''Rebel Heart'' is the thirteenth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American singer-songwriter
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 ...
, released by
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
on March 6, 2015. She worked on the album throughout 2014, co-writing and co-producing it with various musicians, including
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
,
Avicii
Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...
and
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
. The album also features guest vocals by boxer
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
and rappers
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...
,
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
and
Chance the Rapper
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...
.
Thematically, ''Rebel Heart'' represents the singer's romantic and rebellious sides; the ideas grew organically during the writing and recording sessions. Musically, it is a pop record which merges an array of genres such as
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
,
trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
, and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, while using
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
s and a
gospel choir. Some of the songs are autobiographical in nature, while others talk about love and Madonna's career. Unlike her previous endeavors, working with many collaborators posed problems for Madonna in keeping a cohesive sound and creative direction for the album.
The record had been set for a March 2015 release, with the first single to be released on
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
. However, after a flurry of unexpected album content
leaks
A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a tank or a ship's hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter the container. Leaks are usua ...
, Madonna released ''Rebel Heart'' for pre-order on the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
on December 20, 2014, with six songs made available immediately for download. A police investigation led to an Israeli man being arrested and charged with
hacking into Madonna's computer and leaking the songs. The album's artwork became popular on social media, leading to numerous
meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
s being created.
To promote ''Rebel Heart'', Madonna gave several performances on television and embarked on the
Rebel Heart Tour
The Rebel Heart Tour was the tenth concert tour by American singer Madonna, staged in support of her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). Comprising 82 shows, the tour visited North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. It began on S ...
, which visited North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, from September 2015 to March 2016. "
Living for Love
"Living for Love" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Diplo and Ariel Rechtshaid, with additional writing from MoZella and Toby Gad. O ...
", "
Ghosttown", "
Bitch I'm Madonna
"Bitch I'm Madonna" is a song by American singer Madonna from her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015), featuring guest vocals from rapper Nicki Minaj. The artists co-wrote the song with MoZella, Toby Gad, Ariel Rechtshaid, Diplo, an ...
", and "
Hold Tight" were released as singles from the album. ''Rebel Heart'' received predominantly positive reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
; multiple reviewers called it Madonna's best effort in a decade. It debuted and peaked at number two on the US
''Billboard'' 200 and the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, while reaching number one in
major music markets such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. ''Rebel Heart'' was certified
gold or platinum in seven countries.
Background and development
Following the release of her twelfth studio album, ''
MDNA'' (2012), Madonna embarked on
The MDNA Tour
The MDNA Tour was the ninth concert tour by American singer Madonna, launched in support of her twelfth studio album, '' MDNA'' (2012). Comprising 88 shows, the tour began on May 31, 2012, in Tel Aviv's Ramat Gan Stadium and concluded in Córd ...
to promote it.
The tour created widespread controversy over her statements on violence, human rights, politics, her use of fake firearms, and her on-stage nudity. She was threatened with several lawsuits.
Madonna was enraged by many world events, which she claimed were acts of "injustice" against humanity. In September 2013 she released ''
Secretprojectrevolution
''secretprojectrevolution'' is a 2013 American short film directed by Madonna and Steven Klein, dealing with artistic freedom and human rights. The film launched a global initiative Art for Freedom to further freedom of expression, created by Ma ...
'', a short film she directed with
Steven Klein, dealing with artistic freedom and human rights. The film launched a global initiative known as Art for Freedom to promote
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
. Madonna said in a ''
L'Uomo Vogue
''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogue ...
'' interview her next album would be connected with Art for Freedom. She is committed to the initiative and must use her voice as an artist.
By December 2013, Madonna's manager
Guy Oseary
Guy Harley Oseary ( he, גיא עוזרי; born October 3, 1972) is an Israeli-American talent manager and writer. His clients include Madonna, U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Biography
Guy Oseary was born on October 3, 1972, in Jerusale ...
commented that the singer was "eager to get started" on her next album.
However, she had another project in mind: developing the screenplay for a film adaptation of
Andrew Sean Greer
Andrew Sean Greer (born November 1970) is an American novelist and short story writer. Greer received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel ''Less''. He is the author of ''The Story of a Marriage'', which ''The New York Times'' has ...
's novel ''The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells''. Madonna decided to split her time between writing the screenplay and writing songs for the new album.
In February 2014, Madonna confirmed she had begun working on her thirteenth studio album. Her previous work had been produced with a small core group of people developing the music. Working with many collaborators on ''Rebel Heart'', Madonna encountered problems keeping a cohesive sound and creative direction for it. She observed that many of the people she enlisted to work on the album could not stay in one city for any length of time due to their schedules. This resulted her not finishing songs in one session. "It was challenging ... with people coming and going in a revolving door of creativity."
