The Madonna method
Marriages fail, the Vatican wails – but the show goes on. With Madge kicking off a sold-out stand tonight, the Toronto Star examines “the four pillars of her indomitable domain”.
When word came this week that Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie are to divorce after seven and a half years of marriage, pundits weighed in on the minutiae – the distribution of assets, custody of their two sons, etc. – but there was no question of the superstar performer halting her Sweet & Sticky Tour, which kicks off two sold-out nights at the Air Canada Centre tonight.
Her Madgesty only alluded to the break-up while performing in Boston on Wednesday night, the same day the break-up was announced, telling the crowd when she introduced “Miles Away” that the song was dedicated to the “emotionally retarded.” “You may know a few people like that. God knows I do.”
“She’s been humiliated and embarrassed and torn down so many times, but she just dusts herself off and keeps on going,” says MuchMoreMusic host and avowed Madonna fan Traci Melchor.
There’s never been a cause celebre the Energizer Bunny of pop didn’t court or best, from banned music videos to bizarre talk-show appearances to challenges to her adoption of a motherless African boy.
“You’ve got to be tough as nails to not fall apart in the face of controversy,” says Toronto R&B singer Divine Brown, who rates the singer’s music and business acumen. “She’s had the uncanny ability to turn it around and use it to her advantage.”
Click here or the Full Article link below to check out the four pillars of Madonna’s enduring appeal according to the Toronto Star
The marriage break-up may turn into an Annus Horribulis Madonna’s 25th year in the spotlight, which was going pretty well: She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; released her seventh No. 1 album, Hard Candy; directed her first film, Filth and Wisdom (in theatres Friday); and produced I Am Because We Are, a documentary about Aids orphans in Malawi.
When she debuted in 1983 with Madonna, her stratospheric peers were Michael Jackson and Prince (both of whom also turned 50 this year); since then, the former has gone AWOL, while the latter is most revered when he’s serving up greatest hits rather than new material. Two decades ago, her main female rivals were Cyndi Lauper and Michael’s sister Janet. These days, Janet is cancelling shows and performing to thousands of empty seats, while Lauper has faded into relative obscurity.
With the help of music-industry insiders we examine the four pillars of Madonna’s enduring appeal:
MUSIC
“The jams that I really enjoy have a nice blend of the old school with very contemporary sounds,” said Brown of the dance-oriented Hard Candy, which features production by current hitmakers the Neptunes, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.
Vancouver-based writer Chris Smith included Like A Virgin in his 2006 book 100 Albums That Changed Popular Music, but doesn’t have much use for the singer’s subsequent records. “Her fans like what she does, so I don’t want to dismiss that and say their tastes are irrelevant, but not since the dance-pop of the mid ’80s has she done anything that I think is groundbreaking or transformative in terms of popular music,” he said.
Like it or not, Madonna’s sound is distinct, said Toronto record producer Peter Cardinali, who has worked with the Backstreet Boys, Ray Charles and Anne Murray. “There are so many great musicians and great singers, but they’re like paintings: They don’t step forward and make a statement. You instantly recognize who she is.
“She’s not a great singer, she doesn’t write really, but she knows how to perform and how to grab people’s attention. I’ve worked with people who have worked with her, and her reputation is that she’s a hard worker, she’s really hands on, she doesn’t just leave it to the producers and say, `Bring it to me when its done.’ She’s associated herself with the type of people that she needs to along the way, but she’s her own creation.”
LOVERS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Another failed marriage is putting the Material Girl back on the market, with gal pals Gwyneth Paltrow and Trudie Styler no doubt teed up to play matchmaker.
This summer Madonna fended off rumours of an affair with married baseball star Alex Rodriguez. “Even her personal life she seemed to manipulate for the press: That short fiery marriage with Sean Penn; affairs with Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley; and then switching to Warren Beatty,” said California-based author Jay Warner, whose latest book is Notable Moments of Women in Music.
