Madonna has topped the Forbes list for Top Earning Musicians, also claiming #28 on their list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

 

Her net is worth $520m and this was Forbes' summary for Madonna:

 

One of the top pop divas of all time. Her tours have grossed an estimated $1.2 billion over the years, including $305 million from her 2012 MDNA tour. That helped her earn an estimated $125 million during the ensuing 12-month period during which FORBES calculated celebrity earnings, more than any other musician. Look for another bump when she goes on the road with her latest album, Rebel Heart, in August.

Caught this on my Facebook - Channing Tatum voguing. :lol: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/0...cing-gifs-vogue

 

http://photos.vanityfair.com/2015/07/01/5593eb39fa1d030e0ac6a51f_ct-vogue.gif

A dancing potato <3

Madonna getting played twice today on Radio 1. *.* All thanks to "Chart Day".

THUMP2 have compiled a list of the Greatest Dance Albums of All Time and Madonna features twice:

 

26. Madonna: Madonna [sire] 1983

All the groundbreaking, world-changing, genre-defining, imitator-inspiring aside, Madonna’s first album is just really f***ing fun to dance to. From “Lucky Star” all the way through to “Everybody,” the stream of bright, sexy, and unfussy pop doesn’t falter once. Madonna provided the New York City dance scene a much needed post-disco palate cleanser and drew the blueprint for future dance pop.

 

3. Madonna: Confessions on a Dance Floor [Maverick] 2005

Long after many started saying “I only like her old stuff,” the Queen of Pop dropped this start-to-finish perfect album of disco-inspired club cuts, each track mixed—a rarity for non-compilations. While a pop star’s club throne is never guaranteed forever, Madonna has more claims to the top spot than most and Confessions proves why. This is the album all her subsequent albums is compared to; for its enduring relevance and how it redefined Madonna as an artist, it should be.

Confessions was beaten by Daft Punk's Discovery and Carl Craig's Landcruising. See the whole list here: https://thump2.vice.com/en_us/article/the-9...ums-of-all-time

Found this on DrownedMadonna.com and its worth a read I find!

 

Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ still shines quite bright

Chris Shields, clshields@stcloudtimes.com

5 p.m. CDT July 29, 2015

 

“Ray of Light” was an album that seemed to change things, from music to fashion to pursuits of enlightenment and religious understanding. And it didn’t sacrifice the joys of life in the process.

 

In 1998, there was a lot of music out that I just didn’t care about. Britney Spears, Sugar Ray and boy bands — it just didn’t resonate with me.

 

Out of the blue came something I didn’t expect: An important, career-defining work from Madonna.

 

As a teen male, my Madonna fandom was more rooted in her looks and her antics than in her music. I liked a handful of songs a lot, but I dismissed her as a dancer who got lucky with the right songs at the right time.

 

I’m pleased to say that I outgrew that outlook long ago.

 

But in 1998, I generally saw Madonna as a person who made headlines for who she was dating or what she was (or wasn’t) wearing.

 

So I was totally unprepared for the brilliance that was “Ray of Light.”

 

I was working at a store that sold books and music at the time of the album’s release. I remember that I was working at the front register area, rewinding some VHS tapes (wow, THAT takes me back ... there were a lot of unkind folks who didn’t rewind, so our multiple rewinding decks were busy a lot of the time) when this new, different, fresh, vibrant music started playing on the store PA system.

 

It started with strange sounds. Is that the wind? Or am I in space? A voice comes in, and then there’s this processed club-friendly sound, but with guitars and a kind of orchestral build in sound. It had a dance beat, but wasn’t exactly light or poppy. It sounded upbeat and yet introspective. You could dance to it or meditate to it. What was it? I had no idea. But I liked it. Electronica was no longer a dirty word.

 

I asked the other people I was working with, “Do you know what this is? Who this is?” They shrugged, no idea.

 

Then the manager came up to check on something and I asked him, “What is this music?” I think he thought I was going to complain, because he responded rather defensively, “It’s the new Madonna, and I’m not gonna shut it off.”

 

That was fine with me.

 

When my shift was over, I walked over to the new release racks and saw the CD. Light blue background. Felt kind of summery. And Madonna looked different. She wasn’t trying to seduce or look rebellious. She looked ... mysterious. Different. That look suited the music. She’d redefined her sound and her image yet again, and boy was it engaging.

 

I bought a copy, on the spot. And I probably listened to it at least three or four times that night.

 

Here’s the thing: My feelings on it changed, listen to listen. I’d go from thinking, “Wow, this is spiritual” to then thinking, “Wow, she just doesn’t seem to have anything to say, so she’s just throwing something together.” Then I’d be back to, “This is such a creative, rewarding experience” and then I’d think, “It feels so plastic, it feels too electronic, it feels forced.”

 

When each listen can provoke a different — sometimes competitive — interpretation, I find that means the album is worthwhile. Why? Because it is provoking thought and feeling. It’s making you assess not only the music and your feelings about it, but also how you think an artist should perform or sound or write. “Frozen” didn’t have to be another “Secret” or “Take a Bow.” “Nothing Really Matters” didn’t have to be a “Like a Prayer,” and “The Power of Good-Bye” didn’t have to be “This Used to Be My Playground.” (Insert your own favorites, the point still stands.)

