The Who's That Girl World Tour (billed as Who's That Girl World Tour 1987) was the second concert tour by American singer and songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her 1986 third studio albumTrue Blue, as well as the 1987 soundtrack Who's That Girl. It started on June 14, 1987, at the Osaka Stadium in Osaka, Japan, and ended on September 6 of the same year at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, Italy. It was Madonna's first world tour and marked her first visits to Japan and Europe. Musically and technically superior to her previous Virgin Tour, Who's That Girl incorporated multimedia components to make the show more appealing.
Madonna trained physically doing aerobics, jogging and weight-lifting, to cope with the choreography and the dance routines. For the costumes, she collaborated with designer Marlene Stewart, expanding on the idea of bringing her popular video characters to life onstage, reworking scenes from her music videos. The stage had four video screens, multimedia projectors and a flight of stairs in the middle. Patrick Leonard, who was the music director, encouraged Madonna to go with the idea of remixing and presenting her older songs for the show.
The show consisted of seven costume changes, with song-and-dance routines, theatrics and addressing social causes. The tour was critically appreciated, with reviewers commending the extravagant nature of the concert and Madonna as a performer. It was a commercial success, grossing in total of US$25million[lower-alpha 1] by playing in front of 1.5million audience. According to Pollstar, it was the second highest-grossing female concert tour of 1987, behind Tina Turner's Break Every Rule Tour.
Who's That Girl was broadcast in a number of international television channels and was released on VHS titled Ciao Italia: Live from Italy. Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli commented that "Many female artists behave like a diva for a period when they reach superstar status, and the 'Who's That Girl?' tour marked the beginning of Madonna's."[2] It is also noted for giving rise to the term "new Madonna", a stronger and more intelligent sexual image of her former self which had given rise to the term Madonna wannabe. It was proposed to build a statue of the Madonna in the city of her paternal grandparents in Pacentro, Italy, but the idea was rejected by the local city hall.
The album sold a million copies in the United States, and five million worldwide.[5] Taraborrelli felt that at that moment, riding on Madonna's coattails proved profitable for everyone involved, including Warner Bros. Records, which notched up big sales with a compilation soundtrack album that was basically a showcase for its marginal artists.[5] But still they wanted to "milk-in" the success of Madonna, a view shared by Peter Guber and Jon Peters, executive producers of the film. Hence they felt a worldwide concert tour was the appropriate thing to do, since it would promote both the soundtrack and the film, as well as Madonna's successful third studio album True Blue, released the year before.[5] As Madonna's first world tour, Who's That Girl ended up being a resounding success, although by its end, Madonna declared that she did not want to hear any of her songs again and she did not know whether she would ever write another one. "I returned feeling so burned out and I was convinced that I wouldn't go near music for quite a while", she said.[6]
Development
British funk band Level 42 joined Madonna as the supporting opening act for the tour.
