Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week talks about Madonna.
It’s been a year since Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, opened the Mercy James Paediatric Surgery and Intensive Care Centre and that’s cause for celebration.
In case you were living under a rock, the Billboard Music Awards just happened.
It’s all about The Power of Madonna this week on the Billboard 200 albums chart where the soundtrack from last week’s Madonna-themed episode of Fox TV’s “Glee” debuts at No. 1 with 98,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Bust out your disheveled wedding dresses, cone bras and Kabbalah water — Fox’s “Glee” will unveil its first episode dedicated entirely to one artist with “The Power of Madonna” premiering Tuesday evening.
Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera stepped up to kiss the Queen of Pop’s ring – well, Madonna herself – at the 2003 VMAs, and Lady Gaga got her chance to pay homage this weekend on Saturday Night Live. But rather than play it straight, SNL cast the two in a mock catfight that pit Gaga (the night’s musical guest) against Madge (in town promoting best-of collection Celebration). It all went down during a “Deep House Dish” sketch when DJ Dynasty Handbag (Kenan Thompson) announced “two exciting entertainers, performing together for the very first time.” The pair of slight blond stars… Read more »
Rock legend Jimi Hendrix’s first recording contract worth $1 and erotic multimedia tapes sent by Madonna to her old bodyguard went on sale in an online auction Monday. The more than 450 items featured in the rock ‘n’ roll and pop art auction on www.gottahaverockandroll.com included personal effects from John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Eminem. The auction will run through August 5th. Hendrix’s earliest known contract for $1, dated October 15th, 1965, could fetch up to $250,000, auctioneers said. It was signed by Hendrix and PPX Enterprises of New York for Hendrix to… Read more »
If you think that Lady Gaga has gotten used to being a pop superstar, think again. No one was as surprised as the New York City native herself to see that the Queen of Pop, Madonna, took some time out of her busy schedule to catch the “Poker Face” singer’s show at New York’s Terminal 5 on Saturday. “I was very humbled that Madonna came to the show,” said Gaga. “And I had been hearing all week that she was going to come, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK,’ and I didn’t want to talk about it or tell anyone… Read more »
LILONGWE, Malawi — Wealthy, famous, fabulous at 50 – but not a mother of four. Pop star extraordinaire Madonna lost a bid Friday to adopt a second child from Malawi rejected by a judge who said she would not bend the country’s strict residency rules even for a wealthy celebrity. The decision came as a surprise since Malawi’s child welfare minister came out Thursday in support of the singer’s application to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James. And it was a rare setback for the material girl who has projected an image of being able to attain whatever she sets her… Read more »
LOS ANGELES — Madonna’s only four days removed from her quickie divorce from Guy Ritchie, but the Material Cougar doesn’t seem to be wasting much time on the singles scene. E! News has learned that the 50-year-old Queen of Pop enjoyed the cozy company of 33-year-old rumored boy-toy Alex Rodriguez during a late-night private flight Monday, with the keep-’em-guessing couple arriving in Miami in the wee hours this morning. The duo departed from Atlanta Monday, shortly after Madonna completed the Georgia stop on her Sticky & Sweet Tour, and landed just before 2 a.m. “They got right into an SUV… Read more »
