October 15, 2023

Did you think Madonna would lay down and die?

 

@rosie

♬ original sound - Rosie ODonnell
See also: "Madonna Celebrates Four Decades of Hits With Career-Spanning Spectacle/After a health-related delay, the pop superstar launched her Celebration Tour in London with a performance devoted to her full catalog of hits" (NYT).
Madonna, 65, is on the road for the first time since 2020... The show opened at the O2, a 20,000-capacity arena, three months after its planned first date, following a health scare for the pop icon. In June, Madonna was hospitalized shortly before the tour’s scheduled debut in Canada. At the time, her manager said she had a “serious bacterial infection” that resulted in the singer staying in an intensive care unit for several days. Madonna swore that the tour — her first devoted to her full catalog of hits, rather than to a specific album release — would go on....

57 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...


"Did you think Madonna would lay down and die?"

I would be more interested if she would do the show looking like the ogre she is. (Scroll down)

JayG said...

I wonder what people paid for the experience of hearing strangers singing so loud that they couldn't hear Madonna? This is why I don't attend many concerts anymore. They've become singalongs — people looking around, making sure everyone else can see that they know all the words.

Wilbur said...

She will lay down and die. Someday. Just like the rest of us.

In the late 80s I was dragooned into chaperoning my 13 year-old step-daughter to a Madonna concert in the Orange Bowl in Miami. It was one of the least pleasant evenings of my life.

That said, if she wants to tour and can sell tickets, good for her. As my father would say, I'll be among the missing.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Madonna: me me me me me me me me me me me me me...

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Madonna who?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

She had a strange bacterial infection - right?

I suggest she stop injecting bovine.

Bob Boyd said...

It’s a weird, gut-wrenching feeling that every time I leave my room, there’s a possibility that...Mr. Smith has an erection visible through his leggings

A tree grows in Kappa house.

cassandra lite said...

"Did you think Madonna would lay down and die?"

Not necessarily that, but either her just going away quietly and not having to be in the spotlight all the time, or not pretending to be 30 again would be nice.

Stick said...

20 years ago, I would have never guessed that Roseanne would be better looking than Madonna.

Whiskeybum said...

Remember that what you think and what you hope for are two different things!

Rich said...

Linda Ronstadt was selling out stadiums more than a decade before Madonna showed up. I’ve always thought that, other than self-marketing, Madonna was a mediocre talent. If she didn’t “shock”, she’d have faded. Maybe there is a remake of Sunset Blvd. in her future.

gilbar said...

What is with Multimillionaires in their late 60's STILL thinking they want to work?
I assume it's the attention? personally, i'm Glad to NOT have attention

Charlie said...

Want to torture all the Hamas prisoners? Make them sit through a Madonna concert.

re Pete said...

"Madonna, she still has not showed

We see this empty cage now corrode

Where her cape of the stage once had flowed"

Oso Negro said...

Has to keep that pussy relevant

Kate said...

She trained for her upcoming show like a 30 yr old and overtaxed her body. I will say, though, that the facial swelling from her fillers has relaxed and she doesn't look so scary anymore.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I got an Edith Piaf vibe.

Jupiter said...

She just keeps on pushing my love over the borderline.

Iman said...

You go girl!!!

BadFrog said...

In the words of an old friend 'Not so much mutton dressing as lamb as carrion dressing as mutton'.

Ann Althouse said...

I'd like to see some comments on the video, which is the reason for the post and the basis, perhaps, for positive feelings and even delight.

I can't imagine commenting just to voice your dislike for Madonna. What is your problem?

Aggie said...

Madonna's shtick has always been about pushing the limits on what is 'too much', it seems to me. But I think she might be at that point where the limits of advancing decrepitude has converged with modern limits of what 'too much' is. She needs to find a different set expressions now, I think, to remain artistically viable..

JAORE said...

Survive? Was she surrounded by terrorists? Was she fighting stage 4 cancer?

Frick no. she was fighting to be relevant as an old lady denying time.

As to the video.... what a weak voice. What pathetic strumming on the guitar. What an assault on the ears to hear hundreds try to sing while she chooses her own pathetically slow cadence.

And, "Noooooooo!" (screamed a fan) we don't expect her to lay down and die. Just fade away.

Lexington Green said...

She just keeps going. Her fans love her, and she is willing to keep performing for them. Good. Everybody wins.

Someone wrote many years about about The Rolling Stones: "Old Stones is better than new Stones, but new Stones is better than no Stones at all." I love the Stones and still agree with that. Because their fans love them, they feel like a family who are happy just to see them still at it, and if the new stuff is also pretty good (the new stuff is indeed pretty good) everyone is happy for them and for us the fans.

If I loved Madonna, I would feel the same way about her and her music and her continuing to perform.

