понедельник, 26 апреля 2010 г.

True Blue, Like a Prayer and the Blond Ambition Tour

     Madonna released her third album, True Blue, in 1986, prompting Rolling Stone to comment that "it sounds as if it comes from the heart." The album topped the charts in over 28 countries worldwide, an unprecedented record at the time.  The album spawned three number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart", as well as other top-five singles "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita".  The same year, Madonna starred in the film Shanghai Surprise (which was panned by critics), and made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabe's Goose and Tom-Tom, both co-starring Penn.  In 1987, Madonna starred in Who's That Girl, and contributed four songs to its soundtrack; including the title track and the US number-two single, "Causing a Commotion".  The same year, she embarked on the Who's That Girl World Tour. It was complimented for Madonna's innovative dresses.  Later that year, she released a remix album of past hits, You Can Dance. Madonna's marriage to Penn ended, and they filed divorce papers in December 1987, which was finalized in January 1989. Of her marriage to Penn, Madonna said, "I was completely obsessed with my career and not ready to be generous in any shape or form."
In early 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi. She debuted her new song, "Like a Prayer" in a Pepsi commercial, and also made a music video for it. The video featured many Catholic symbols such as stigmata, burning crosses, and a dream about making love to a saint, leading the Vatican to condemn the video. Since the commercial and music video were nearly identical, Pepsi was unable to convince the public that their commercial was unrelated to the video. They revoked the commercial and cancelled their sponsorship contract with Madonna. However, she was allowed to retain her fee for the contract.  Madonna's fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, was released the same year. It was co-written and co-produced by Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray.  Rolling Stone hailed it as "...as close to art as pop music gets".  Like a Prayer peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold thirteen million copies worldwide, with four million copies sold in the United States alone.  Six singles were released from the album, including her seventh US number-one single "Like a Prayer" and the US number-two singles "Express Yourself" and "Cherish."  By the end of the 1980s, Madonna had become the most successful female artist of the decade, with three number-one albums and seven number-one singles, surpassed only by Michael Jackson.
In 1990, Madonna starred as "Breathless" Mahoney in the film adaptation of the comic book series Dick Tracy. It starred Warren Beatty in the title role.  To accompany the film, she released the album I'm Breathless, which included songs inspired by the film's 1930s setting. It also featured her eighth US number-one single, "Vogue", and "Sooner or Later", which earned songwriter Stephen Sondheim, an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1991.  While shooting for the film, Madonna began a relationship with Beatty. Their relationship ended in the fall of 1990.  Madonna began her Blond Ambition World Tour in April 1990. Rolling Stone called it an "elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza" and proclaimed it "the best tour of 1990".  The tour drew strong reaction from religious groups, for her performance of "Like a Virgin", during which two male dancers caressed her body before she simulated masturbation.  The Pope encouraged the crowd and the Christian community not to attend the concert. A private association of Catholics, called Famiglia Domani, also boycotted the tour for featuring eroticism.  In response, Madonna said, "I am Italian American and proud of it" and that the Church "completely frowns on sex ... except for procreation." She later won a Grammy Award in 1992, in the Best Long Form Music Video category, for the laserdisc release of the tour.


The Immaculate Collection, Madonna's first greatest-hits compilation album, was released in November 1990. It included two new songs, "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me".  The album was certified diamond by RIAA and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist in history. "Justify My Love" became Madonna's ninth US number-one single.  Its music video featured scenes of sadomasochism, bondage, same-sex kissing and brief nudity. The video was deemed too sexually explicit for MTV, and was banned from the station.  The second single, "Rescue Me", became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in Hot 100 chart history at that time, entering at number fifteen and peaking at number nine.  At the end of the year, Madonna decided to leave the Jennifer Lynch film Boxing Helena.  From late 1990 to early 1991, Madonna dated Tony Ward, a model and porn star, who appeared in her music videos for "Cherish" and "Justify My Love". She also had an eight-month relationship with rapper Vanilla Ice.  Her first documentary film, Truth or Dare (known as In Bed with Madonna outside North America) was released in mid-1991. The documentary chronicled her Blond Ambition World Tour, as well giving glimpses of her personal life. The following year, she appeared in the baseball film A League of Their Own in the role of Italian-American Mae Mordabito. She recorded the film's theme song "This Used to Be My Playground", which became her tenth Hot 100 number-one hit.

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