While numerous religious leaders have condemned the performance as "blasphemous", Madonna insists she is performing the stunt to try and raise Aids awareness. Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders objected before the singer’s Rome concert earlier this month and there calls for her to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, speaking with the Pope’s approval, said: "The concert is a blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation to the cross."
Madonna, who was raised a Catholic, has never been afraid to shy away from controversy.
The pop superstar released the erotic book ’Sex’ in 1992 and caused outrage when she kissed a black Jesus while crosses burned behind her in the video for ’Like a Prayer’. If Madonna is arrested, she could face a £20,000 fine and a suspended jail sentence.
Madonna has written to Mel Gibson to offer advice Aug 7, 2020
The ‘Hung Up’ singer is furious with the ‘Lethal Weapon’ actor for making anti-Semitic remarks but has decided to pen a four-page letter to see if she can help.
A source said: “Madonna thought Mel was out of order but also in a low place, so she has written to him to try and help him.”
Gibson, 50, was formally charged on August 2 with drunk driving and having an open bottle of tequila in his car. It was revealed last week that a recording of the comments he made to police in Malibu would not be released.
He is believed to have said: “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”
Meanwhile, Madonna’s husband Guy Ritchie fears the singer could be kidnapped by religious fanatics on her Confessions tour. Madonna is a devout follower of mystical faith Kabbalah and Guy fears her faith could put her in danger.
A source is quoted by Britain’s People newspaper as saying: “Kabbalah is a form of Jewish mysticism. She could be a target for a protest about Israel bombing Lebanon. Guy wants more bodyguards for her.” Madonna’s tour has already caused controversy – Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders have all branded her show “blasphemous” because she wears a crowns of thorns and poses on a mirrored cross.
’Like a Prayer’ the most groundbreaking video - July 25, 2020
Madonna’s ’Like a Prayer’ has been voted the most groundbreaking video of all time. The singer topped a poll conducted by music channel MTV, beating off stiff competition from such classics as Michael Jackson’s ’Thriller’ and Britney Spears’ ’Baby One More Time’.
A spokesperson for MTV said: "Featuring burning crosses, statues crying blood and Madonna seducing a black Jesus, ’Like a Prayer’ even brought condemnation from the Vatican for its use of religious imagery."
The top 10 "videos that broke the rules" was released yesterday (24.07.06) as part of the channel’s 25th anniversary celebrations. Jackson’s 14-minute epic ’Thriller’, the longest promo ever made, came third in the poll, in which 10,000 MTV viewers voted.
The eccentric singer, along with sister Janet, also landed the sixth spot with ’Scream’ - the most expensive video ever made, costing a whopping $7 million. Madonna also landed fourth and fifth place with ’Ray of Light’ and ’Vogue’ respectively. Robbie Williams’ graphic ’Rock DJ’ video - in which the singer appears to be peeling off his skin - came seventh, while the promo for the Spice Girls’ first single, ’Wannabe’, was placed at number ten.
Top Ten Videos That Broke The Rules:
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Hugh Laurie
Rachel Weisz
Faces in Fashion
Ricci Stoene
Sadie Frost
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Graham Coxon
Ms Dynamite
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Keira Knightley
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Profiles: Music
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Naomi Campbell
Victoria Beckham
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The following year Madonna broke away from Kamins and recorded Holiday which went straight in to the American top 20 and was a hit across Europe. She cemented her raunchy image with Like A Virgin, her first US number one, and Material Girl with it’s iconic video. By this time Madonna was becoming one of the most emulated and best loved artists in the world and she became even more popular thanks to her part in Live Aid and a high profile marriage to Sean Penn.
The pop diva followed up her success with several singles from the True Blue album and turned her hand to acting for the first time in the poorly received A Certain Sacrifice and of course, Desperately Seeking Susan. Her first real flop was alongside her husband in the laughable Shanghai Surprise. Her failure’s in the film department didn’t stop David Mamet from casting her in a Broadway production of Speed the Plow - by this time talent or no, Madonna’s was name that guaranteed attention.
1989 saw the singer court controversy with the video for Like A Prayer, featuring a black Jesus, which outraged and shocked the Catholic church and caused Pepsi to cancel a sponsorship deal. But far from ruining her career, this stunt saw her become the icon that we know today. The 1990s were the pinnacle of Madonna’s success, her divorce from Sean Penn pushing her further in to the lime light, beginning with a part in Dick Tracy opposite Warren Beatty and a fantastic soundtrack album alongside featuring hit song Vogue. Documentary film Truth or Dare and her Blonde Ambition tour (with that pointy bra) followed with further controversy.
In 1992 she signed a multi million pound deal with Time Warner guaranteeing the release of music, films and books through her own record label, Maverick. She made the most of the deal with picture book Sex, which caused another controversy but rocketed up the bestsellers charts nonetheless. Erotica was her first album for years though not to generate a US number one. People thought that perhaps Madonna had gone too far with her need to shock, and perhaps she had realised it too as her next album was far mellower and a part in Evita in 1996 made her bankable again.
Later that year she fell pregnant with Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, daughter of her personal trainer. But far from slowing her work, having a child only seemed to spur Madonna on, she released the runaway success, Ray of Light which produced hit after hit and recorded Beautiful Stranger for the second Austin Powers movie. she also starred alongside Rupert Everett in romantic comedy The Next Best Thing.
It was around this time that Madonna met British director Guy Ritchie - the man who would change her life. They had son Rocco in 2000 and they married in 2002 after Madonna moved permanently to England, took to wearing flat caps and drinking tea. The title track of her album Music gave her a transatlantic number one hit. Collaborations with Ritchie, especially their film Swept Away, have generally been unsuccessful but Madonna’s music career continues to go from strength to strength, her latest album American Life has been a worldwide hit and she has even found time to pen a children’s book, The English Roses. Now, an honorary Brit and devout follower of Kaballah, Madonna lives with her family in Marylebone and Wiltshire. She also owns a ?4 million Spanish-style villa in Beverly Hills, a house in Miami and a duplex overlooking Central Park in New York.
(Updated April 04)
December 2007