It was announced this week that Madonna will be performing at the 57th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 8. The “Living for Love” singer is about to embark on a major media blitz to promote her thirteenth studio album Rebel Heart, due out on March 10.
No word yet on which song — or songs — our lady M will be performing, or if any other artists will appear on stage with her (Nicki Minaj, perhaps?), but we have a feeling that it’s going to be big.
We can hardly wait to see what tricks the Queen has up her sleeve!
In anticipation for Madonna’s upcoming performance, here’s s a roundup of some of her greatest live TV performances…
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2006 Grammy Awards
Clad in a purple sequined leotard with matching high heels and lots of glittery bangle bracelets, Madonna looked smokin’ hot while singing “Hung Up” alongside the cartoon band the Gorillaz. (What ever happened to them anyway?) Seriously, there’s nothing we don’t love about this performance. The music. The choreography. The costumes. The lights. And, most importantly, the slow-motion dance break at the 5:30 mark. It’s beyond.
1995 Brit Awards
Bathed in white light and dressed in a flowing silk nightgown, Madonna looked like an angelic Greek goddess as she belted out the title track from her 1994 album Bedtime Stories whilst standing before two enormous fans that kept her platinum blonde hair blowing Heavenward for the entire four-and-a-half minutes.
1997 Academy Awards
Determined to prove that, despite what the critics claimed, she could actually sing, Madge took to the stage of the 1997 Academy Awards to perform the ballad “You Must Love Me” from her hit film Evita. And it worked. She proved herself. And we loved her.
1990 MTV Music Video Awards
Everyone always talks about Madonna’s performance at the 1984 MTV Music Video Awards when she writhed around on stage in a wedding dress cooing “Like A Virgin.” That performance was iconic, but, deep down, we’ve always preferred the spectacle she put on at the 1990 MTV Music Video Awards when she channeled her inner Marie Antoinette and lip-synced the song “Vogue.” (Yes, die-hards, she lip-synced. Look closely and you’ll see she doesn’t have a microphone anywhere.)
1985 Live Aid
When Madonna performed at the first Live Aid music event in 1985, she was big, but she wasn’t yet the pop cultural force to be reckoned with that she is today. This gem of a performance features Madge before she was, well, Madge and she still hadn’t quite shaken her youthful and ebullient club performer persona.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO-ixvtW_QM
1995 American Music Awards
Our Lady M hit the stage with R&B crooner Babyface at the 1995 AMAs to serenade audiences with her mega-hit “Take A Bow.” The performance is noteworthy because it marks one of the few times she has ever performed the ballad live, despite it being one of the most successful singles of her career, spending seven weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
2012 Superbowl Halftime
Of course, we couldn’t forget to include Madonna’s epic 2012 Superbowl Halftime performance, during which our Queen, dressed like Cleopatra, sung a medley of some of her greatest hits, including “Open Your Heart,” “Like A Prayer,” “Vogue,” and “Music.”
Related stories:
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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
Njmtpa
Everyone always talks about Madonna’s performance at the 1894 MTV Music Video
1894? I think you mean 1984
Desert Boy
I’ll say this about Madonna.
While I am not a fan boy or even a fan, old girl manages to use her thin, tiny voice WITHOUT the help of Auto Tune. Can current pop tarts, Taylor Swift or Selena Gomez say that?
AlliterationAddict
GORILLAZ! That is all.
Acnyc11
FUCKING LEGEND!!
lykeitiz
SO glad the lip-synched Vogue made the list! I am a purist and have never forgiven lip-synching before or after this, but this……oh yeah!!
Another good one not on here, Fever from SNL. She actually focused on her vocals and didn’t make it a spectacle.
oilburner
@Njmtpa: I can’t stop laughing after reading your comment. Thank you
Rob91316
Great picks! The “Bedtime Story” performance at the 1995 Brit Awards, in particular, is one of my faves. But how could you leave out her iconic 1984 MTV Awards performance of “Like A Virgin?” Or “Express Yourself” at the 1989 MTV Awards? Or “Sooner or Later” at the 1991 Oscars? Or “Nothing Really Matters” at the 1999 Grammys? Or the Britney/Christina lip-lock at the 2003 MTV Awards, where she performed the bangin’ Jacques Lu Cont mix of “Hollywood” (the best track off of the woefully under-rated “American Life”)? Also, one of her lesser known but still insanely awesome live performances was on the Oprah show in 1998, where she sang “Ray of Light” and “Little Star.”
jason smeds
Madonna is like the bad smell that won’t go away.
She’s a hypocrite.
Her voice is weak and needs to be embellished by studio tricks.
NoCagada
@jason smeds: You’d be lucky to be embellished by any tricks…Jesus…just ONE trick
Random
Her Sooner or Later performance at the ’91 Oscars, is not just brilliant in itself, but incredible by any standards. No studio trickery, just her unadorned voice, an orchestra and her dazzling charisma. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth looking up on Youtube.
trelin
I think Madonna’s one and only performance of “Bad Girl” on SNL should make this list. It’s incredible.
Ripley1974
@trelin i agree with you. and she tore up a picture of joey whats his name. lol Bad Girl is one of my favs. too bad, it deserved to be a bigger hit. the entire Erotica period was amazing.
buffnightwing
Madonna obviously cannot sing one note, even when she really tries. Now, comparing her performances to Gaga, she SUCKS.
Random
@buffnightwing:
Lady Gaga has a monotonous type of voice that comes across like a cruise ship belter. That’s when she’s *actually* singing live, as it’s clear that increasingly she relies on tapes. The Daily Telegraph said of her on her ArtRave tour: ”At times during her more energetic routines her vocals have the immaculate but overly treated air of prerecording, so different in tone to her shouty interjections of “Put your hands up Birmingham!!!”