The Who's That Girl World Tour was musically and technically superior to Madonna's Virgin Tour, because she incorporated multimedia components to make the show more compelling.[5] As the tour was confirmed, Madonna and her team started planning for it. Madonna wanted a show which consisted of theatrics, drama, dance and choreography in "full-force".[7] Her publicist Liz Rosenberg commented, "She wants a visual impact that would knock people out. She was very determined about this. And she's the type that makes decisions quickly; If something doesn't work, she starts over. You'll see a different look this year, but it's still Madonna, still bigger than life."[8] In order to engage herself completely and handle the grueling dance routines, she started attending aerobics classes at Hollywood health centre The Sports Connection.[9] By the time the tour drew nearer, she hired a personal trainer, and her daily routine involved jogging, weight-lifting, dancing, gymnastics, trampoline, swimming and cycling. She started eating vegetarian food with plenty of protein and carbohydrate and avoided the sun.[9] British funk band Level 42 was the supporting act of the tour.[9] Madonna's image was that of a blond girl with soft curls, making a striking contrast with the firm, almost hard lines of her eye make-up and lipstick; the idea of her friend actress Debi Mazar.[9]
For the costumes, Madonna collaborated with designers Marlene Stewart and Leslie Hamel. She expanded on the idea of bringing her popular video characters to life onstage, reworking scenes from "True Blue", "Open Your Heart", "Papa Don't Preach" and "La Isla Bonita". For "Open Your Heart", Madonna reused the Stewart designed with Trashy Lingerie black bustier worn by her in the video, complete with tassels, golden tips and ribbing with fishnets on leg.[9] Leslie Hamel's designs included the Flamenco style dress for "La Isla Bonita" and Spanish inspired pants for Holiday and a gold lamé jacket and pants for the "White Heat" sequence. The True Blue performance dress and the male dancers outfits.For the medley sequence, Madonna used a dress that was visually amusing and, according to Madonna, was for "anyone that takes me too seriously, or imagined and I take myself too seriously."[9] Inspired by Dame Edna Everage, the Leslie Hamel designed dress consisted of a hat strewn with fake fruits, flowers and feathers, jeweled batwing spectacles with heavy, black frames, a ruffled skirt and a bodice covered with objects such as watches and dolls and fishnets. The knickers were inscribed with the word "Kiss". Continuing her tradition of message clothes, she spelt out the phrase "You Can Dance" on her Leslie Hamel jacket, using the letter U, a can of soup and the word "dance" at the back.
Calling the show a "theatrical multimedia spectacular", Madonna wanted a huge stage with a central platform from which a flight of stairs descended.[10] The central platform was flanked by two lower platforms, which housed the band and the musicians. A large video screen was suspended above the stairs, which descended during the show.[10] Two projectors were situated at the front of the stage, which projected images of The Pope and President Ronald Reagan during the show.[11]Patrick Leonard, who had produced True Blue, joined as the musical director for the shows.[8] Instead of following every note on the records, Leonard encouraged the musicians to come up with new ideas for the songs. Hence a number of the old songs were rearranged, including introducing a medley of "Dress You Up", "Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin"—which contained a sample from the Four Tops song "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)".[8] American choreographer Shabba Doo was signed to choreograph the show.[12] 13-year-old Christopher Finch was signed to play the part of the small boy from the "Open Your Heart" video, since Felix Howard, who played the original part, did not get a working license, and hence could not join the tour.[13][14] Madonna wanted three backup singers, a team of male dancers and a succession of costume changes.[9] She took inputs from her then husband, actor Sean Penn saying, "I really respect Sean's opinion. He has great taste and is a very brilliant man. When I was putting my tour together, it was always in the back of my mind: 'I wonder what Sean will think of this?' He's extremely opinionated and has really high standards, and that sometimes pushed me into making decisions I wouldn't have otherwise made."[3] Madonna explained that the title of the tour came from her playing many characters, commenting:
"That's why I call the tour 'Who's That Girl?'; because I play a lot of characters, and every time I do a video or a song, people go, 'Oh, that's what she's like.' And I'm not like any of them. I'm all of them. I'm none of them. You know what I mean.?"[15]
Concert synopsis
Madonna opening the concert with a performance of "Open Your Heart" wearing a black Trashy Lingerie bustier (left). For "Papa Don't Preach", she wore a leather jacket over a silk blue dress (right).
