Bare bum cheeks, taped-up nipples, leather... when it comes to Madonna, we’ve seen it all before. So when the singer arrived at the Met Gala, this week, wearing scraps of lace and PVC patched together to make a gown - one with her bum and boobs on show - I barely batted an eyelid.
Her outfit looked like it was designed to shock and be as revolutionary as her conical bra in the 80s. But to my Millennial eyes, it all just looked tired and, dare I say it, unfashionable. Compared to red carpet pros Alexa Chung and Lea Seydoux, Madonna looked like a hippie mum gone mad .
The critics agreed. Headlines called it a “fashion fail,” while commentators said she was “truly undignified”, “utterly classless” and plain “desperate.”
But Madonna has had the last word. In an Instagram post that can only be described as a massive ‘f*** you’, she explained that her dress was “a political statement as well as a fashion statement.”
“When it comes to women’s rights, we are still in the dark ages,” she wrote. “The fact that people actually believe a woman is not allowed to express her sexuality and be adventurous past a certain age is proof that we still live in an age-ist and sexist society.
“I have never thought in a limited way and I’m not going to start.”
In other words – all the haters sitting at home and wondering why she couldn’t just put on a structured Balmain gown and look chic - are ‘limited’. While Madonna most certainly is not.
If that wasn’t painful enough to hear from the original Queen of Pop, she continued to spell it out: “If you have a problem with the way I dress, it is simply a reflection of your prejudice.”
I’ve officially been schooled by Madonna.
Because she’s right. As much as we critics pretended we were against her outfit - rather than the woman inside it - it’s not the truth. If Madonna had worn the exact same garb in the 80s, when she was in her early 20s, would we have been so judgmental?
It hurts to admit it, but if Madonna had worn her lace get-up in a scene from Desperately Seeking Susan, I'd probably have thought it was an admirable statement, and wished I were her (as much I do during every other scene in that film).
But because she was wearing it a few decades on, I found it embarrassing. I'm guilty of the very ageism and sexism that Madonna describes.
Of course, I am not the only one. As a society we’ve created a world where people over the age of 40 are only ‘cool’ if they fit certain models. Nonagenarian Iris Apfel rocks because she has amazing fashion sense and statement glasses; Mary Beard has her #greyhairdontcare; Mary Berry wears bomber jackets.
Yet when an older woman makes a choice we don’t understand, like Madonna’s matador outfit and this recent bum-flashing number, we react with disgust so strong that they feel the need to call us out.
Sarah Jessica Parker schools a fan
Sarah Jessica Parker did the same thing. After her Met ball outfit was slammed this week, she replied to a critic on Instagram: “Perhaps you didn’t like what I wore which is completely fine but you can’t accuse me not paying close attention and adhering to the theme [Manus x Machina].”
Both SJP and Madge have responded in the best way possible. They’ve used social media to get their voices heard and provide context for their outfits, in a thought-provoking way. They’ve changed people’s minds - including my own.
But they shouldn’t have had to.
We, the public, shouldn't have judged them so harshly based on their appearances alone. We’ve started to recognise that when an actress is on the red carpet we should #AskHerMore than which designer her dress is by. So why do we keep shoving women into ‘best dressed’ and ‘worst dressed’ galleries every time they walk out of the house?
As Madonna said in her post: “We cannot effect change unless we are willing to take risks, by being fearless and by taking the road less travelled by. That’s how we change history.”
AFTER wrapping up her Rebel Heart Tour earlier this week, figures have confirmed that Madonna still holds the record as the highest-grossing solo touring artist, taking in a total of $1.31 billion reports Billboard.
According to Billboard's Boxscore figures, which go back to 1990, the star's recent Rebel Heart Tour earned $170 million and sold more than 1 million tickets, earning her the title of the highest-grossing solo touring artist in Billboard Boxscore history, a position she had lost to Bruce Springsteen between 2012 and 2014.
Overall, the singer now ranks third on the all-time top-grossing Billboard Boxscore list, behind only the Rolling Stones ($1.84 billion) and U2 ($1.67 billion).
She is also one of only six artists who have surpassed the $1 billion mark since 1990, and is the only woman to do so, with Elton John raking in $1.05 billion and Bon Jovi $1.03 billion, all as of March 23, 2016.
