Madonna Extreme

Single After the huge #1 success of Like A Prayer, Madonna didn't go for second best, but released Express Yourself as second single. It seemed like Madonna wanted to get back on her critics by saying everybody should 'express himself' like she does; a message she would repeat in 1994's Human Nature. While Like A Prayer caused controversy in the Catholic church, Express Yourself stirred up opinions about feminism. Whether or not the song and the video pushed feminism forward or backwards was subject of discussion. Though very popular, the song didn't reach #1 and stalled at #2 in the US (Gold; it was kept from #1 by Simply Red's 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' & Martika's 'Toy Soldiers') and in Japan, #4 in Canada and #5 in the UK and Australia. It did get to #1 on the Hot Dance / Club Play though. Video David Fincher directed what became one of Madonna's biggest video projects. With a price tag of $2 milli...

Madonna at the New York premiere of Truth or Dare, with singers and dancers  from the Blond Ambition tour, brother Christopher and Alek Keshishian, director.

MADONNA INTERVIEW : THE ADVOCATE (MAY 7 1991) In her eight-year rise from disco-pop contender to international multimedia legend, Madonna has never failed to incite fascination and controversy with one hit record, one sensational video, one mediocre movie after another. One of the first pop stars made by and for MTV, she titillated viewers with her bare belly button and her boy-toy belt buckle. She also made the word “virgin” not only speakable but unavoidable in teen-girl parlance. She challenged feminists by putting the choice back in pro-choice with her song about teenage motherhood, “Papa Don’t Preach” — and then in concert used the song to chide the Pope for opposing birth control. Her “Like a Prayer” video, in which she seduces a black saint and ends up with dripping stigmata, scared Pepsi into canceling the commercial it had paid her $5 million to do. She endured a stormy, highly publicized marriage to and divorce from photophobic actor Sean Penn. Then her public es...