The show started with a performance by Level 42. As their performance ended, the lights started blinking all around the stadium and Finch appears on stage, looking for Madonna.[16] He is followed by two other dancers, who jump around the stage and disappear. Then Madonna's silhouette is visible behind a screen which has paintings by Tamara de Lempicka on it.[16] She performs dance moves behind the screen, which starts going up slowly. She wore a custom-made black pointy corset by Trashy Lingerie[17] and fishnets like the costume in the music video of "Open Your Heart".[16] After dancing on the stairs, using a chair as a prop, Madonna descends and starts singing the song. Later Finch joins her again and they dance together till the song ends.[16] This was followed by the performance of "Lucky Star" during which a disco ball spun above the stage; as Madonna and her dancers moved around it, the light from the ball flickered on them like a star.[18] For "True Blue", Madonna came up on the stage wearing a blue, silk taffeta dress over her corset and a blue scarf hidden in her bosom.[19] The stage had a similar blue setting like the original music video. Madonna is backed up by her singers who play her girlfriends. At the end of the song Madonna is asked to dance again by the dancer playing her man in the performance.[20] During "Papa Don't Preach" Madonna wore a black leather jacket over her dress and walked around the stage while singing.[9] The screen in the background showed portraits of Pope John Paul II and then-President of the U.S. Ronald Reagan,[21] along with scenes of John Perry III's short film, The Nightmare,[22] ending with the words "Safe Sex", as Madonna finished the song.[23] She dedicated the song to the Pope, marking her first conflict with the Vatican, as Pope John Paul II urged Italian fans to boycott her concerts.[24][25]
During "White Heat"—which featured dialogues from the 1949 James Cagney film of the same name—a video screen displayed a scene from the film, with Cagney saying the dialogue: "A copper... a copper fellas".[26] The video screen moves up and Madonna appears, wearing a lamé jacket and holding a plastic gun in her right hand. A large cut out of Cagney appears in the middle and Madonna finishes singing the song, while pointing the revolver towards her dancers and pretending to fire at them, as sounds of gunshots are heard.[26] She followed it with "Causing a Commotion" which ended with Madonna pointing to her dancers and musicians across stage and uttering the line "He/She's got the moves baby" numerous times.[26] For "The Look of Love" the spotlight was focused on her. The introductory music of the song started and Madonna roamed around the stage, pretending that she was lost. She wanted to portray her Who's That Girl film character Nikki, when she was lost in a similar sequence in the film. After she finished singing the song, Madonna pretended to walk forward by pushing through the air, as the conveyor belt took her backwards, ultimately taking her away from the stage.[27] Then a red phone booth appears on the stage, in which Madonna's silhouette appears to be changing costume. She emerges from the booth wearing the Edna Everage inspired costume and starts singing "Dress You Up".[9] Then she sang "Material Girl", while stretching her legs on stage and showing her underwear and followed by "Like a Virgin", during which she took off her outfit piece by piece, until she was standing in the same outfit from the beginning of the show, and ended the performance while flirting with a young male dancer who played her bridegroom.[8][28]
A backdrop then started showing the newspaper reports on Madonna's 1985 Playboy nude picture release. The backdrop moves up as Madonna appears, wearing a loose-fitted black pant and top, with bejeweled glasses, for singing "Where's the Party".[29] For "Into the Groove" Finch joins her on stage to dance alongside. Madonna then wore a pink bolero jacket which had the can of soup and the words "U" and "DANCE" flanking it. At the end she is joined by her backup singers and dancers. Together they take a bow to the audience and finish the performance.[30] Next Madonna sang "La Isla Bonita" as a part of the encore, wearing the same red flamenco dress she had worn in the video.[9] For "Who's That Girl", Madonna—flanked by Finch and a male dancer—strutted around the stage, asking the audience to join her on the chorus.[10] Lastly, Madonna performed an energetic version of "Holiday", signaling the celebratory and wholesome nature of the song's theme. The song featured a new arrangement, with a guitar solo in the intermediate portion added by Leonard. She sang the final chorus twice, then asked the audience for a comb so that she could fix her hair and finished the performance, after taking a bow with her dancers to the audience.[31]
The tour received rave reviews.[32][33] Biographer Taraborrelli commented, "Madonna had more confidence in her stage presence, her music was showing a deeper maturity, her voice was fuller, and the show was expertly choreographed with complex numbers.[5]J. D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun commented, "I've seen the Springsteen stadium tour, I've seen Dylan and the [Grateful] Dead, and I was at Live Aid. Out of all those shows, Madonna's is the only one I want to see again. You need a larger-than-life show if you want to come off in a stadium, and Madonna does. She's not that large physically, but she holds your attention."[8] Ann Ayers, assistant entertainment editor of USA Today felt that the show was high on glitz and low on emotional quotient. "Madonna's going for a certain kind of show: a Broadway, show-biz, song-and-dance spectacle. In that context it's hard to make a connection with the audience, and I'd have to say that she didn't."[34] Peter Goddard from Toronto Star reviewed the concert in CNE Stadium and said, "Madonna proved that she may be a lost girl in the roads of life, like her film, but she ain't lost when she is singing. Especially during songs like 'Papa Don't Preach', her vocal prowess was substantially notable."[35] Scott A Zamost and Elizabeth Snead, writing for Chicago Tribune, felt that "For the most part, the premiere concert on Madonna's Who's That Girl tour was a success, an extravaganza of multiple videos, flashing lights and precision dancing. If the high-tech accoutrements and inferior sound system made it difficult to hear the singer, one hopes that will be refined as the tour continues across the United States. [...] As a dancer, Madonna is supreme on stage. Her trademark skip to a funky beat highlighted the constant acrobatics. One minute she was stage left, another minute stage right. She ran up a wide staircase center stage to party with her three back-up singers, then scooted down to the stage floor, swinging her hips, accompanied by other dancers."[36]
Deborah Wilker from The Day commented that "Madonna's got an almost rabid energy about her, which she maintains for the duration of 90 minutes. In fact she rarely leaves the stage—preferring to change costumes in a phone booth instead. Boy can she change. One minute she's a 50's teenager in a party dress, next she's playing a speak-easy chanteuse. It's almost difficult to believe that a career as young as Madonna's could contain so much popular material that on stage the star can barely get to half of it."[37] Don McCLeese from Chicago Sun-Times reviewed the performance at Soldier Field stadium said that "'Shine' seems like a dim possibility for her Soldier Field performance this month, because Madonna invariably takes the stage after dusk has turned to dark and brings back the sun again for the two hours that she played."[38] In another review, McCleese commented: "[Madonna] proceeded to show Soldier Field a few moves that would gain Walter Payton some yardage, while putting a whole new twist on the term 'backfield in motion'. The girl really knows how to cause a commotion."[39] Richard Harrington from The Washington Post felt that the tour "would have played better to a full house at the Capital Centre or Merriweather Post Pavilion. But to her credit, Madonna performed last night as if the house was full, and the show is splendid pop theater. Madonna has described it as 'Broadway in a stadium', and with her nonstop dancing, costume changes, mini-dramas and dynamic pacing, it is sort of a 'Liza With an M.'"[19]Jon Pareles from The New York Times reviewed the concert at Madison Square Garden in New York and felt that "For all its effort and professionalism, the concert wasn't exactly moving; Madonna had to ask the audience to get up and dance twice. But as shallow, kitschy, pop entertainment—no big messages, no revelations, familiar sounds and images, plenty of catchy tunes—the show was easy to enjoy. [...] The tunes stick to her limited vocal range and usually use short phrases—the better to keep her from running out of breath as she dances across the stage. And her band knocked the songs out with solid precision, recreating the gleaming sound of her records.[40] On their rankings of Madonna's tours, VH1's Christopher Rosa and The Odyssey's Rocco Papa both placed Who's That Girl in the fourth position; according to the former, it includes "some of M’s most effervescent performing" and a "setlist that rivals any Madonna tour to date", while the latter deemed it "much more simple compared to what we're used to seeing from Madonna" and pointed out "a certain spark and joy captured during this show which has never been duplicated" and how the singer "proved her ability to command an audience".[41][42] From The Advocate, Gina Vivinetto placed it on the eight position of her ranking.[43]
Commercial response
Tickets for one of the concerts at Wembley Stadium. Over 144,000 tickets sold out in 18 hours and 9 minutes.