 

Once I made peace with the fact that Madonna is an artist, that she has the same rights as every other artist, that she follows her muse, that she redefines herself project to project, that she is free to adopt and discard styles as she saw fit, I was able to put aside my sexist and one-dimensional judgments and embrace the music.

 

It’s kind of sad that I had to do that. I didn’t have to do that for other (male) artists. I never got hung up on the changes between the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” for example. I recognized then, at that early age, that male musicians were able to get away with things that female musicians couldn’t. But I digress.

 

“Ray of Light” was one of those albums that seemed to change things. I started seeing people wearing hand and arm jewelry that I hadn’t seen before. I started seeing more clothing that was gauzier, more flowing. It reminded me in ways of Flower Power outfits from 1967, 1968. There was more mysticism. There was talk of Kabbalah. Music and fashion and art seemed — at least for a short while — to involve more spirituality and understanding and consideration. Art seemed more worldly, somehow.

 

But what of the music, Shields? What about the songs?

 

The songs showed off Madonna’s abilities as a songwriter, from the music to the lyrics. The album has this atmosphere to it, whether the songs are dance pieces or ballads or hymns (yes, I use the word hymns ... the spiritual side of the music is very real, the pursuit of enlightenment and the divine is at the forefront), it’s mature and intimate, while also very fleshed out and ornate.

 

It’s an album of discovery. At a time when Madonna had been lauded or criticized for her sexuality, her fashion, her behavior, she redefined herself. She was a first-time mother at this point (daughter Lourdes born in 1996), and one gets a sense that Madonna was at a crossroads and trying to determine what she wanted to be, what she needed to be, what kind of world she wanted to interact with and raise her children in. Facing those questions surely led to the more spiritual, introspective material of the “Ray of Light” album.

 

“Ray of Light” showed that Madonna chose art AND entertainment, comedy AND tragedy, sex AND spirituality. She chose the fullness of life, and wove together an audio tapestry that excels at conjuring emotions and images that can be unsettling and comforting, sometimes right after another.

 

It’s a brilliant album. It’s still fresh, and that says something. Even if you don’t like Madonna, I implore you to check out the album. If you like serious music, you’ll find it here. If you just want to be able to dance, you can do that with this music. If you like putting on headphones and zoning out, this music can be your soundtrack.

 

The album offers a little something for everyone. That is its strength. It’s a mature album that recognizes all of life’s paths and celebrates them all.

 

That, in turn, deserves to be celebrated.

Rocco turns 15 today. I'm 18 on Sunday and he looks older than I do. :P

Immaculate Collection back in iTunes chart at 125 , reduced to £4.99

Adele reveals to Rolling Stone mag that Ray of Light inspired her for 25:

 

The direct sonic influence is hard to find, but one of the chief inspirations for 25 was Madonna's Ray of Light. "You know what I found so amazing about that record?" Adele says. "That's the record Madonna wrote after having her first child, and for me, it's her best. I was so all over the place after having a child, just because my chemicals were just hitting the f***ing roof and shit like that." She felt detached from her artistic self. "I was just drifting away, and I couldn't find that many examples for myself where I was like, 'f***, they truly came back to themselves,' until someone was like, 'Well, obviously, Ray of Light.'" Adele listened to it over and over, and was particularly captivated by "Frozen." "I took that song as 'I've gotten my confidence to come and do me again.' "

(Source: Rolling Stone)

That's made me even more excited for '25'! To have the biggest artist on the planet right now citing 'Ray of Light' as such a powerful inspiration just shows how substantial that album was. It's my earliest memories of Madonna - seeing the 'Frozen' and 'Ray of Light' videos on the TV at my cousin's house and having the songs stuck in my head long after that. The album still inspiring to this day :wub:

'Hung Up' was played on the start of the X Factor last night :wub: To introduce the "reinventions" theme they played 'Gimme Gimme Gimme (AMAM)' and then merged it into 'Hung Up'. Fangirling~

x factor used a lot of her ideas last night !!!

 

1. the tube from music (sticky and sweet tour)

2. the drowned world tree and geisha theme (drowned world tour)

3. The ukulele sing along (rebel heart tour)

It's not like she invented all of those things.

Did she not ? Lol

 

It's not a coincidence IMO , was a clear inspiration

Yes, whenever I see somone play the ukulele I think of Madonna.

Me too

Merry Christmas Madge forum regulars :wub:

 

'Like A Prayer' was used as a very subtle/quiet soundbed at the end of Eastenders tonight :wub:

'Like A Prayer' was used as a very subtle/quiet soundbed at the end of Eastenders tonight :wub:

Eastenders are getting really good at choosing the right song to capture and enhance whatever mood is being portrayed! They've done this several times now and it works so well each time.

Madge rocked out to 'Rebel Rebel' on tour in tribute to Bowie: