Madonna got a ton of crap this week for her tribute to Prince during Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards. The Queen of Pop belted out the late singer’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U” before being joined onstage by Stevie Wonder for a joint rendition of “Purple Rain.” But many Prince fans didn’t appreciate the musical homage. And some were downright offended.
Related: Internet Responds To Madonna’s Butchering Of Prince’s Greatest Hits
We’ll be honest and say it wasn’t Madonna’s best performance. But it also wasn’t her worst. And plenty of other singers have had “off” nights during their careers. Nobody can be perfect all the time.
Scroll down for five other times well-intentioned gay “divas” have struggled with hitting those high notes…
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Britney Spears
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix0nRyXJo1M
Perhaps what makes this particular performance so tragic isn’t Britney’s actual voice but how hard she is trying.
Mariah Carey
Each December, Mariah Carey puts on a new red dress and snowflake earrings and makes an appearance on national television to sing her perennial hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” In 2014, someone pulled a nasty holiday prank and posted the isolated vocals of her performance during the Rockefeller tree lighting. The result was anything but bright.
OK, nobody really believes Jenny from the Block has any technical singing ability, but just in case there was any lingering confusion…
Beyoncé
This wasn’t so much of a vocal fail as it was a special effects fail. While belting out her song “Halo,” Beyoncé accidentally got her hair caught in a fan. Amazingly, she managed to keep singing. And she barely missed a note. Well done, Bey.
Christina Aguilera
Who can possibly forget the time Christina Aguilera forget the lyrics to the National Anthem whilst screaming the song before millions of people at the 2011 Super Bowl?
BONUS: Katie Holmes
OK, this one is a bonus because she’s not actually a singer… which is precisely why the writers of Dawson’s Creek never should have written that scene where she performs a rendition of “On My Own” from Les Miserables during a beauty pageant. Come on, guys!
leerl
Yeah but Mariah and Christina have redeemed themselves with other performances. Madonna has and always will sound terrible live despite making some of the greatest pop songs of all time. And J.Lo… “I don’t know her”.
lykeitiz
Madonna’s performance was far from horrible. A little pitchy in places, but other than that, her voice was strong. Madonna-bashing is very much in style right now, mostly from a generation who hasn’t produced a diva anywhere near her caliber. Even Adele, who just signed the highest dollar deal ever for a British artist, still has yet to complete a successful world tour. She can’t…..she doesn’t have the stamina for it. She’s all studio. This whole Kardashian generation can cry all they want, but it won’t change facts. Madonna is horrible……..yeah, right.
Brian
Britney Spears is a diva? Puh-lease. Her shtick is “raise arms, flick hair, repeat”. Maybe she’s a diva for tragic trans-gays who envy her vagina but certainly not normal men.
Dave Downunder
I thought Britney always mimed and as for J-Lo I was always incredulous that she was able to launch a singing career.
Louis
@Brian: @Brian:
Wow every single time you post it is so transparently transphobic and disrespectful.
Its 2016 I cant believe people in this community are this shameful to discriminate against their own family the members of our COMMUNITY.
Shameful.
jag4313
Madonna is 60+ years old, giver her a break. She is still an amazing performer and there will always be The Immaculate Collection. As far as some of these other singers above, all wonderful, except Britney and Mariah need some vocal work… quick.
jag4313
Madonna is 60+ years old, give her a break. She is still an amazing performer and there will always be The Immaculate Collection. As far as some of these other singers above, all wonderful, except Britney and Mariah need some vocal work… quick.
ShaunNJ
Britney is not the worst singer – she has two flaws. She tries to sing songs which are suited to her voice or range. This is especially evident in live shows where she can’t duplicate what’s crafted in studio – leading to lip syncing. She also focuses so much on her action packed performance she’s forced to lip sync everything. She needs to check in with Tina Turner, Belinda Carlisle and Fergie who can show her how to sing live on stage and still MOVE.
DCguy
@jag4313:
I think you aged her by around 10 years. So I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing to tell you she is younger than you think. lol
As for Britney, honestly I’m surprised that she sang something that wasn’t pre-recorded, so that was kind of ok. As for Jennifer Lopez, the sad thing is, that song probably didn’t sound much different than it sounds in the studio version.
And Mariah, well, trying to hit those same notes you hit when you were in your 20’s may not be a good idea.
UWSguy
Where can I view a video of Madonna’s performance?
o.codone
@UWSguy: I can’t find it either. I tried youtube, nothing. They really hid it well this time.
I hate Madonna for making fun of the church for the last 40 years. Fuck her for that. She preaches tolerance, and demands certain behaviors of her audience (not smoking), but she turns around and mouths off about the church. What a hypocrite. Just STFU Madge. You dried up old hag. BTW, looks like she’s put on about 30 pounds since she split-up with Guy. It doesn’t look good on her either. So, drop dead of old age Madge. It’s time.
Xzamilio
@jag4313: Madonna isn’t even 60 yet. And Mariah has a wide pedigree of amazing live performances, so putting Miss Lip Sync Spears in the same category as her is almost insulting.
okozyryatskiy
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Chris
My complaint’s that her renditions were dirges without any of the joyous celebration of life that Prince’s work deserved. That she was on- or off-key is secondary; I’ve been to enough Karaoke to know it ain’t always pretty.
Dixie Rect
JHO Bag can’t sing, she never could. She can’t act either.
seaguy
Some of Prince’s fans will always find something to bitch about in any tribute performance because that is just who they are bitchy fans.
Madonna’s voice could have been better but this is Madonna a singer not known for having the most powerful and great singing voice so it’s kind of like duh what did you expect? In the end it was still a very respectful tribute to the purple one.