Writing and recording sessions
In March 2014, Madonna began posting a number of images on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
hinting at possible songwriters and collaborators with
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
captions. First, she posted about going into the recording studio with Swedish DJ and producer
Avicii
Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...
.
Record producer
Carl Falk spoke with the ''
Dagens Nyheter'' newspaper in April 2014 about these sessions. He recalled that eleven demos with acoustic guitars and piano were recorded within a week at
Henson Recording Studios in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. Avicii's manager Arash "Ash" Pour Nouri selected six people. They were divided into two groups, the first consisted of Falk,
Rami Yacoub
Rami Yacoub (born 17 January 1975), also known by the mononym Rami, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter and former member of the songwriting/production houses Cheiron Studios and Maratone. Yacoub collaborated extensively with Max Martin ...
, and
Savan Kotecha
Savan Harish Kotecha is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian (Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', for ...
; the second consisted of
Salem Al Fakir
Lars Salem Al Fakir (born 27 October 1981) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He regularly collaborates with Vincent Pontare as the songwriting and production duo Vargas and Lagola. Together, they have worked with many ...
,
Vincent Pontare
Fred Vincent Pontare (born 13 May 1980) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He is also known by the mononym Vincent. He regularly collaborates with Salem Al Fakir as songwriting, producer, and duo Vargas & Lagola. Together, they have w ...
, and
Magnus Lidehäll
Magnus Lidehäll is a Swedish award winning producer, composer and songwriter. He works close with songwriting duo Vargas & Lagola – with whom he won the composer of the year award at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014. Together they have produce ...
. Avicii worked with both groups to create the demo songs, while Madonna arrived at the studio in the afternoon and stayed until 7:00 am. She worked closely with both teams while writing and changing melodies, and was in charge of the process.
A few days later, Madonna posted an image of a sunset with the words "Rebel Heart" on them, and a caption which the media interpreted as lyrics from a new song. The lines posted were: "Day turns into night. I won't give up the fight. Don't want to get to the end of my days... saying I wasn't amazed." Additional images showed Madonna with singer
Natalia Kills
Natalia Noemi "Teddy" Sinclair (née Cappuccini; born 15 August 1986), is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She has recorded music under various aliases, most famously as Natalia Kills and Verbalicious. She is currently the lead vocali ...
in front of a microphone, and with
Martin Kierszenbaum
Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, Fei ...
, the founder and chairman of Cherrytree Records, and senior executive of
A&R for
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
, Madonna's label.
By mid-April 2014, she had also revealed on Instagram the names of songwriters
Toby Gad
Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a Los Angeles-based German music producer/songwriter, best known for co-writing John Legend's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and producin ...
and
Mozella and record producer
Symbolyc One
Larry Darnell Griffin Jr. (born August 3, 1976), professionally known as Symbolyc One or S1, is an American record producer from Waco, Texas. He founded the group Strange Fruit Project and is signed to Kanye West's Very GOOD Beats as a producer ...
with images of the group working in studio. The list of personnel grew to include producer
Ariel Rechtshaid and sound engineer
Nick Rowe.
In May 2014, Madonna posted a
selfie
A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as F ...
in which she talked about working with American DJ
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
. She had invited him for her annual
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
party, but he could not attend. They eventually started talking about music through texts and decided to collaborate on the album.
Madonna asked him to provide his "craziest record" for the album. Together they wrote and recorded seven songs. "Those records are gonna be crazy-sounding. We really pushed the envelope with some of the stuff we were doing...
e was up for anything. I love when an artist gives a producer the confidence, he needs to work with them, and Madonna was very open-minded to my ideas", Diplo added.
One song was composed using a
hook Madonna had sung in the studio; Diplo described it as "super weird". Another one, later confirmed as "
Living for Love
"Living for Love" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Diplo and Ariel Rechtshaid, with additional writing from MoZella and Toby Gad. O ...
", had nearly twenty versions recorded ranging from a piano ballad to an
EDM version. Ultimately Madonna and Diplo compromised on a version midway between the two styles. Rechtshaid and British singer
MNEK
Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK (, ), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Awards, Brit Award, and has received the ...
also joined their writing sessions, improving the song's
verses.
Diplo also confirmed another track, known as "
Bitch I'm Madonna
"Bitch I'm Madonna" is a song by American singer Madonna from her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015), featuring guest vocals from rapper Nicki Minaj. The artists co-wrote the song with MoZella, Toby Gad, Ariel Rechtshaid, Diplo, an ...
", which he believed would push the lyrical boundaries for a
pop song.
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
also contributed to the album by playing
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
on "Living for Love". Madonna confirmed two other songs, "Messiah" and "
Devil Pray
"Devil Pray" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Avicii, DJ Dahi, and Michael Diamond (BloodPop), with additional writing b ...
