Loki

Come to terms with her legacy? In case you haven't noticed, she's putting together her biopic. So she's revisiting her past in her own way, at her own pace and in the way she wants to do it. 
Moreover, I think she's actually been flirting with her legacy for a while, just not in a very obvious way (which is her right too). She often likes to reuse her old lyrics (like "Vogue" on "Holy Water", or even "Don't Tell Me" in "Future"), posts old photos on her IG, and I'm pretty sure Madame X is the closest she's been to embracing her own body of work. In fact, I remember she mentioned how she became her own muse while working on the album. Madame X was sort of a homage to her younger self, to her struggles in NYC pre-fame, and to the creative re-inventions throughout her career. 
Also, remember that Prince released very uncommercial and unconventional albums for many years, and also enjoyed the creative freedom and eccentricity that came along with them. Likewise, Geogre Michael always took a LONG time in between albums, and you didn't see anyone denying/doubting his standing in music. There is this strange expectation for women to keep up and to constantly demonstrate that they are at the top, that they are relevant. At this point even us, Madonna's hardcore fans, shouldn't even be questioning or worrying about her status in music history, or her relevance at all. She is actually a rarity in the music industry in terms of CREATIVE longevity. Cher has been around for ages but look at how many studio albums she released in the 2000s and 2010s. Also, while she relied on repetitive tour concepts and milked her catalogue like crazy (am I the only one who noticed how similar all of her shows are?), it's clear Madonna is far more interested in making new & innovative music, and to look ahead.
My call is for us to simply enjoy the fruits of her current work while she's still willing to release new music. She's clearly slowing down, after all. Madame X gave us some of the most amazing videos of her entire career and even if the MX Tour was a f-ing nightmare for many, it was truly a bold move on her behalf —artistically and conceptually speaking. People like Bob Dylan rarely look back  and release new studio albums like crazy and no one is questioning his legacy (also, he's a man, of course! Duh!). I'm a fan of Bob too and let me tell you, his concerts can be a nightmare in terms of his "mistreatment" of his own legacy—he reworks his old songs beyond recognition, and I think most of his fans are actually okay with that. Not the case for demanding M fans. They just want their diva to be stuck in the past with the same arrangements and giving them constant nostalgia. Which makes me think, people like Cyndi Lauper (one of my all time fave live performers, by the way) or Belinda Carlisle who sing the same 3-5 songs on every tour and with very little creativity behind the arrangements. So it's really frustrating how Madonna fans dismiss or underestimate her current work while whining too much about the past. We'll really miss it when she stops recording new material. That's for sure. 
Even if the 2010s saw M moving away from the centre of the pop music world, remember she always disliked being called a pop star. She preferred it far more to be called a performance artist, and maybe during the last few years, she took the opportunity to fully explore the depths of that. Furthermore, these "underperforming" albums still gave M 2 #1 albums in the USA in the 2010s, sold out tours, press and plenty of social commentary, which I'm sure will be better understood and embraced by future generations. 
Don't despair people! Enjoy the ride, one doesn't know when it could be over. Whether or not she gets another hit single again. 
 

Oh, with this question you really opened Pandora's box. I like it. I have so many reasons, but they're mainly about my inexistent relationship with my father and how his absence shaped my vision of world. So, my parents divorced when I was two and I grew up with my mother and my grandparents. My father became immediately a ghost in my life and his absence made me think that I was the reason why he disappeared, that I was unwanted in his life. I really felt a strong sense of neglect. Plus he quickly started a legal fight against my mother to take me away from her. She chose to protect me from the outside world at all cost and I grew up in a fairy bubble, full of love and care, but I had and still have this hole in my heart. When I started the high school, my father phoned me and said that I was going to an unsuccesful person 'cause I decided to study Greek, Latin, philosophy, subjects that were good for nerd but not for who wanted to have a good job in future. This conversation broke me: I found comfort in music, poetry, philosophy. I started to hate him for all the pain he has caused to me during my life. 
Back to the topic, although I grew up with her songs, I found out that she was different from other popstars I saw on MTV when I listened to Promise to Try and Oh Father. Her lyrics described so well my strong bond, even problematic sometime, with my mother and the abusive relationship with my father: they let me see her behind the curtains  of her fame and I saw a person who survived her past to became one of the most influencing people in world. She's the living proof that your past doesn't count if you want to realize yourself. Her songs encouraged me to be hungry for life, to fall in love with it, to not be afraid of dreaming, no matter what your family is or what people say to you.

