Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free
Madonna has revealed “influential” people tried to take advantage of her by asking for “sexual favours” when she was a budding singer.
The pop icon told NME
“I was the starting-out artist begging for help and I would go to people who ran labels or influential DJs saying: ‘Can you help me out? Can you listen to this song? Can you hook me up?’ Can you sign me to your record label?’ and, a lot of people said: ‘Yeah, if you’ll do this,’ and usually it was a sexual favour,” she said.
Madonna recalled one occasion when she was “so broke” that she considered going through with it – but ultimately “couldn’t bring [herself] to do it.
“I knew I couldn’t look myself in the mirror if I did,” she added, ”so I just kept going on as I had, being a starving artist and waiting for my ship to come in and – ironically – I was signed by a gay man who didn’t want anything to do with me in that way and he just really appreciated my music.”
Show all 9 1 /9Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Don't Tell Me" (2000) While the Stetson she appeared in for the Music era of 2000 is just one of many hats worn by Madonna, the message of its best single, “Don’t Tell Me”, is one she has practiced her entire career. I was fairly independent as a child and my colleagues would likely agree I’m even more stubborn and wilful as an adult – Madonna’s defiant lyrics on this track could certainly have had something to do with that. The twangy guitar loop of this electronic-country-pop number provides one of the most recognisable intros in music, as she instructs the listener: “Tell the leaves not to turn/ but don’t ever tell me I’ll learn, no, no/ Take the black off a crow/ but don’t tell me I have to go.” “Like a Prayer”, “Vogue” and “Material Girl” might be more iconic among Madonna fans, but for this one, “Don’t Tell Me” eponymises who she is as an artist, and as a person. (Roisin O'Connor)
Rex
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Into the Groove" (1984) Although "Into the Groove" isn’t technical musical feat like some of Madonna’s later dance work, such as the electro masterpiece "Ray of Light", or pretty much anything on the Confessions album, it encompasses Madonna’s less filtered earlier work, complete with a signature spoken introduction. All of Madonna’s spoken introductions prelude her best work, as if to serve as a siren to dash to the dancefloor before the bassline kicks in. "Into the Groove" is the literal finest example of this: when her vocals pop up over a drum and synth intro (“And you can dance/For inspiration/ Come on”) I will always want to hit that floor. (Chloe Hubbard)
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Papa Don’t Preach" (1986) Hunting around my parents’ house when I was 10, I found my mum’s Immaculate Collection VHS, the pastel blue box signalling something exciting. Slotting it into the machine, I waited for a song to finish and a fade to black. More than just a story of a young pregnant woman having to break the news to her protective father, “Papa Don’t Preach” is a coming-of-age story. It felt relevant to me even at that age, contrasting with the numerous songs I’d heard telling men’s stories. The impossible-not-to-dance-to beat, the catchy lyrics and that feeling of a song capturing the female experience have stayed with me ever since. And it’s not just me. Put this track on at a wedding and the dance floor will be alight in moments with women shouting the lyrics, dancing like Madonna – feeling empowered. If that doesn't qualify as an iconic song, I don’t know what does. (Harriet Hall)
REUTERS
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Like a Virgin" (1984) From the minute the unmistakable beat of “Like a Virgin” begins to play, you can’t help but start rocking your head from side to side and tapping your feet in sync with the music in true 1980s fashion. Not only is the song undeniably catchy, but it also epitomises several aspects of Madonna’s identity, namely her openness with sexuality and erotica. Some of Madonna’s most iconic moments have come from her performances of the track, such as at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 when she appeared on stage wearing a white wedding dress. It’s playful, upbeat and impossible to resist dancing to. What’s not to love? (Sabrina Barr)
REX/Shutterstock
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Like a Prayer" (1989) Is “Like a Prayer” the favourite Madonna song of every lapsed Catholic out there? Maybe it’s over speculation, but there’s some primal part of my Catholic childhood that can’t help but claw to the surface on each listen of the 1989 pop classic. Madonna made no secret of the fact her work was heavily influenced by her own upbringing surrounded by Italian Catholicism and, as she told Rolling Stone in 1989: “Once you’re a Catholic, you’re always a Catholic - in terms of your feelings of guilt and remorse and whether you’ve sinned or not”. But with “Like a Prayer”, there’s a sense of freedom: an intimate, personal rewriting of religion that breaks the taboos of intermixing sex and religion. Add to that, the radical nature of the track’s video making a sincere statement about racism and police brutality - a message often buried by the hysteria surrounding the Vatican’s own condemnation of it. (Clarisse Loughrey)
Getty
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Vogue" (1990) To strike a pose is to “Vogue”. So much more than a glitzy disco track, Madonna’s “Vogue” cements its rank as a pop culture phenomenon thanks to the flamboyant New York City subcultures it celebrates. The dance itself originates in 1980s drag culture and Madonna’s eponymous track is an homage to the sexual freedom and flagrant theatrics that the routine evokes to this day. With its liberal roots and non-binary rhetoric (“it makes no difference if you’re black or white, if you’re a boy or a girl”), “Vogue” is the ultimate empowerment anthem, fuelled by grandeur, old-school glamour, and an insatiable appetite for fun. It’s a corker. (Olivia Petter)
ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Beautiful Stranger" (1999) Madonna’s enjoyably psychedelic “Beautiful Stranger” was the perfect selection as main soundtrack single for Austin Powers sequel The Spy Who Shagged Me. Co-written by William Orbit, the man behind Blur’s “Coffee and TV” as well as All Saints belter “Pure Shores”, the song draws instrumentally from unexpected places (The Beatles, The Doors) with its drum-free guitar-backed opening verse setting the stage for that roaring chorus: “You’re everywhere I go! And everybody knows!” It’s a flawless slice of late-1990s pop that’s as good as anything Madonna’s ever recorded. Groovy, baby. (Jacob Stolworthy)
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "La Isla Bonita" (1986) On the very rare (two) occasions I’ve done karaoke, it says something that the song I’ve picked both times was "La Isla Bonita". I’m a sucker for melody – and especially one that’s uptempo yet loaded with a melancholic yearning to be on a mysterious tropical island. From the opening Cuban drums, followed by castanets, it’s the winning blend of Latin rhythms and Spanish guitar with 1980s synths, and the sweetness of Madonna’s cooing vocals, that makes “La Isla Bonita” stand out – and it was the first Spanish-tinged track that Madonna released. It’s so distinctive that it’s impossible to imagine this on Michael Jackson’s Bad album, for which the track was initially written. Romantic, evocative and always alluring. (Elisa Bray)
Madonna's best songs, according to Independent staff "Material Girl" (1984) While some may criticise “Material Girl” for being shallow, it is in fact a feminist anthem. Sure, prioritising money and shiny things over personality may not be the best approach when looking for a partner, but there’s nothing wrong with appreciating fashion and the finer things in life – it doesn’t mean you’re frivolous, vain or superficial, as Madonna points out. Because the thing is, some boys may kiss you and some boys may hug you (consensually, one would hope), but if they don’t give you proper credit, you really should just walk away. (Rachel Hosie)
Rex
Madonna has just released her 14th album, Madame X
Her latest one before that was Rebel Heart , released in 2015.
Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Two singles have been released from Madame X so far: ”Medellín”, a collaboration with Colombian singer Maluma, came out in May.
“Crave”, with American rapper Swae Lee, followed in May.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies