Martin Burgoyne (1963 – November 30, 1986) was a British-born artist. Burgoyne befriended singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

before she was famous and he was a key figure in her early career. He managed her first club tour and designed the

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

for her 1983 single " Burning Up."

Life and career

Born in England, Burgoyne's family moved to Florida during his childhood. Drawn to the excitement of New York, Burgoyne moved to Manhattan to study art at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

in the early 1980s. Upon arriving,

Steve Rubell Steve Rubell (December 2, 1943 – July 25, 1989) was an American entrepreneur and co-owner of the New York City disco Studio 54. Early life Rubell and his brother Donald grew up in a Jewish family in New York City. His father worked as a pos ...

, co-owner of

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

, hired him as a bartender. He was later a bartender at

Erika Belle Erika Belle is an American socialite, art curator, fashion designer, and dancer, most known for her friendship and work with pop singer Madonna (entertainer), Madonna in the 1980s. She has been featured dancing in Madonna's videos to "Everybody (M ...

's Lucky Strike on East 9th Street and Third Avenue in

Downtown Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

. Burgoyne met and befriended up-and-coming singer Madonna and the two became roommates. Burgoyne was one of Madonna's early dancers following the release of her single " Everybody" on

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

in October 1982. Since Burgoyne was not a professional dancer, he was dropped from the troupe, but he was the

road manager In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to): *advancing show dates *making t ...

for her first club tour. Burgoyne also designed the cover sleeve for her 1983 single " Burning Up." He worked with Liz Rosenberg, a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

executive with Sire's parent label

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, to design covers for various artists. Burgoyne designed the original cover for Madonna's debut album, which was slated to be titled ''Lucky Star'' but ended up being

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

. According to

Seymour Stein Seymour Stein (born April 18, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed bands that became central to the new wave era of the 1970s ...

, co-founder of Sire Records and vice president of Warner Bros. Records, Madonna discreetly asked A&R executive Michael Rosenblatt to decline Burgoyne's sleeve design for her album because "it just wasn't iconic enough." However, they maintained a close relationship and shared a circle of friends, which included artists

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

, and

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

. Burgoyne invited Warhol to be his date to Madonna's wedding in August 1985. In the summer of 1986, Burgoyne became ill with what initially was thought to be

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

. In August 1986, he was diagnosed with AIDS-related complex (ARC). In September 1986, a fundraising party was organized by Deb Parker at the Pyramid Club in the East Village. The event raised $6,000 for Burgoyne's medical and living expenses. Among the guests were Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, who both designed the invitation,

Kenny Scharf Kenny Scharf (born November 23, 1958) is an American painter known for his participation in New York City's interdisciplinary East Village art scene during the 1980s, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Scharf's do-it-yourself pract ...

, who performed at the event,

Anita Sarko Anita Sarko (c. 1947 – October 18, 2015) was an American DJ and journalist. She grew up in Detroit, then attended the University of Arizona and graduated from the Michigan State University. She moved to New York City in 1979 and was the DJ in the ...

, Steve Rubell, and Madonna. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote an article covering the event as the

AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

was devastating a generation of predominantly gay men. Madonna paid for Burgoyne's medical expenses at St. Vincent's Hospital. She also leased an apartment for him on West 12th Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, so that he could be closer to the hospital. On November 10, Madonna modeled a denim jacket painted by Burgoyne at an AIDS benefit fashion show for St. Vincent's Hospital. Burgoyne died at 23 years old of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related complications on November 30, 1986. He is buried at Brookside Cemetery in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

. During Madonna's

Who's That Girl World Tour 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 album '' True Blue'', as well as the 1987 soundtrack ''Who ...

in July 1987, she held a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

for AIDS Research (

AmfAR amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, known until 2005 as the American Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of ...

) and dedicated her performance of "

Live to Tell "Live to Tell" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album '' True Blue'' (1986). The song was originally composed by Patrick Leonard as an instrumental for the score of Paramount's film '' Fire with Fire'', but Paramount re ...

" to Burgoyne. She also wrote a song about him called " In This Life" which was released on her 1992 album ''

Erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...

''.

Credits

* 1983: Madonna – "Burning Up" / "Physical Attraction" (Sire Records) –

Cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

* 1983: NV – "It's Alright" (Sire Records) – Art concept * 1984: NV – "Let Me Do You" (Sire Records) – Art concept * 1984:

Jellybean Jelly beans are small bean shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors (see gelatin and jelly). The confection is primarily made of sugar and sold in a wide variety of colors and flavors. History It has been cla ...

– ''Wotupski!?!'' (

EMI America Records EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second United States, US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s, EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records ...

) – Design * 1984: Jellybean – "The Mexican" (EMI America Records) – Design * 1986:

General Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

– ''

Hand To Mouth A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...

'' ( I.R.S. Records) – Cover art * 1986: The Jamaica Girls – "On The Move" (Sire Records) – Cover art, Design

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgoyne, Martin 1963 births 1986 deaths People from the East Village, Manhattan Pratt Institute alumni English emigrants to the United States People from Greenwich Village AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) American gay artists English gay artists