Oh, with this question you really opened Pandora's box. I like it. I have so many reasons, but they're mainly about my inexistent relationship with my father and how his absence shaped my vision of world. So, my parents divorced when I was two and I grew up with my mother and my grandparents. My father became immediately a ghost in my life and his absence made me think that I was the reason why he disappeared, that I was unwanted in his life. I really felt a strong sense of neglect. Plus he quickly started a legal fight against my mother to take me away from her. She chose to protect me from the outside world at all cost and I grew up in a fairy bubble, full of love and care, but I had and still have this hole in my heart. When I started the high school, my father phoned me and said that I was going to an unsuccesful person 'cause I decided to study Greek, Latin, philosophy, subjects that were good for nerd but not for who wanted to have a good job in future. This conversation broke me: I found comfort in music, poetry, philosophy. I started to hate him for all the pain he has caused to me during my life. 
Back to the topic, although I grew up with her songs, I found out that she was different from other popstars I saw on MTV when I listened to Promise to Try and Oh Father. Her lyrics described so well my strong bond, even problematic sometime, with my mother and the abusive relationship with my father: they let me see her behind the curtains  of her fame and I saw a person who survived her past to became one of the most influencing people in world. She's the living proof that your past doesn't count if you want to realize yourself. Her songs encouraged me to be hungry for life, to fall in love with it, to not be afraid of dreaming, no matter what your family is or what people say to you.

Her reinventions, that's what drew me the most and kept me as a fan. I've always loved different versions of the same thing (weird mania I have, don't ask why), and in 2021 she STILL is the only artist to have successfully reinvented yourself to the point of creating different personas (Dita, Madame X, etc).

It's like every era had a concept, a theme, an aesthetic - and I'm a sucker for that. She did it soooo much better than any other artist. Some other artists have tried (Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, etc) but they feel a bit forced sometimes, whereas with Madonna it was very natural.

This is interesting. From my point of view, our relationship with the Hollywood world has changed for the worst: singers, actors and actresses are required to be pretty, cute, impeccable and with no strange ideas in their heads and obviously they must be our clowns, who are demanded to please everyone, without disctintion, even if this means they have to hide themselves. Social media gave us the illusion we can influence other lives, we can control the life of celebrities, because, as I wrote above, they are expected to be exactly what we want them to be. This is a form of slavery. Another thing is that we live in a world where everything must be perfect, no one is allowed to make mistakes or people will be ready to judge you and drag you, with no esitation, ferociously. I mean, we can disagree with what we see or listen to, but I've never seen this amount of toxicity about someone or something. It's clear that our society needs a scapegoat where we should be allowed to focus all our frustration on, but today it's too much. The "victim" of this toxic system won't escape this game unless she/he chooses to disappear from the scene (that's why I hate legacies acts, they're the most evident example of the moment when an artist decides to interrupt the game and resigne his/herself to the fate the society has reserved to his/her). This is a form of torture. I could enumerate lots of performances from current starlets that aren't worth the half of what her performances are worth, but people, since 1982, will still focus their fears, their anger on her and other ones. That's the game. But hey, younger generations are better than her: I'll never understand how people can find interesting current mainstream artists, they're the pale copies of who are actually derided because they're too old to offer something meaningful to this silly planet. I don't mean I don't like actual songs, but we can't pretend we have the new MJ or the new Madonna or the new Prince, they're on a league of their own. All this pamphlet didn't mean I like everything she did through her career, but it's a resigned observation of how we approach to other people.
P.S Form me her most cheesy moment is her Confessions era: you can't release Confessions on a Dancefloor after American Life, it's a crime. But, you know, you're only a clown in your fans' hands. After she gave the general public what they wanted form her, suddenly she was in the way and people turned their back to her, no matter what she has done in the last 15 years.
P.P.S I preferred when social networks didn't exist, when you could see you favorite artist only on the cover of a magazine and you could read their thoughts and inner feelings only in detailed interviews.