", in different interviews.
Titling and themes
Thematically, Caryn Ganz of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' felt the album focused on two subjects: listening to one's heart, and being a rebel. Madonna explained that these concepts were not her initial inspiration but emerged during the sessions with Avicii. Madonna observed two distinct themes emerging organically, and felt the need to express them.
The record was titled ''Rebel Heart'', since it dealt with two different aspects of the singer's character—her rebellious, renegade side, and her romantic side; she wanted the album to represent both.
On the French radio station
NRJ
NRJ (NRJ is an acronym read as Nouvelle Radio Jeune, or ''énergie'' in French, pronounced , literally "energy") is a private French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981, and was widely popularized than ...
, she explained that ''Rebel Heart'' could be both autobiographical and fictional, since she mixed both her own experiences with imaginary narratives while writing the songs. The title stemmed from Madonna's belief that contemporary music artists are not encouraged or inspired to be rebellious, take risks, or speak-up, and she wanted to highlight this. However, she understood the importance of having love in the rebellious nature, so added the word ''Heart'' to the title.
Introspection was also listed as one of the foundational themes prevalent on the album. "
nuine statements of personal and careerist reflection
rescattered among the posturing of 'Bitch I'm Madonna' and '
Unapologetic Bitch
"Unapologetic Bitch" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). It was written by Madonna, Thomas Wesley Pentz, Shelco Garcia, Bryan Orellana, Maureen McDonald and Tob ...
'" according to ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
''s Sam C. Mac as well as her "obsessive self-regard".
Madonna explained to
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.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 ...
'' that, although she has never looked back at her past endeavors, reminiscing about it felt right for ''Rebel Heart''. "And it's bittersweet for me to think about that. It just seemed like a time where I wanted to stop and look back. It's kind of like
survivor guilt
Survivor guilt (or survivor's guilt; also called survivor syndrome or survivor's syndrome and survivor disorder or survivor's disorder) is a mental condition that occurs when a person believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumati ...
. How did I make it and they didn't?"
During the album's development phase, she became comfortable expressing her ideas in front of a few people, comparing it to "writing your diary in front of somebody and reading it out loud... It was almost like an acting exercise, you know, just putting myself in a room and letting ideas flow even if I didn't feel so connected to the people."
Further inspiration for the album came from Madonna's exploration of other cultures and art, literature, and music, referencing them in the songs. She believed that the tracks should stand on their own, so that one could sing them accompanied by just a guitar.
Madonna enlisted the help of her daughter Lourdes and son Rocco, calling them her A&R advisers. They visited night clubs and were able to provide her with news about up-and-coming music and artists, helping to create the sounds she gravitated towards for the album.
Generally, a pop record,
''Rebel Heart'' was different from Madonna's releases in the last decade according to Bradley Stern of ''MuuMuse''. He called it an "eclectic record" citing the merging of an array of musical genres like
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
,
trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
, and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
along with the use of
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
s. Stern felt that unlike ''
Hard Candy
A hard candy (American English), or boiled sweet (British English), is a sugar candy prepared from one or more sugar-based syrups that is heated to a temperature of 160 °C (320 °F) to make candy. Among the many hard candy varietie ...
'' (2008) and ''MDNA'' which chased then current musical trends, this album's sound was progressive.
Adding to this, Mitchell Sunderland from ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' felt that ''Rebel Heart'' was a "lesson learned" from the criticism Madonna had received for her previous two albums. Jed Gottlieb of the ''
Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
'' found the album continued Madonna's "increasingly interesting, innovative approach" by combining contemporary musical styles with her previous tastes. He found ''Rebel Heart'' to be an improvement over the generic
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
tunes on ''MDNA''.
For Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'', ''Rebel Heart'' was like a sequel to ''MDNA'' in its composition. While ''MDNA'' was marred by its cold mechanized vocals and clichéd songwriting, ''Rebel Heart'' portrays Madonna's musical abilities and as a lyricist "who ponders sin along with romance and fame."
Jay Lustig of ''
The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Records, an English power pop band
* '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee Ge ...
'' believed that Madonna had always lacked a thematic coherence with her previous endeavors. However, with the songs from ''Rebel Heart'', she was able to create potentially successful singles, despite the tracks' different styles, thereby maintaining consistency on the record.
Music and lyrical interpretation
''Rebel Heart'' opens with the song "Living for Love". Composed in the house genre, it begins with Madonna singing over a "regal" piano line, eventually joined by
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
.
Although a breakup song, it talks about being triumphant and hopeful.