After the tour was announced, the first two shows at Wembley Stadium in London sold-out at a then record-breaking time of 18 hours and 9 minutes for 144,000 tickets.[5] However around 10,000 concert tickets were still left unsold for her Leeds concert. Madonna's concert in Paris in front of 130,000 fans remains to this date, her biggest concert audience ever and largest crowd of any concert in French history.[44][45] A concert was also planned in Basel, Switzerland for August 31, 1987, but negotiations between Madonna's management and local organizers failed due to the high fee of one million ($2.68million in 2023 dollars[1]) that Madonna's camp demanded.[30] As a result, Nice, France was booked in the itinerary. But when a local mayor threatened to cancel the concert, citing crowd problems, Jacques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris, stepped in to overrule him.[30] Her first-ever Italian concert in Turin, was presented by the Italian state broadcaster RaiUno and broadcast around the world. Just in Italy, the show was watched by around 14 million households. The show at Turin was watched by 65,000 fans and was a record there.[30]
In Japan, a thousand troops had to restrain a crowd of 25,000 fans seeking to greet Madonna at the airport.[30] When severe storms forced the cancellation of her first shows, despondent fans nearly rioted, and Madonna was confronted with out-of-control teenagers soaking themselves in the rain outside the stadium.[30] Promoters had no choice but to refund U.S. $7million to ticket-buyers.[30] Madonna's Madison Square Garden show in New York City was an AIDS benefit with all the proceeds from the show going to American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).[40] She dedicated her performance of "Live to Tell" to her late friend Martin Burgoyne, the designer of her 1983 "Burning Up" single cover sleeve.[40] Upon completion, the tour was the second top female concert tour of 1987, behind Tina Turner's Break Every Rule Tour, earning in total of US$25million[lower-alpha 1] according to Pollstar and playing in front of 1.5 million audience all over the world.[5][46]
The concert at Korakuen Stadium, Tokyo was broadcast on June 22, 1987, in Japan only. It was later released on VHS and LaserDisc as Who's That Girl: Live In Japan.[47] It was the first television broadcast using Dolby Surround Sound and was promoted by Mitsubishi, as Madonna had previously starred in television commercials for their video recorders.[47] On September 4, 1987, Madonna's concert special, Madonna in Concerto, filmed at the Comunale Stadium in Turin, Italy was broadcast live on TV in Italy (RAI), France (TF1), Germany (SAT1), Austria (ORF) and Spain (TVE). Other countries including Australia and The Netherlands broadcast this show in 1987.[48] The concert was released commercially in 1988 as Ciao Italia: Live from Italy and was later available on LaserDisc and DVD.[49]
The video contains the full Who's That Girl show, produced using footage from three different shows: Tokyo on June 22, 1987, Turin on September 4, 1987, and Florence on September 6, 1987.[50] Heather Phares from Allmusic said: "A much simpler, less choreographed performance than her later extravaganzas like The Girlie Show World Tour, Ciao Italia is still entertaining in its own right, and will definitely please fans nostalgic for some old-school Madonna hits."[51] Mark Knopher from the Los Angeles Daily News commented that "Ciao Italia shows the glitz and the glamor that made this tour so remarkable."[52] It charted at the top of the Billboard music DVD chart on for six weeks and ranked at two on the "1988 Year-end Top Ranked Tapes".[53][54]Ciao Italia also charted at number three on the Finnish DVD chart in 2009.[55]
According to Taraborrelli, "Many female artists behave like a diva for a period when they reach superstar status, and the 'Who's That Girl?' tour marked the beginning of Madonna's."[2] For instance, she would not allow crew members to talk directly to her; they had to talk to her representatives, lest they distract her from the business at hand. She also forbade her dancers from speaking to her and her musicians were not permitted to even look at her unless they were onstage with her.[2] Moreover, when coming on and off the stage, Madonna demanded that road managers hold sheets around her in order to shield her from the eyes of "those who couldn't help but stare".[2] DeMann commented: "She has a way of demanding that compels you to give her your undivided attention", to which Taraborrelli felt that such behavior actually was an indication of how successful and strong Madonna was. "You don't behave like a bitch until you are that successful. The tour sure helped cement her star status", he commented.[2]
There had never before been a more imaginative or forceful showcase for the feminine sensibility in pop. Madonna is simply the first female entertainer who has ever starred in a show of this scope