New year, new album rumors...? Actually I can't see the purpose of a new album: is it the soundtrack for the movie? Is it for regaining love and attention from the general public? Is it just another piece for the catalog? If the second hypothesis is true, I bet it will look like Something to Remember, maybe not for the sound, so '90s, but for the atmosphere, refined and soft. Oh, I'd die for it. If it is just a new album, with no particular aims besides expressing her ideas, there would be so many possibilities, rock, folk, disco, trip hop...she would be spoilt for choice. For my tastes, I hope she'll avoid disco-dance, in order to escape the Confessions curse and comparisons between the albums. It would be intriguing and fascinating a new collaboration with Massive Attack, but I don't know whether they'd accept the offer or they will continue to reject it.
Above all, at this point of her career, I truly hope she'll choose quality over quantity: today's sales are jokes and it's more important to get critical acclaim.
My final 2 cents: Massive Attack and Orbit for production and Rick Nowels/Patrick Leonard for songwriting; trip hop-jungle music. 

This is interesting. From my point of view, our relationship with the Hollywood world has changed for the worst: singers, actors and actresses are required to be pretty, cute, impeccable and with no strange ideas in their heads and obviously they must be our clowns, who are demanded to please everyone, without disctintion, even if this means they have to hide themselves. Social media gave us the illusion we can influence other lives, we can control the life of celebrities, because, as I wrote above, they are expected to be exactly what we want them to be. This is a form of slavery. Another thing is that we live in a world where everything must be perfect, no one is allowed to make mistakes or people will be ready to judge you and drag you, with no esitation, ferociously. I mean, we can disagree with what we see or listen to, but I've never seen this amount of toxicity about someone or something. It's clear that our society needs a scapegoat where we should be allowed to focus all our frustration on, but today it's too much. The "victim" of this toxic system won't escape this game unless she/he chooses to disappear from the scene (that's why I hate legacies acts, they're the most evident example of the moment when an artist decides to interrupt the game and resigne his/herself to the fate the society has reserved to his/her). This is a form of torture. I could enumerate lots of performances from current starlets that aren't worth the half of what her performances are worth, but people, since 1982, will still focus their fears, their anger on her and other ones. That's the game. But hey, younger generations are better than her: I'll never understand how people can find interesting current mainstream artists, they're the pale copies of who are actually derided because they're too old to offer something meaningful to this silly planet. I don't mean I don't like actual songs, but we can't pretend we have the new MJ or the new Madonna or the new Prince, they're on a league of their own. All this pamphlet didn't mean I like everything she did through her career, but it's a resigned observation of how we approach to other people.
P.S Form me her most cheesy moment is her Confessions era: you can't release Confessions on a Dancefloor after American Life, it's a crime. But, you know, you're only a clown in your fans' hands. After she gave the general public what they wanted form her, suddenly she was in the way and people turned their back to her, no matter what she has done in the last 15 years.
P.P.S I preferred when social networks didn't exist, when you could see you favorite artist only on the cover of a magazine and you could read their thoughts and inner feelings only in detailed interviews.