Also, her schtick during her heyday was about sexiness and sexual edginess. She is too old to make that the center of her appeal now. And as to edginess, the edge has moved over the horizon and she can no longer go over it. Nothing sexual is shocking nowadays except sexual conservatism, which she is not going to do.

So she will have to evolve. She has always been a clever self-promoter and performer. She will likely find a way to be an older and even elderly woman and continue to perform.

One possible model is Marianne Faithfull, who has become a cabaret type performer and performing her songbook in that style, which is suitable to her age and her old lady voice. (Marianne's cover of John Prine's "That's How Every Empire Falls" is beautiful, BTW.)

Madonna's fans are loyal and she will find a way to keep them happy as long as she is physically able to perform.


Rabel said...

"I can't imagine commenting just to voice your dislike for Madonna. What is your problem?"

Trying hard to be cool. It's kind of a thing. But they all used to sing along with Borderline and Material Girl.

The audio quality of the video makes it not worth comment.

Yancey Ward said...

Like Kate, I thought she looked much better than she didn't some tweet she produced over a year ago. I could recognize her again in that video. Glad to see she back doing what she loves- I have been a fan from her very first album.

Biff said...

gilbar said...
"What is with Multimillionaires in their late 60's STILL thinking they want to work?"

I suspect that a big part of the reason that many multimillionaires became multimillionaires is that they love their work so much that it is not "work" to them in the way that most of the rest of us experience work.

To them, it is a life-affirming passion.

For them, to stop working would be uncomfortably close to stopping to live, i.e., to "lay down and die."

Biff said...

PS. I don't have much of a comment on the video. I think that Madonna has put out some very good music over the years, and she has put out some mediocre content as well. I didn't find this particular performance to be inspired or engaging. If anything, I found it to be a little clichéd. She has enough talent that she probably could have written an original tune just for the occasion that would have worked at least as well. That said, I am happy for her that she looks relatively healthy compared to many of her public appearances in recent years.

Ice Nine said...

Comment on the video? Sure, here ya go: She still doesn't sing particularly well and, who knew?, she's not much of a guitar player either. (But, as I am led to understand, she's a hell of an entertainer. OK, fine.)

Wilbur said...

AA, if you do not want any negative comments concerning the subject of a post, may I suggest you say so in the post? I would comply with your wishes, no problem.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My recollection is the Madonna had a very rocky beginning as an artist. She was accepted by most of the young market, but she was less than warmly received by some stablished artist. I'd imagine when you are new, that could mess with you, if not stay with you.

It all came to ahead with controversy about her invitation to perform at Live Aid.

After that performance the dissent kind of quiet down.

William said...

They say that if you love your job, you never have to work another day in your life. What about if you're addicted to your job, you can never be free of work again in your life. I guess all that applause and money are pleasant enough, but staying in shape and rehearsing sounds a lot like grinding work...I don't hate Madonna, but her personality is borderline Britney.....I took the time to listen to some Taylor Swift songs. It's definitely music. I won't listen to them again, but they're definitely music. I think she'll grow old with more grace than Madonna, but I won't be around to see it. I probably won't live long enough to see her first divorce.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I will admit to liking her "ray of light" album.

Her early stuff - never liked it.

LOL

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Remember when all the American leftist females lost their minds after Trump won in 2016?

I do.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I like how Madonna spent most of her career grabbing herself by the pussy - but when an obscure tape of Trump came out and he said "they let you do it"

Madonna and the fem-o-left hive lost their collective minds.

LOLOLOLOL tee hee - Trump called her "disgusting" hahahahaha.

Michael said...


Madonna has always had a great sense of showmanship. You can see in the vid that she hasn't lost a step. Not many artists can stay relevant over four decades.

Always thought she never got enough credit for her acting in Who's That Girl?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Hilarious - someone who spent a career sexualizing herself and prostituting herself as a sex object - humping beds, spread eagle, giving coke bottles blow jobs, etc.. is outraged that Trump ever had sex. BTW - didn't she publish a book called SEX?

ew icky! sex! LOLOLOL.
eee gads she is the epitome of the type of women all men should stay away from.

(no wonder her gaggle of fans consists mostly of gay men)

Rabel said...

"AA, if you do not want any negative comments concerning the subject of a post, may I suggest you say so in the post?"

She has stated before, "Don't shit on the post."

That doesn't mean, as I see it, that negative comments are unwelcome, but rather that comments indicating that the post should not have been put up and is unworthy of the pixels, which reflects negatively on the judgement of the blog author, are unwelcome, including simple, guttural expressions of a generalized grumpiness developed over a long and unsatisfying life which some seen to have an overwhelming, irresistible need to share with the world.

Hey, Ice. Mike, wazzup?

Best example would be the classically trite, "Who's Madonna?"

Or "Whose Madonna" since this is the internet.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Um, clearly, Madonna is the problem.
As authentic as Biden's hair plugs.

