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You can’t really be a fan of your own work. You don’t experience it objectively. It’s a part of you, but it can also be very painful to have to face it constantly as a reminder of the past. It’s a very complex question in Madonna’s case; not so much for Cher.

Everyone was influenced by Madonna.

I’m down for whatever she has to give us for Pride, but those photos are not my cup of tea at all! 😂

I think that her decision to tour instead of focusing on the film of her life probably changed the commercial focus of this deal, either by changing or delaying the strategy. Further to this, she had a life-threatening illness that forced her to delay the start of her global tour, and perhaps (heard through the grapevine only) shorten an original plan for the tour to be extended throughout South America and Asia. I think there are a lot of changes and different choices that were made in general after her illness, and so expecting fantasy marketing strategies from 2 or 3 years ago to make sense now is probably not realistic. Only time will tell, but I imagine Madonna has had enough of looking back for a moment or ten.

This was real. I loved seeing Madonna get messy in sweat! I think there were a few missed opportunities with choices of wide shots vs close-ups, but they captured the show well! It was a monumental achievement considering where Madonna was at just ten months ago, and she has re-cemented her status as the global icon she deserves to be seen as. I can’t believe it’s all over! The Celebration Tour era started almost a year and a half ago, and once again I will see this as a very particular time in life. I hope you all feel this in your own special way! How lucky we are to be able to look back on our lives always having Madonna as a reference point. She’s quite extraordinary. This feels bittersweet! I will miss the frenzy of posts that the tour inspired. Who knows what’s next or when it will transpire, but it’s been a blast! 💛

N + D had friends and family tickets. I think most of the major players in M’s career are extended that offer. In M’s case, you pay face value and get prime seating. If she personally invites someone I imagine it’s free! 😂

My post was not to compare Madonna based upon who she might want to be compared to or who a part of her fanbase thinks she should be emulating, but to refocus or shift the narrative to comparing her with artists who are actually still producing new music, who still garner attention, and who have been around as long as her and are therefore her contemporaries whether she sees it that way or not. In my opinion it makes no sense to compare her to deceased artists who subsequently haven’t created anything in over a decade and who didn’t have a particularly interesting latter part of their careers anyway. Pet Shop Boys fit this description perfectly (in my opinion), and it is only personal opinion that dictates that someone else might think that their last four albums were all pandering to their audience. I think that’s absolutely untrue, and they are not acting like or perceived as legacy acts in my opinion and experience. They are also highly cultivated, intelligent people, and I prefer to think of Madonna as such, and I personally wouldn’t say that of any of the current crop of pop stars mentioned. As for Madame X, I didn’t denigrate it. In fact, I wrote an entire review of it that can still be read in the Madame X section, and it was very detailed and complimentary. That said, I certainly don’t count it among my preferred Madonna albums as it is a bit dreary and bloated with hindsight. I wouldn’t want it to be her last pop album. It feels like something is still missing. I feel she has a late period pop masterpiece in her, and I think I’ll be proven right! She’s Madonna, after all.

I think it makes more sense to compare Madonna to her contemporaries who are still recording instead of trying to figure out how she could compete with Taylor Swift, who is in her second imperial phase (I’d question if she has quite the cross-cultural appeal we are led to believe - she benefited from being celebrated in country and successfully crossed over to pop, but she probably doesn’t register in any other genre from what I’ve observed, and she really doesn’t have a hugely memorable back catalog - As Neil Tennant recently asked, “What’s her Billie Jean?”. When the journalist retorted “Shake It Off”, his response was a simple “but is it?”). Pet Shop Boys have released four albums since 2013, have a very loyal fanbase, and the media in the UK always give them a lot of attention when they release anything new. They seem to love making music, and they still follow traditional promotional strategy successfully. They don’t sell anything close to what they did 30 years ago, but they are beloved. No one writes them off as a failed legacy act. If Madonna wants to continue being a pop star/artist, she can do similarly and still guarantee at least double the interest and sales that they garner. That’s still winning, but it seems the only person who isn’t onboard with this path is Madonna herself! I hope she gives us at least one more season of pop to add to her illustrious career. As the most fascinating popular artist remaining, it would be hard to imagine her going out on Madame X.

Perhaps, but I expressed it with far more effective and exploratory language. Take note.

I think this is all absurd. Madonna is still very relevant in 2024. How many billions of people are there on the planet? How many have Madonna’s stature, level of recognizability, visibility, accomplishment, and influence? Even if you are looking at it from a point of view of commercialism, she is on the verge of finishing a sold out 81-date tour of Europe, America, Mexico and Brazil. She’s about to perform for the largest audience of her entire career, an event that will garner more press than nearly any other artist’s single concert would. When she was near death last year it made the news globally. Everything Madonna does gets attention. She has influenced practically every popular artist, visual and musical, out there. Her name comes up all the time. The right wing conservatives and MAGAs always have something to say about her…That she’s a has-been or pathetic and desperate, or the devil incarnate. They’re still talking about her! Her music is ubiquitous. She is the 80th most streamed artist in the world on Spotify, 40 years into her recording career. Madonna IS RELEVANT. She just isn’t a contemporary phenomenon any longer. She isn’t young. She’s not interested in participating in the modern fame game. She could literally be on the cover of any magazine of her choosing, appear on any talk show, the cover of newspapers. Everyone would kill to interview her; even Piers Morgan.

So cute! She did a little runway walk for him. She’s crushing!

I suppose it would be fair to point out that often in Mexico, Southern Europe and Latin America she does receive a particular verbal enthusiasm that American audiences are less likely to engage in; not because they are less interested, less invested or disrespectful, but because there is a fundamental cultural difference that perhaps leans towards a more measured approach. As fans in America we go all out, but the more casual audience member is less likely to show the type of reverence that was seen at last night’s show in Mexico City. I’d also say that Madonna is a uniquely global superstar in that her influence spans decades and has never really lost its intensity internationally. When she shows up overseas, people pay attention. Whether or not she has been as commercially relevant on the charts in the last decade is insignificant when she has the type of immediate recognizability of her image and her incomparable back catalog of hits. It hasn’t been celebrated by the media and the masses in America in the way that she deserves for many years, but I do believe all of that is changing. I think there’s a conscious awareness that today’s very prolific major stars of the music industry simply don’t have the type of broad spectrum connection to the zeitgeist in a way that will last with the type of endurance that music from a pre-streaming era did. Madonna is so exceptional in so many ways, and everyone kind of knows it, even if they hate on her.

*Wonder about

I love how at 65 she can convincingly recapture herself at 25 or 40 without looking absurd or caricatural.

Are you in a mood today?! You’ve posted very negative comments about Madonna’s face in Ricardo’s cover photo, and now the meh remix reaction! Sending you a warm hug from Los Angeles. 😂💛