oldonna is all FILTERED. We know you’re OLD madonna, why not be proud of it? like Annie Lennox.
Oldonna is a turd sandwich.
Realitycheck
@odowd4sure:
The reason she takes her clothing off is $305 millions in her last tour
and if you think that is no reason at all, you got big problems.
Hr children will be provided for life in ways you can never immagine or have.
And that is all the reason any good parent need.
Realitycheck
@MarionPaige:
Marion, if artists could reposition themselves for concerts vs
album sales as you said, no singer would retire, ever.
People want to see Madonna perform, and that is why at the moment
she is the #1 live performance artist, and if you think USA record sales are
the only, or the most import indicators of sales in the entire planet
you need to do some serious rethinking.
Cher sales easily 2-3 time in Europe vs USA, and that is huge money huge.
As far kids lusting after Beyonce, she FAT! not everybody loves those cakes or fatty, in fact most people do not. Of course she has her fans and lusters, but
she is not a wide appealing beauty.
The game is very simple who makes the most money wins and that so far is
Madonna.
Tobi
@Ttrotski: Interesting you mention Dietrich, I don’t think there’s a Madonna “look” that Marlene didn’t do way, way before her.
Realitycheck
@buffnightwing:
Why so much poison? And who said her fans have moved on?
Her fans are going to her perform and buy her record at the tune of $100s of millions of $$.
Random
@buffnightwing: Five children? Nope. Only 4 – Lourdes, Rocco, David and Mercy. Kinda helps to know what you’re talking about if you expect to be taken seriously.
jar
Madonna is like the bus in the movie Speed. If she stops, she will explode. She keeps going because the only thing she craves is attention. She knows at this point that she has no other recourse than to keep going on the road. I said 30 years ago, one day Madonna will become the ZsaZsa Gabor of her day. Young kids will say, who is that weird old lady. The clock is ticking.
Random
@jar: Actually, I don’t think attention is her sole motivation and nor has it ever been. If you look at celebrities nowadays, you really don’t need to do very much at all to make the headlines. If that’s all Madonna was interested in, she’d just spend her time getting dressed up and being photographed or appearing as a judge on a ‘talent’ show. It’s always been an easy criticism to say that Madonna is ‘nothing but an attention-seeker’ but her body of work, along with her cultural impact, means she’ll be remembered for much, much more than just being one of the most closely observed women of all time.
Suburban
@Random, thank you. Even I haven’t liked everything she’s said or done. The woman has balls. Why doesn’t anyone criticize the rock star men who date the playmates…double standard.
SnakeyJ
@Uppity: Well said. Maybe i was too harsh saying she needs to pack it in, but I stand by my statement about being too old for the type of show she puts on. Some on here are accusing me of ageism, but i’m not much younger than she is. She’s looking desperate.
Random
@SnakeyJ: Is there a rule book about how people are supposed to behave at certain ages? I find it interesting that a gay man can be so prescriptive and critical of someone based on their age, when they’ve grown up and live in a world that’s still highly discriminatory purely on the grounds of sexuality. Many, many straight people would be far happier if you just ‘packed it in’ and disappeared, y’know.
SnakeyJ
@Random: I shouldn’t have said she needs to pack it in, I admitted that above, but I’m afraid certain behaviours at certain ages are not appropriate. She can still act that way, but it does not make her look good. Just like some men in their 40’s, 50’s, who continue to wear tight Abercrombie & Fitch shirts, dye their hair blonde, and style it to look like a 20 year old’s… regardless of how fit they are, the look is ridiculous on them. If she aged physically and artistically with confidence (like Uppity wrote about) then I think she wouldn’t come across as so desperate to stay relevant.
Realitycheck
Biilboard has a poll :
Which Grammy Performance Are You Most Excited For?
So far with only few hours left before the grammy…
#1 with a disproportionate 43.74% Madonna
#2 Tony Bennet/Gaga 32.82
#3 Katy Perry 5.9%
#4 Beyonce 4.6%
#5 Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney
#6 Sia 2.32
#7 Ariana Grande 1.45%
the remaining 16 performers all below 1%
NUFF Said LOL
Random
@SnakeyJ: *She can still act that way, but it does not make her look good.*
Again, it’s not up to you to tell anyone how they should and shouldn’t act. She’s Madonna, and unless you’ve spent the last 30 years in a cave, you should know that she’s not about obtaining yours or anyone else’s approval. Indeed, it’s ironic that you talk about relevancy because these sort of opinions have never been ‘relevant’ to Madonna and never will be. So give up your ‘desperate’ keyboard attacks, and find a more appropriate, worthwhile hobby in your middle years, like, collecting brasses, or something.
TomOH
She’s Sally O’Malley!!! and she’s fifty…-something… Seriously Madonna, many other artists age gracefully by simply not drawing so much attention to their age at every freaking second. I don’t recall seeing Thom Yorke doing Covergirl Commercials.
Random
@TomOH: Madonna’s not doing Covergirl Commercials either. But so what if she was?
BrandonB
On top again, damn she has more lives than a cat. Thank God for Madonna! #livingforlove