This is interesting. From my point of view, our relationship with the Hollywood world has changed for the worst: singers, actors and actresses are required to be pretty, cute, impeccable and with no strange ideas in their heads and obviously they must be our clowns, who are demanded to please everyone, without disctintion, even if this means they have to hide themselves. Social media gave us the illusion we can influence other lives, we can control the life of celebrities, because, as I wrote above, they are expected to be exactly what we want them to be. This is a form of slavery. Another thing is that we live in a world where everything must be perfect, no one is allowed to make mistakes or people will be ready to judge you and drag you, with no esitation, ferociously. I mean, we can disagree with what we see or listen to, but I've never seen this amount of toxicity about someone or something. It's clear that our society needs a scapegoat where we should be allowed to focus all our frustration on, but today it's too much. The "victim" of this toxic system won't escape this game unless she/he chooses to disappear from the scene (that's why I hate legacies acts, they're the most evident example of the moment when an artist decides to interrupt the game and resigne his/herself to the fate the society has reserved to his/her). This is a form of torture. I could enumerate lots of performances from current starlets that aren't worth the half of what her performances are worth, but people, since 1982, will still focus their fears, their anger on her and other ones. That's the game. But hey, younger generations are better than her: I'll never understand how people can find interesting current mainstream artists, they're the pale copies of who are actually derided because they're too old to offer something meaningful to this silly planet. I don't mean I don't like actual songs, but we can't pretend we have the new MJ or the new Madonna or the new Prince, they're on a league of their own. All this pamphlet didn't mean I like everything she did through her career, but it's a resigned observation of how we approach to other people.
P.S Form me her most cheesy moment is her Confessions era: you can't release Confessions on a Dancefloor after American Life, it's a crime. But, you know, you're only a clown in your fans' hands. After she gave the general public what they wanted form her, suddenly she was in the way and people turned their back to her, no matter what she has done in the last 15 years.
P.P.S I preferred when social networks didn't exist, when you could see you favorite artist only on the cover of a magazine and you could read their thoughts and inner feelings only in detailed interviews.

This is interesting. From my point of view, our relationship with the Hollywood world has changed for the worst: singers, actors and actresses are required to be pretty, cute, impeccable and with no strange ideas in their heads and obviously they must be our clowns, who are demanded to please everyone, without disctintion, even if this means they have to hide themselves. Social media gave us the illusion we can influence other lives, we can control the life of celebrities, because, as I wrote above, they are expected to be exactly what we want them to be. This is a form of slavery. Another thing is that we live in a world where everything must be perfect, no one is allowed to make mistakes or people will be ready to judge you and drag you, with no esitation, ferociously. I mean, we can disagree with what we see or listen to, but I've never seen this amount of toxicity about someone or something. It's clear that our society needs a scapegoat where we should be allowed to focus all our frustration on, but today it's too much. The "victim" of this toxic system won't escape this game unless she/he chooses to disappear from the scene (that's why I hate legacies acts, they're the most evident example of the moment when an artist decides to interrupt the game and resigne his/herself to the fate the society has reserved to his/her). This is a form of torture. I could enumerate lots of performances from current starlets that aren't worth the half of what her performances are worth, but people, since 1982, will still focus their fears, their anger on her and other ones. That's the game. But hey, younger generations are better than her: I'll never understand how people can find interesting current mainstream artists, they're the pale copies of who are actually derided because they're too old to offer something meaningful to this silly planet. I don't mean I don't like actual songs, but we can't pretend we have the new MJ or the new Madonna or the new Prince, they're on a league of their own. All this pamphlet didn't mean I like everything she did through her career, but it's a resigned observation of how we approach to other people.
P.S Form me her most cheesy moment is her Confessions era: you can't release Confessions on a Dancefloor after American Life, it's a crime. But, you know, you're only a clown in your fans' hands. After she gave the general public what they wanted form her, suddenly she was in the way and people turned their back to her, no matter what she has done in the last 15 years.
P.P.S I preferred when social networks didn't exist, when you could see you favorite artist only on the cover of a magazine and you could read their thoughts and inner feelings only in detailed interviews.

No.