Madonna became the highest-grossing female touring artist in 2004, a record she has held continuously for the past 12 years.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie's custody battle over their 15-year-old son Rocco continues. After the teenager spent time on the road with his mom, traveling for her recent Rebel Heart tour, he went to the U.K. to spend time with his father and reportedly refused to return to the U.S.
On Dec. 23, the "Living For Love" singer appeared in a New York City courtroom, where a judge ordered that Rocco return to the U.S. to sort out his living situation, the New York Daily News reported at the time.
But according to a source close to the singer, Rocco has yet to return home. Indeed, he spent Christmas and rang in the new year with Ritchie, 47, in England. Meanwhile in N.Y.C., Madonna, 57, spent Dec. 25 sharing festive photos of her other three kids – Lourdes, 19, David, 10, and Mercy, 9 – on Instagram. (She shared a throwback shot of Rocco as well, captioning it: "Merry X-mas to the Sun-shine of my Life.")
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Madonna and son Rocco Ritchie
MADONNA INSTAGRAM
"He should have been home already," says the source, who alleges that Rocco has missed some school. "Madonna is a devoted mother, and a big priority is her children's education."
As for why the teen left his mom's tour, an industry insider says he "got tired of it and wanted to be home with his dad."
For more on Madonna and Guy Ritchie's ongoing custody battle, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
Up next, Madonna and Ritchie – who finalized their contentious divorce in 2008 – are due in court Feb. 3 for a second hearing in New York.
Lawyers for Madonna and Ritchie declined to comment.
Singapore (AFP) - The Singapore leg of pop superstar Madonna's global Rebel Heart Tour has been restricted to fans aged 18 and above, the concert's local coordinator said Wednesday.
The one-night-only event on February 28, Madonna's first-ever concert in the city-state, will be held at the 55,000-seat National Stadium, entertainment firm MediaCorp Vizpro said.
"Please note that this concert is rated 'R18' with the consumer advisory on 'Sexual References'. Only those above 18 years of age will be permitted into the venue," it said on its Facebook page.
Concerts and other forms of public entertainment are classified by the Media Development Authority, which also regulates the film and broadcast industries.
The Straits Times newspaper noted that Madonna's concert tour setlist includes a segment involving dancers dressed as scantily-clad nuns pole-dancing on cross-shaped stripper poles.
Affluent Singapore, often ridiculed as a "nanny state" for its tradition of social control, has eased censorship in recent years and become an Asian entertainment hub. But the authorities say its population is still largely conservative.
Dancer Maureen Fleming was born on an American Navy base in Japan where her father was a lieutenant commander, but she has plenty of history in St. Paul. Her grandmother immigrated to St. Paul from Ireland in 1910 and her uncle was a local monsignor -- Father Francis Fleming of St. Olaf Church.
From mid-elementary school through college, Fleming went to Minnesota schools such as Our Lady of Peace High School in St. Paul and the now-defunct College of St. Teresa in Winona.
Fleming lives and works in New York where she puts on workshops at New York University and is a guest artist at the Juilliard School. The regional premiere of her new piece, "B Madonna," which Fleming calls "the best of her work," is Saturday at the O'Shaughnessy at St.
Catherine University.
Her dancing almost ended before it began. When Fleming was 2 years old, she was in a car accident that caused her to lose the disc between her fourth and fifth vertebrae. It could have paralyzed her, but it inspired her to begin dancing -- twisting and untwisting her joints to increase blood flow and flexibility.
Fleming hopes "B Madonna" is as much a spiritual journey for the audience as it is for her. The choreography focuses on aligning the body's spiritual center through a series of drawn-out movements and three-dimensional video projects designed by Christopher Odo, one of Fleming's longtime collaborators.
"I'm performing one image and the same image is reflected in front and behind me," she said.
Her work with performing images is heavily influenced by her formative years spent in Japan, specifically by "Butoh," a contemplative Japanese dance developed in postwar Japan. "(Butoh) begins with an image. Instead of lifting your arm, you would imagine that a smoke ring moves up your spine and off your arm," she said. "Each movement is connected to an image. That's how I create.""You get a sense of things happening simultaneously. It becomes like a visual theater."
Butoh is more improvisational, however, while Fleming's work revolves around making choices and then assembling them to create a theme. "I record a lot of my improvisations on video and then choose moments that look like two things are happening at the same time," she said. "For example, a moment that looks like I'm being born and dying, or a moment that looks painful and pleasant."
"B Madonna" is part of the O'Shaughnessy's 19th annual Women of Substance series, which Fleming says has always interested her.
"I like the value of the Women of Substance series that you see things from different perspectives," she said. The performance also has a companion gallery exhibition called "O Black Maddona" at Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality, 1890 Randolph Ave.
, St. Paul, running through Sunday.
Fleming's performance will feature text by David Henry Hwang and music by Philip Glass performed live by pianist Bruce Brubaker, accordionist Guy Klucevsek and Taiko drummer Kaoru Watanabe.
IF YOU GO
What: "B Madonna," a performance by Maureen Fleming
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: The O'Shaughnessy, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul.
Los Angeles: Singer Adele has revealed that Queen of Pop Madonna's 1998 album Ray of Light was a direct inspiration for her own highly-anticipated record ‘25’. Adele's new album ‘25’ is scheduled for release November 20, reported Rolling Stone.
"You know what I found so amazing about that record? 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 roof and shit like that.
"I was just drifting away, and I couldn't find that many examples for myself where I was like, 'they truly came back to themselves,' until someone was like, 'Well, obviously, Ray of Light'," Adele said. The 27-year-old singer's lead single "Hello" smashed records worldwide.
If you're a child of the '70s or '80s who grew up listening to pop music, chances are you were a fan of Prince, Madonna or Michael Jackson. These three artists dominated radio whilst pioneering the music video as an art form. They went way beyond what any other popstar before or since has achieved and all three are the reason that pop today is such a visual medium. Before this trio became a part of the public consciousness, having a great song was enough to be a star. They literally changed the rules of the pop game.
Personally, although I appreciate Prince, I wouldn't call myself a fan, and for that reason I'm just going to focus on MJ and Madge in this article. Who has the most iconic imagery? Who's tours have offered the most visual spectacle? And which of them can lay claim to the greatest music video of all time? Let's take a look back on two unparalleled careers and try to answer the question of whether Madonna or Michael Jackson is the greatest visual artist of all time.
Thriller: the beginning
Thriller might have marked the turning point for the music video as a form of promotion, but it wasn't the first of Michael's videos to make waves - that would be Billie Jean, the album's second single, which became the first music video by a black artist to get heavy rotation on MTV. That video was nothing special, but Jackson quickly followed it up with Beat It, a much bigger visual spectacle which Billboard crowned the video of the year.
But it's Thriller which truly put the music video as an art form on the map. There's nothing to be said about this epic clip which hasn't been said a million times - it's quite simply a masterpiece. The choreography in particular, which Jackson devised with Michael Peters, has spawned countless recreations over the years, and is not just synonymous with MJ but with Halloween too. The video cost half a million dollars and without it, the careers of everybody from Britney to Justin and, yes, Madonna herself, would likely never have got off the ground.
I hear you call my name...
Whilst Jackson churned out numerous visual epics in the decade that followed, often embracing the "music video as mini movie" format, Madonna discovered quickly that the best way to make an impression was to enhance her visuals with a secret ingredient she had absolute mastery over: controversy.
And what could be more controversial than presenting white middle America with a black Jesus? The clip came six years after Thriller in 1989, and depicts a black man being wrongly arrested for the murder of a white woman. Madonna, having witnessed the murder, goes to church where she finds a caged black saint who seems to be the man from the street. Crosses burn, Madonna dances in a state of undress, and curtains fall to reveal the whole thing was a performance.
There are various interpretations of the video and the way it infuses themes of race, religion and sexuality. The lyrics to the song itself - "I'm down on my knees, I want to take you there" - are basically about giving head, which you can imagine didn't go down too well when paired with the religious imagery of the video. So great was the outrage that Pepsi, who had just paid Madonna $5m to use Like a Prayer in a new commercial, dropped their association with her. (She got to keep the pay cheque.)
The controversy didn't scare Madonna. If anything, it fuelled her, and the power of sexual imagery became the blueprint for most of her videos in the following years. The interesting thing about the scandal was that it actually had a negative effect on her sales - Like a Prayer was a number one single, but the album sold 10 million copies fewer than True Blue three years earlier. Whilst MJ's videos were strictly a promotional tool for his music, Madonna's had become completely at one with her image, and arguably helped create a brand around her which was more important than her record sales.