The tour was also notable for giving rise to the term "new Madonna", a stronger and more intelligent sexual image of her former self which had given rise to the term Madonna wannabe.[8] Considine felt that "the important thing Madonna did on the tour was to demonstrate how female sexuality can be a source of strength. Traditionally in pop culture, there are two roles that a woman can play—the good girl and the bad girl, and the bad girl is never taken seriously. But Madonna shows up the trappings of a bad girl, and demanded to be taken up seriously because she just doesn't roll over. I got more sense of the strength and power that was under her image all along."[8] Another important fact noted in the tour by scholars is the extensive use of multimedia technique to its maximum potential. Says Mark Bego, author of Madonna: Blonde Ambition, that "Madonna transformed the concept of a concert tour being focused on the songs. She turned her Who's That Girl? tour into a ubiquitous multimedia blitz technique by including songs, dancing, choreography, videos, big screens, backdrops—not to mention the subtle preaching and messages—that made singing a secondary quality for concert goers. Evident from the people that thronged to see the tour, they were there for the spectacle—and not see Madonna standing in front of the microphone and singing.[57]
Publications also noted the fanaticism Madonna suscited in various of the countries she visited, especially Japan and the United Kingdom which prompted South China Morning Post to say it "demonstrates the unique position that she commands in the world of pop music". The merchandise also "enjoyed rocketing sales".[58] While in Italy, Madonna met some of her relatives from Pacentro, the village in which her grandfather and grandmother, Gaetano and Michelina Ciccone had been married.[30] However, it was not the glorious home coming that she had expected; some of her relatives made it very clear that they were scandalized by her appearance and behavior.[30] One good thing came from the visit, there were talks of making her an honorary citizen of the town. Ultimately, a statue of Madonna, wearing conical bra was erected in her name, at the center of the town.[30]
Set list
Set list and samples per Madonna's official website and the notes and track listing of Ciao Italia: Live from Italy.[59][50]
The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer Madonna. It supported her fourth studio album Like a Prayer (1989), and the soundtrack album to the 1990 film Dick Tracy, I'm Breathless. The 57-show tour began on April 13, 1990, at the Chiba Marine Stadium in Chiba, Japan, and concluded on August 5, 1990, at the Stade Charles-Ehrmann in Nice, France. Additionally, it marked Madonna's first concerts in Sweden and Spain. Originally planned as the Like a Prayer World Tour, it was supposed to be sponsored by soft drink manufacturer Pepsi. However, the company cancelled the contract following the controversy surrounding the music video of "Like a Prayer".
"Who's That Girl" is a song by American singer Madonna from the soundtrack of the 1987 film of the same name. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, it was released in Europe as the soundtrack's lead single on June 29, 1987; in the United States, a release was issued the following day. An uptempo pop song, "Who's That Girl" continued the singer's fascination with Latin pop, a genre she had previously explored on her single "La Isla Bonita". It features instrumentation from drums, bass, and trumpets, and has lyrics sung both in English and Spanish. While shooting for the film, then called Slammer, Madonna had requested Leonard to develop a song that captured the nature of her character; the producer worked on a demo and, afterwards, Madonna added the lyrics and decided to rename the song, as well as the film, to "Who's That Girl".
"Material Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her second studio album, Like a Virgin (1984). It was released on January 23, 1985, by the Sire label as the second single from Like a Virgin. It also appears slightly remixed on the 1990 greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, in its original form on the 2009 greatest hits compilation, Celebration and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022). The song was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. Madonna explained that the concept of the song was indicative of her life at that time, and she liked it because she felt it was provocative.
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light (1998) and Music (2000), respectively. The tour began on June 9, 2001, at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, and ended on September 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, United States. It was her first tour in eight years, following the Girlie Show in 1993. Set to start in 1999, it was delayed until 2001 as Madonna filmed and starred in the movie The Next Best Thing (2000), began working on Music, gave birth to her son Rocco and married Guy Ritchie.