“I always liked her and Lenny Kravitz,” suggested Melchor. “She likes her brown boys: from Basquiat to A-Rod, Carlos (Leon), Dennis Rodman … maybe it’s about time she gets back to her boys of colour. Or maybe some hugely wealthy venture capitalist that’s not in the business; there’s no competition, but the money’s still there. It must be so hard to be married to Madonna. You have to be super machismo, very confident in yourself, and at the same time be driven and ambitious, because you have to have that in common. I’m surprised (she and Ritchie) got that long – seven years.”
The union with Ritchie seemed like the real deal. The couple have three children, Rocco, 8, David, 3, who was adopted from Malawi, and Lourdes, 12, from Madonna’s earlier relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon.
In his tell-all book, the singer’s brother Christopher Ciccone described her as “passionately committed” to Ritchie, though he blamed the director for coming between him and his sister.
BUSINESS
“As a person in this business you constantly hear that this thing called music is 90 per cent business and 10 per cent creative,” said Brown. “It boils down to: How do you sell your product? Madonna’s very efficient at doing that.
“She was born for the MTV generation,” said Warner. “The video aspect of her life has been very important. If you analyze her videos from the ’80s and early ’90s, they were much more outrageous than her songs were. But it was a promotional tool. She loves shock value and she knows how to market it. She’s a unique individual and that’s why she’ll last for another decade or two if she wants to. She’s really a self-contained business. What artist does a documentary like Truth or Dare (1991) and then puts out a book called Sex (1992)?”
A year ago, Madonna became the first major star to choose an all-in-one agreement with a tour company over a traditional record deal, giving Live Nation 10-year rights to all her music-related projects – albums, tours, merchandise, websites, DVDs, sponsorships, TV shows, films – for a reported $120 million. U2 and Jay-Z subsequently followed suit.
IMAGE/INFLUENCE
“Honestly, I don’t really like her voice and I don’t have a single album of hers,” said Toronto pop-jazz singer Elizabeth Shepherd. “But I do admire her as a woman, that she’s her own entity; there aren’t a lot of women artists who have managed to pull it off.”
“One of the main things that has impressed me about her is her ability to transform herself in a very unselfconscious way in the public light. Also her approach to sexuality: She’s out there in crazy gear strutting her stuff with absolute conviction.
“And there’s a sense of transparency; whether that’s genuine or she’s contrived it to present it to the world, the fact that her shtick blurs private and public life makes her all the more believable in her sudden shifts. I think everyone would like to think that they’re free to change within their lifetime. And it’s great that she’s still sexy at 50. That’s an inspiration, too.”
Right out of the gate with Like a Virgin, Madonna proved herself a force to be reckoned with. “Two weeks after that album came out every 12 year-old in the country was wearing fishnet gloves and 20 bracelets,” said author Smith. “I think Madonna understands the importance of trends and how to stay ahead of trends – adopting the fake British accent, taking up the Kabbalah. …I think of her as a psychic trend follower.”
Melchor cites the entertainer’s use of then-little-known Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G. character in her Music video and African-American drag queens in the Vogue video, in 2000 and 1990 respectively, as evidence of her “amazing eye to cherry pick from different genres and different cultures” to stay relevant.
But she acknowledges that haters abound. “There are some people out there that vehemently dislike her,” said Melchor. “You bring her up and they will tell you all the reasons why. I work with some younger guys here at MuchMusic, and they’re like, `I can’t believe she’s still showing her crotch at 50.’ And I’m like, `Are you kidding me? What? Are we even seeing the same picture? She looks amazing!'”
Divorce and detractors be dammed – there’s only one consequential factor for the people who’ve shelled out up to $350 for tickets for the soon-to-be-once-again Ms. Ciccone’s ACC concerts this weekend.
“The biggest thing at this stage of the game for her is that she’s still going to put on a fabulous show,” said Brown. “Two arena shows in Toronto sold out? That says everything that needs to be said about who she is as an artist and as a businesswoman.”