After the '90s: Madonna's continued dominance
By the year 2000, Michael's public image had become so tarnished by plastic surgery and damaging allegations that his music was no longer a talking point. 1995's HIStory had sold 3.5 million copies in the US, half the figure of Dangerousfour years previously, and he hadn't released anything in three years.
Madonna had been through a quiet period of her own, releasing the deathly dull Bedtime Stories in 1994 before focusing on the movie Evita, but she came back in a massive way in '98 with Ray of Light. The video for lead single Frozenmarked a complete creative rebirth for the Queen of Pop.
Controversy had been replaced by artistry. Shot by Chris Cunningham, whose previous video credits were for relatively unknown acts like Aphex Twin, Frozenis a surrealist gothic masterpiece which is less concerned with a storyline (in fact, it doesn't have one - it's just about Madonna shapeshifting into a black dog and a flock of birds) than with creating something potent and visually arresting.
Whilst Michael's videos had more or less covered the same ground thematically during the '90s without any real change in visual style, Madonna had moved the game on. Already known for her ability to reinvent, Frozen told the world not to get comfortable. Expect only the unexpected. And so, whilst the video for MJ'sYou Rock My World barely caused a ripple in 2001, Madonna had shapeshifted seamlessly into the most important visual artist of the new millennium.
Bringing the imagery to the stage
But for both artists, the music video was never the pinnacle of their art: it was the ability to put on a performance which elevated them way beyond their peers. Their legacies were created on the stage. Jackson only toured solo three times, but all three were among the biggest concerts tours of all time. He could sell out Wembley in a matter of seconds... five times over.
This performance of Bad from Yokohama, Japan in 1987 illustrates perfectly Michael's approach to performance. The spotlight is on him, the theatrics are minimal, and there are no dancers vying for your attention. Despite the minimal stage set-up, it's absolutely impossible not to be awed by Jackson's charisma and energy. The crowd in Japan seem a little reserved, but in this clip of Black or White from Wembley in '92 every single person in the audiences is losing their mind.
By contrast, Madonna's tours are notorious for the sheer spectacle they deliver. Before she was a singer, Madonna had trained to be a dancer and left home at sixteen to follow her dream in New York City. She'd started at the bottom and her appreciation of dance as an art form is inherently clear in each of her tours. Unlike Michael, she's just one component of something bigger.
This performance of American Life from 2004's Re-invention Tour brings the song's highly controversial anti-war music video (it features a doctored clip of George Bush using a hand grenade to light a cigar, to give just one example of why it went down like a lead balloon in America) to life on stage. In terms of choreography, it's militaristic and cold. Whilst Michael's performances were all about channeling the energy of the song into the audience, Madonna is a pro at using performance to make a statement on a bigger scale - not that everybody appreciates that. The Re-invention Tour split opinion, with some fans remarking that they'd expected to attend a concert, not a political rally. Nonetheless, theAmerican Life performance is a great example of Madonna's unrivalled ability to marry her the artificial aspects of pop music with much bigger themes.
Sometimes, though, you just want a fun performance, and Madonna's incredible thirteen-minute, four-song medley from the 2012 Super Bowl has already gone down in history as one of the all-time classic half-time sets, exceeding the shows put on by the likes of Bruno Mars and Beyonce in the years since. Madonna commands the attentions of every person in the 100,000 capacity stadium - not to mention 100 million+ viewers across America - in a way no other artist could.
Except for one.
So - who's the greatest visual artist of all-time?
It's the million-dollar question, and it's all but impossible to answer.
Michael had one performance style; Madonna's is the polar opposite. Michael has the most famous music video of all time and is single handedly responsible for popularising the music video format. Madonna's music videos reinvented her image to keep her relevant as a performing artist further into her career. And yet Michael's This Is It tour was on course to be a monster comeback... every counter argument has a counter argument. The truth is, it's completely subjective.
Me, personally? On a purely visual level, and having been a chart-topping artist further into the 21st century than Jackson, I think Madonna takes the title. From the Blond Ambition cone bra to the pink leotard from Hung Up, to the incredible spectacle of her six global concert tours this side of the year 2000 alone, she has proved herself to be the master of the visual medium.