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

The infamous relationship between the Gen Z and the old '80s stars...My nightmare. I'm a member of the generation that Don McLean could describe as a generation lost in space/with no time left to start again, the small generation of people who were born in 1998-1999, often forgotten by society. I mean, we're different from people who were born in the '90s, but we're also different from who was born in the '00s: we're eternally hanging between the past and the present, between Madonna and Britney Spears, it's not an easy life ?. But what's interesting about us is that lots of us are fans of old rock band and old popstars (one of my best friends was an avid fan of Kiss and Led Zeppelin, since we still were at the elementary school, around 2005-2006, several of my classmates at the high school are fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers), mainly because we grew up listening to the radio and our parents' CDs. When I was 6, in 2005, every single time my uncle turned the radio on, it played only Hung Up or Like a Virgin (I'm not kidding) and I always shot questions at my mother about the singer: I was a little fan of her although I wasn't aware of it. Internet gave us the big opportunity to improve our knowledge about music and I remember that the first times I used YouTube I liked watching old performances of Beatles, ABBA, Madonna and so on. Lots of my classmates instead became interested in current music. What I want to say is that we, as a generation, have been deeply influenced by our parents' tastes about music: when she was a young lady, my mother listened to Paul Young, Enya, Madonna (at least up to 1989), Tracy Chapman and I absorbed all of these things from her. It's obvious that all of us, when we grew up, decided to go into what was more interesting for us: lots of people chose current music, other people, like me, decided to go into the '80s-'90s, but we all have the same musical background, mainly '60s-'90s, and we're not afraid to show the world we like old but gold music. Lots of members of younger generations are instead frightened to seem to be out of fashion if they listen to old good music: they think they are required to be always on the cut of the edge and this problematic aspect affects their music tastes: they don't listen to old music not because they don't like it, simply because they label it as old and for them being old is not admissible (when I was attending my final year at the high school, at the bus stop lots of kids, around 14-15 years old, looked at me as if I was an ancient member of the society). I'm very scared by this situation and confused.
But, there is good news. One of my dearest friends last year told me that for her exam about ethnomusicology at the university she had to study a whole book about our beloved singer, a book where her videos, her songs were analyzed and dissected, along with her social impact. Then she said me that one of the question of the exam was about the Justify My Love video: I can assure you that when she mentioned that video all the other girls that were with us at the gym started to scream because they knew the song (they're around my age, 20-22). Her impact is not in doubt, her name is already written on the pages of the history of music, nothing will erase it. The coming years will clarify her status as a benchmark and pioneer, not just in music but also in social issues, and they will help us to understand the significance of her works in these troubled years. You're not a legend if you can't catch younger fans with your older songs. That's what she did with me and I'll be forever grateful to be able to share this crazy trip we call life with her music. 

I wouldn't dislike rock, maybe something soft and refined like Dire Straits. Their songs are marvelous, so classy, and their style fits her voice and her songwriting. But I don't know, this move could be very smart, because it would means music of high quality, on the other hand it wouldn't represent the spirit of the time and her album could be totally disconnected from the reality, where everything which is not rap (of the worst quality) or trap seems to have been demolished by them. Sadly, we are no more in the '90, when the stage was dominated by myths and giants and every year you could listen to a different music genre. Today we look at those times with nostalgia for who lived them, with a bit of jealousy, sadness and the sense of a paradise lost for who, just like me, regrets not having lived that wonderful golden Era. I really hope she'll have the courage to accept she belongs to a different time, way better than the actual one, and restart to express herself, 'cause she's always lived in a league of her own, surrounded by phenomenal peers who retired or we lost through these terrible years. 
 

The development of the epidemic in Africa is quite interesting. I'll try to show what I found and what I studied, but please, remember I'm not a physician yet but I'm studying hard to become a medical examiner. Well, since the beginning of the pandemic, WHO has reported every confirmed case that occurred all around the world and what is surprising is that Africa didn't show so many cases, despite the high density of population. We can try to explain this bizarre situation observing two aspects: firstly, excepting South Africa and North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco), the poorest countries in Africa are generally isolated from the occidental world and the only contacts they have with Europe and USA are mainly due to humanitarian reasons. Secondly, despite of high density rates, people generally live in small villages, far away from capitals and main cities, which are overpopulated. So, it's clear that these aspects brought countries like Malawi, Tanzania, Ciad and others to not have a great amount of cases, mainly because they don't have frequent contacts with people from other countries, except for health workers who work for humanitarian associations, then people live far away from each other, so little epidemic outbreaks, which can occur in small and isolated villages, can be controlled more easily than in other countries, like the European ones. Sadly, we have to consider that these countries don't have and efficient health system, so maybe we lack of facts and figures. 
I remember that in one of my last courses I attended at the University before the lock down my professor of epidemiology described the pandemic of Ebola which outbroke in 2014: this virus is very aggressive, lethal and contagious, but, surprisingly, the epidemic was hold back because people who were infected lived in small villages in Congo, where no one wants to go to. The isolation of these places didn't let the virus find other guests to infect, so it died after the death of all who have been infected. This situation is quite similar to the actual one.
I'm very sad that the scientific community didn't manage to give coherent guidelines and correct information. No one could know in advance about this virus.