IvanPH
The Vogue performance during the MTV VMA is in a league of its own and outshines them all.
bottom72
Ohhh My God Madonna can do know wrong. She is so amazingly fabulous.
trelin
@buffnightwing: Who’s Lady Gaga?
magicmike
@lykeitiz: orry to say but Madonna lip syncs a lot. her super bowl performance is lip synching as well. that’s not a dig at her as most pop stars lip synch all or parts of super bowl performances due to logistics of it all.
I do think Madonna is very overly celebrated in pop culture, especially by the gays, but her impact on pop culture also cant be denied.
I also find the whole lady gaga thing to be strange. Madonna made a career off of taking things from other famous “influences” but when gaga does it Madonna fans have an issue to the point that now the 2 fan bases hate each other.
my favorite Madonna “performance” was her introduction of the Michael Jackson tribute on the mtv video awards. it was laughable at the level of narcissism she has. she made what was to be a moving opening about an artist who didn’t even like her, and made it about herself. but we all know Madonna loves any press she can get so more power to her.
side note….her super bowl performance was one of the best ive ever seen. it was visually stunning.
Random
@magicmike: The Lady Gaga thing escalated when she released Born This Way and everyone noticed the similarity to Express Yourself. Then a few days later at the Grammys, Gaga stated the song was influenced, not by Madonna, but by Whitney Houston when it doesn’t sound like anything Houston ever sang. The following day, Jay Leno asked her about Born This Way and Express Yourself and she claimed that Madonna’s team had emailed her to give the song her ‘blessing’. Madonna’s spokeswoman swiftly denied this.
Madonna has always talked about and credited her influences and inspirations, whereas Gaga didn’t want to do the same with Madonna because she thought that she was now pop’s reigning queen, but then when she got caught out, she told lies to save face. So THAT’S why many Madonna fans have no regard for Gaga and her flying monkeys, er, I mean, ‘little monsters’.
Dwight
I’ll always remember the Live Aid performance. It was roasting that day and she had on a heavy outfit. It was her first appearance after her nudes were in Penthouse and Playboy and she said “I’m not taking shit off today…they may hold it against me 20 years from now”
lykeitiz
@Random: Yes, Thank You! That really is the root of the problem between “Little Monsters” and Madonna Die-Hards. Madonna is a thief, but has always given credit to her victims. Lady Gaga steals with no recognition, not only from Madonna, but many others. She actually performed in a wheelchair in a mermaid costume without ever mentioning Bette Midler. B*tch Please!! And her male drag thing at the VMA’s? Google Annie Lennox. You’ll have to…..you’ll never hear Gagme mention it.
@magicmike: Yeah, OK, Madonna lip-synch’s OCCASIOANLLY…..but she has PLENTY of live performances available for free on YouTube.
buffnightwing
@Random: Ive seen her live, and SHE SINGS. She sits at the piano and belts out YOU and I and it was fucking awesome.
buffnightwing
EVERY SINGLE MADONNA clip up there she sounds awful. People sure are suckers. I used to be too, until she started acting like a huge CLASS A BITCH.
even now she is posting picture of her stupid cleavage. i want great music, not stupid boob shots.
madonna never grew up, just like so many of you stupid gay people on queerty here.
this website has some of the most mean an nasty gay people i have ever met.
madonna sucks and she is desperate to sell anything so shed doesn’t look like the washed up old hag she is.
jake234
@buffnightwing: First the Madonna vs GaGa thing is tired. Fact of the matter is nobody will ever reach Madge’s level ever again. Countless publications from Rolling Stone to Billboard and media outlets like MTV and VH1 consider her to be the greatest and most important female artist of all time. She’s the most successful singles artist, most successful female touring artist, the richest and the highest selling. If she stopped making music in 1990 with Vogue she’d prob still be one of the most important artists of all time. Second there’s more to music than a technically great voice. Mick Jagger, Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, John Lennon, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Janet Jackson etc etc aren’t technically great vocalists like Stevie Wonder or Whitney Houston but are still incredible artists. Same goes with Madge. She is a more than capable singer as she’s proven countless times (better than Taylor, Katy, Britney, Rihanna and most in the radio today) but GaGa fans still slam her. Fact is Whitney, Mariah and Christina can all sing circles around GaGa so by your rationale that makes them all superior artists to GaGa? Madonna CAN sing. She is not a virtuoso with a once in a lifetime voice like Whitney but she can sing. Finally it always comes back to the songs and artistry. Like a Prayer and Ray of Light are 2 of the greatest albums of all time… Not just pop albums. Erotica brought deep house to the masses, Confessions on a Dancefloor brought dance music back to America when we were still in a hip hop/R&B phase. Madonna is known for identifying trends and bringing them mainstream. She never been shy go cite her influences from Marilyn, Mae West and Marlene Dietrich to Bowie and beyond. Finally she’s been an advocate since the 80s when she put her entire career at risk by always standing up for us. From being an AIDS advocate, loyal supporter and identifying the gay community as loving human beings and not just outsiders without a moral compass she certainly has earned her iconic status in our community. You might not like her voice, you might yearn for her older songs but you should still give Madge your uttermost respect. She’s a ball buster, boundary breaker and ally.
iban4yesu
@NoCagada:
When one has substance, he doesn’t need a trick.
And knowing that the mad vadge is nothing but..um. generally a talent free manipulative skank requires some substance.
iban4yesu
@buffnightwing: say it, bro, say it like it is!
iban4yesu
@jake234:
” you should still give Madge your uttermost respect.”
so are you going to start a proper cult any time soon? or at least a F$&king Mad Madge Fascist Party or sumthin’?
ac
Nothing wiLl ever beat the like a virgin /Hollywood Madonna britney Christina missy colab at the mtv awards ten years ago? Still get excited when watching it 🙂