"Dress You Up" is a song by American singer Madonna from her second studio album, Like a Virgin (1984). It was released as the album's final single on July 24, 1985, by Sire Records. Written by Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale, and produced by Nile Rodgers, who also played guitar on the track, it was the final song to be added to the album. Rodgers had asked the writers to compose something similar to the work of his band Chic but, due to LaRusso and Stanziale being busy with other projects, the composition took time. When the lyrics were submitted, the producer initially rejected them, as he felt there was no time to compose a melody; Madonna, however, liked the lyrics and convinced him to include the song on Like a Virgin. Musically, "Dress You Up" is a dance-pop song whose lyrics are an extended metaphor for fashion and lust, comparing dressing up with passion.
"Like a Virgin" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna from her second album of the same name. The song was written and composed by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and it was released as the album's lead single on October 31, 1984. A dance song with two hooks, Madonna sings in a high register while a continuous arrangement of synths are heard along the bassline. The song's lyrics are ambiguous, consisting of hidden innuendos and open to various interpretations.
"Lucky Star" is a song by American singer Madonna from her self-titled debut studio album (1983). Produced by Reggie Lucas, it was written by Madonna with the intention that her friend Mark Kamins would play it in his sets at Danceteria, where he was the resident DJ. In 1982, Madonna was signed on by Sire Records for the release of two 12" singles; after the success of first single "Everybody", the label approved the recording of an album, and the singer decided to work with Lucas. However, problems between Madonna and the producer arose and he ended up leaving the project; she then called John "Jellybean" Benitez, her boyfriend at the time, to work on the remaining songs.
"Holiday" is a song by American singer Madonna from her self-titled debut album (1983). It was written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens-Crowder for their own musical act Pure Energy, and produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez. Hudson came up with the lyrics of the song while watching negative news on television, and together with Stevens-Crowder worked on the music. They recorded a demo, which was turned down by their label Prism Records. Afterwards, Benitez pitched the track and offered it to several artists, including former The Supremes singer Mary Wilson, but it was rejected. Around the same time, Benitez was working with Madonna on her album; after realizing they needed a song for the project, Benitez thought of "Holiday" and approached Hudson and Stevens-Crowder.
"Into the Groove" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna, and featured on the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan. Written and produced by both Madonna and Stephen Bray, the main inspiration behind the song was the dance floor; the singer wrote it while watching a Latin American man to whom she was attracted. Its instrumentation features synthesizers and drum machines, with Madonna's voice being double tracked on the chorus. Sexual innuendos and undertones are present throughout the lyrics, which are written as an invitation to dance with the singer. Originally written for her friend Mark Kamins, Madonna later decided to use it on the film, as one of the scenes needed a dance song. It was later added to the 1985 international re-issue of her second studio album, Like a Virgin (1984), and remixed for her compilations You Can Dance (1987), The Immaculate Collection (1990), and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022).
"Open Your Heart" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Madonna for her third studio album True Blue (1986). Written by Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson, it was conceived as a rock and roll song titled "Follow Your Heart" for singer Cyndi Lauper, but Cole and Rafaelson never had the chance to play it for her. At the time, Cole's management was working with Madonna's, who were looking for material for her third studio album. After her manager asked Cole to present a female demo of the song, Madonna accepted it and, alongside producer Patrick Leonard, turned it into a dance song. Lyrically, it's an innuendo-laden love song where the singer expresses her sexual desire. In the United States, the song was released as the fourth single from True Blue on November 12, 1986; overseas, it was released on December 1. Furthermore, it was included in the compilation albums, The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009), and the "video version" was featured on the 2023 remix-themed compilation, Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones.
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album True Blue (1986). Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch created it as an instrumental demo and offered it to singer Michael Jackson, who turned it down. When Leonard met Madonna to start working on True Blue, he played the demo for her. Madonna came up with the title, wrote the lyrics and produced the song with Leonard. It is her first song with Latin influences. Its instrumentation features flamenco guitar, Latin percussion, maracas, and includes four lines sung in Spanish. The lyrics talk about an island named San Pedro, whose location has been debated. Madonna said the song was her tribute to Latin Americans.