For who is interested, I've found an article which explains what caused her injury: as I supposed, it's osteoarthritis, but please remember this problem is not merely age related. It's caused primarily by mechanical and traumatic stress to the joints and it's quite common in sports: I remember that former N.1 in tennis, Andy Murray, suffered the same injury when the was 30, so I wasn't surprised she had it, 'cause she's pushed her body to the limits and beyond since she was very young.
https://onewelbeck.com/orthopaedics/uncategorised/a-closer-look-at-madonnas-hip-surgery/
Hope you enjoy it and have a great new year.

Don't worry! A few days after I joined this forum I was assaulted because I said that I was happy because the RHT setlist was full of Eighties songs. I was called old and stupid. I thought about leaving. Glad I didn't. You get used to it  
You will always find someone who says Spanish Lesson is one of Madonna's best songs and you will have to learn to control your reaction    I see it as an educational process, to learn to appreciate each other's different tastes  

I've always thought the only controversial topic in the Madonna community was her plastic procedures, i had no clue mentionning Dire Straits was even worse

Because taste and objectivity are two different things. Dire Straits isn't a band I personally enjoy listening to, but saying "it's the worst band ever" is as dumb as saying "Britney Spears is the best vocalist ever". She might be one's favorite, and Dire Straits may be the band you dislike the most - that doesn't make make them  "The Best" or "The worst" ever. These guys are incredible musicians, they've influenced rock history, sold tens of millions of records. Sorry mate, Dire Straits is legit. This isn't some Romanian boys band. Not my taste, but in no way "the worst ever".
As for the ridiculous controversy over the F word used in MFN, it's basically - to quote/paraphrase Madonna, "Martin Scorsese being accused of promoting violence just because he creates a story with a violent character in it". Read the lyrics of the song, put it in context, and see how stupid it is to accuse it of being homophobic. Or maybe you also want to censor Patti Smith for "Rock'n'roll Nigger", or maybe you also consider Madonna encouraging rape because of the quote at the end of the JML video?   CONTEXT is everything.

I wouldn't dislike rock, maybe something soft and refined like Dire Straits. Their songs are marvelous, so classy, and their style fits her voice and her songwriting. But I don't know, this move could be very smart, because it would means music of high quality, on the other hand it wouldn't represent the spirit of the time and her album could be totally disconnected from the reality, where everything which is not rap (of the worst quality) or trap seems to have been demolished by them. Sadly, we are no more in the '90, when the stage was dominated by myths and giants and every year you could listen to a different music genre. Today we look at those times with nostalgia for who lived them, with a bit of jealousy, sadness and the sense of a paradise lost for who, just like me, regrets not having lived that wonderful golden Era. I really hope she'll have the courage to accept she belongs to a different time, way better than the actual one, and restart to express herself, 'cause she's always lived in a league of her own, surrounded by phenomenal peers who retired or we lost through these terrible years. 
 

I wouldn't dislike rock, maybe something soft and refined like Dire Straits. Their songs are marvelous, so classy, and their style fits her voice and her songwriting. But I don't know, this move could be very smart, because it would means music of high quality, on the other hand it wouldn't represent the spirit of the time and her album could be totally disconnected from the reality, where everything which is not rap (of the worst quality) or trap seems to have been demolished by them. Sadly, we are no more in the '90, when the stage was dominated by myths and giants and every year you could listen to a different music genre. Today we look at those times with nostalgia for who lived them, with a bit of jealousy, sadness and the sense of a paradise lost for who, just like me, regrets not having lived that wonderful golden Era. I really hope she'll have the courage to accept she belongs to a different time, way better than the actual one, and restart to express herself, 'cause she's always lived in a league of her own, surrounded by phenomenal peers who retired or we lost through these terrible years.