Ann Althouse said...

"AA, if you do not want any negative comments concerning the subject of a post, may I suggest you say so in the post?"

It's more that I think, as I say in the instructions, "Comments should respond to material raised in the post."

I don't put up a post to say let's talk about some generic topic again. I always have something new that I'm putting up. Talking about how Madonna looks with whatever new work she's having was a topic last March: here.

We discussed her serious illness in June: here.

Today, the subject is her huge new show and how she talked about her recovery from illness — she had to do it for her children — and her surprising cover of the song "I Will Survive" (which is what the post title refers to).

So what I want to see is reaction to this new stuff. It's not a matter of positive or negative, but new versus old. It's OLD to say Madonna looks old or Madonna ought to view herself as old or Madonna doesn't have a strong enough voice or whatever. I don't see why you'd want to comment to say something like that, which you could have said last March or 10 years ago.

Please try to say something that you wouldn't have though of without the new material I'm providing in the post. Keep things fresh.

A recent example of this problem was a post I put up that connected the war in Gaza with the war in Ukraine. Some commenters came in to just say something about Gaza that ignored Ukraine as if I'd just put up a post saying let's talk about Gaza again. But I don't post like that. I trouble myself to always offer something new, so I'd like to see comments that follow this practice too.

The Crack Emcee said...

"I don't see why,..." Is becoming a very common argument for shutting other people down.

Mason G said...

"I suspect that a big part of the reason that many multimillionaires became multimillionaires is that they love their work so much that it is not "work" to them in the way that most of the rest of us experience work."

That sure seems to be the case. Jimmy Buffett died with a net worth of $1 billion, his last public performance was two months before his death. I can't imagine continuing to perform with that kind of money, knowing that you have a serious (read: potentially fatal) medical condition.

Paul said...

Madonna will just have to wake up, yes and no.

lonejustice said...

The problem with most of the comments here on Althouse Blog is that very few people ever bother to even read the full post, or the article, or watch the video. They just decide to rant about the subject matter. And most rants are negative. I read Althouse Blog because of her choice of material and her comments. I've almost given up on reading the comments section, because nobody here cares any more about discussing issues. It's just vetting, rooting for your side, and vilifying anyone who opposes you. Sad. It wasn't like this when I first discovered this blog.

AMDG said...

Well at least she is singing and the music is live.

Apparently there is no band. The music is canned.

When Imgo to a concert I like to watch the band.

Leland said...

Lay down? Yes.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

that gloria gaynor song is not fresh.

tommyesq said...

"Did you think that Madonna would lay down and die?"

Oh no, not I... She will survive.

Marcus Bressler said...

The comments are why I come to read this blog. The Hostess usually touches lightly on a subject (not always,though) or just posts something with a mere comment, if that. She doesn't write essays.

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN

Bunkypotatohead said...

They used to call that an "oldies" act.

Oligonicella said...

Fine.

Poor performance by a now mediocre performer who looks more elderly than she is yet tries to capture that young and dashing appearance but simply looks like botched cosmetic surgeries piled high.

FullMoon said...

Gee whiz, after reading these comments, I simply must go back and watch the video.

FullMoon said...

Ok. She looks and sounds better than she did at Trumps inauguration,

"(Reuters) - Pop singer Madonna, who said in a profanity-laced speech at Saturday’s Women’s March in Washington, D.C., that she had thought about “blowing up the White House,” said on Sunday..."

Fortunately, no sedition charges

Robert Cook said...

"Linda Ronstadt was selling out stadiums more than a decade before Madonna showed up. I’ve always thought that, other than self-marketing, Madonna was a mediocre talent."

Absolutely! She doesn't compare well as a vocalist with any of the prominent female pop and rock singers from the 60s-80s. I don't think anyone will argue that Madonna's appeal is her voice. It's all about her image and charisma (and early on, her appeal to adolescent girls who saw her as a model for being "rebellious" yet glamorous at the same time). (Years ago I met a guy who had been her first manager in NY, well before she had a record contract, and he said even then she was impossibly contentious to deal with--though he put it more bluntly.)

All the above said, I thoroughly did and still do like many of the hits she produced in her heyday.

The Crack Emcee said...

Robert Cook said...

"I don't think anyone will argue that Madonna's appeal is her voice. It's all about her image and charisma (and early on, her appeal to adolescent girls who saw her as a model for being "rebellious" yet glamorous at the same time)."

It is amazing how few of those attributes have anything to do with music.

Alexisa said...

Bravisomo!

Say what you will about Madonna, she is an Artist. Very few can claim that title. Love her, hate her - we are privileged to have had her in our lives.

Robert Cook said...

"It is amazing how few of those attributes have anything to do with music."

Well, none of them do, but they are certainly commonplace attributes that feed the music business.