The Virgin Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her first two studio albums, Madonna (1983) and Like a Virgin (1984). It started on April 10, 1985, at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, United States, and ended on June 11 of the same year at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Although initially planned for an international audience, the tour was restricted to the United States and Canada. Warner Bros. Records decided to send Madonna on tour after Like a Virgin became a success. After an official announcement on March 15, 1985, Madonna and her team began production plans. She wanted the tour to be a reflection of her own self and collaborated with designer Maripol for the costumes.
The Girlie Show was the fourth concert tour by American singer and songwriter Madonna, in support of her fifth studio album, Erotica (1992). It began on September 25, 1993, at the Wembley Stadium in London, England, and ended on December 19 of the same year at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour is the second video album and the first live release by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released by Warner Music Video and Sire Records on November 13, 1985 and contains the concert footage from The Virgin Tour, filmed at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on May 25, 1985. Director Daniel Kleinman, who presided over the shooting of the tour on video, submitted the footage to Warner Bros. Records, who decided to release it as a video album. Madonna wanted to have a proper introduction added before the concert footage and asked director James Foley to shoot one, which portrayed her with her first image makeover, reciting lines related to how she became famous.
Janet World Tour was the second concert tour by American recording artist Janet Jackson. It was launched in support of her fifth studio album Janet (1993). It began in November 1993 and continued through April 1995. Concerts were held in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It is believed shows were performed in South America. However, there are not exact details and most information is unknown.
Break Every Rule World Tour is the sixth concert tour by singer Tina Turner. The tour supported her sixth solo album Break Every Rule (1986). It was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and broke box office records in 13 different countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Austria, France, Ireland and Denmark. It was the third highest-grossing tour by a female artist in North America in 1987 and the highest-grossing female tour of the 1980s with a total of $11.3 million . Her show in Rio de Janeiro remains the largest paying concert audience by a female artist with 180,000 spectators.
Ciao Italia: Live from Italy is a video album by American singer-songwriter Madonna and was released by Warner Reprise Video and Sire Records on May 24, 1988. It contained footage from a previous TV special of the Who's That Girl World Tour, Madonna in Concerto, broadcast in Europe in 1987, filmed at the Stadio Comunale in Turin, Italy. The video release also contained footage from shows recorded in Florence, Italy and Tokyo, Japan, the latter having previously been released as a Japanese TV special and home video release, Who's That Girl: Live in Japan. The decision to release Ciao Italia was spurred by the fact that this previous release became a commercial success in Japan. A re-release of the video took place in 1999, when it was released in DVD format, with a stereo soundtrack containing the songs only.
The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth concert tour by American singer Madonna, to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy (2008). It was Madonna's first major venture under a new ten-year 360 deal with Live Nation. Following a series of promotional appearances in support of Hard Candy, the tour was announced in May 2008, with concerts in Europe and North America; additionally, it marked the singer's first dates in Latin America in fifteen years. The first part of the tour began on August 23, 2008, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and ended on December 21 at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil. Afterwards, it was announced that Madonna had decided to resume the tour in the summer of 2009, with twenty-seven more concerts, mostly in European markets she had either never played in or visited in several years; the 2009 extension started on July 4 at the O2 Arena in London, England, and concluded on September 2 at the Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, Israel. Though initially planned, the tour did not visit Australia and East Asia due to financial problems and the financial recession. The show was described as a "rock driven dancetastic journey" and, like previous tours by the singer, was divided into different thematic acts: Pimp, Old School, Gypsy, and Rave.
The Moment of Truth World Tour was the second worldwide tour by American recording artist Whitney Houston and supported her multi-platinum hit album Whitney. The trek started on July 4, 1987 in North America and continued overseas during 1988 in Europe, Asia and Australia.
I Am... Tour was the fourth concert tour by American performer and singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles, in support of her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), consisting of 110 concerts across six continents. Two months of preparations for the tour began eight months prior to its commencement, with daily twelve-hour rehearsals. The tour was announced in October 2008, and began in March 2009 with five preliminary ’rehearsal’ shows in North America. Knowles has described the I Am... World Tour as her best and most theatrical of all of her tours.
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