According to Dean Piper of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', the song has "some classic Madonna traits: religious references, a gospel choir, '90s piano beats and a whirling bass". It was compared to her 1989 singles, "
Like a Prayer" and "
Express Yourself" by Jason Lipshutz of ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''.
The second track, "Devil Pray", was inspired by how one could be enticed to partake of
narcotic
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
s to achieve a higher level of consciousness and connect to
God.
Lyrically it asks for salvation from a variety of
drug abuses, making allusions to
Saint Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
and
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...
, as well as the pain of healing from drug abuse.
Produced by Madonna with Falk, Avicii,
DJ Dahi
Dacoury Dahi Natche (born March 10, 1983), professionally known as DJ Dahi, is an American DJ, songwriter, record producer and singer from Inglewood, California. Dahi is perhaps best known for producing " Money Trees" by American rapper Kendric ...
, and
Blood Diamonds, "Devil Pray" starts with gentle guitar sounds which build up to an
electropop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
production, accompanied by a house beat.
"
Ghosttown" talks about
civilizations ending and the world encountering an
armageddon, but humans seeing hope amid the destruction.
Written with
Jason Evigan
Jason Gregory Evigan (born June 10, 1983) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
His songwriting credits include co-writing and production of Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" and "What Lovers Do", Madonna's " Ghosttown", ...
,
Evan Bogart
Evan Bogart (born January 23, 1978), better known as E. Kidd Bogart, is an American songwriter, music publisher, record executive and film & television producer. He is the son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart and former music manager Joyc ...
, and
Sean Douglas, it is a
power ballad
A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...
song, which Madonna sings in "piercing" and "warm" vocals like those of
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praise ...
; the production is comparable to her 1986 single, "
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 rej ...
".
According to Douglas, "Ghosttown" was written in three days, after Madonna personally requested studio time with him and the other songwriters.
The fourth track, "Unapologetic Bitch", has reggae,
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
, and
dubstep influences. It is a
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
song where Madonna speaks negatively about a break-up and her lover, with lyrics such as: "It might sound like I'm an unapologetic bitch but sometimes you have to call it like it is."
Madonna explained that the song is about having fun regardless of the situation one is in.
"
Illuminati
The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...
", the fifth song, was inspired after Madonna learnt that she was considered one of the
Illuminati
The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...
's members. She decided to research the real Illuminati and then wrote the song.
Lyrically it refers to the
Illuminati conspiracy theory, the
Egyptian pyramids
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. Of ...
, the
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
, the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, and the
Eye of Providence
The Eye of Providence (or the All-Seeing Eye of God) is a symbol that depicts an eye, often enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by Ray (optics), rays of light or Glory (optical phenomenon), glory, meant to represent divine providence, whereby ...
among others, with the chorus's lyrics: "It's like everybody in this party is shining like Illuminati."
According to Madonna,
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, who produced the track, loved the melody and changed the composition adding his own spin to it.
Minaj appears on the sixth track, "Bitch I'm Madonna", where she raps, asking everybody to "go hard or go home", while Madonna shouts lyrics like: "I just want to have fun tonight, I wanna blow up this house tonight." Produced by Diplo and
Sophie
Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...
, the track has a tearing sound alongside the "bleepy
electro" and "churning dubstep" composition.
During the writing sessions, Minaj had to rewrite the lyrics until she got the sentiment Madonna wanted.
"
Hold Tight" consists of an "arresting" chorus and a
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
beat sound, described by Sam C. Mac of ''Slant Magazine'' as: "innocuous, lyrically platitudinous pop that briefly works itself up into something exciting when it threatens to become a gospelized stomp."
Track eight, "
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
", is a ballad where Madonna sings about the media scrutiny of her life, singing: "Each time they take a photograph, I lose a part of me I can't get back." It also references the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
of the same name.
Madonna's hushed,
vibrato
Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...
-tinged vocals, and confessional lyrics on "Joan of Arc", are enhanced by a new beat instrumentation that utilizes strings and acoustic guitars in the bridge.
"
Iconic" features
Chance the Rapper
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...
and boxer
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
. Tyson does a spoken word introduction to the song, similar to his addition to
Canibus's debut single, "
Second Round K.O.
"Second Round K.O." is a single from rapper Canibus' debut album, ''Can-I-Bus''. The song was produced by Wyclef Jean and his cousin Jerry Wonder and features spoken vocals from boxer Mike Tyson.
The song became Canibus's only top 40 single, ...
" (1998). Madonna invited him to the recording studio where he talked about his life; he recorded the introduction in one take. Consisting of a "weird" beat, "Iconic"s lyrics find Madonna embracing herself as an icon.
"HeartBreakCity" follows "Iconic". A
piano ballad
A ballade (from French ''ballade'', , and German ''Ballade'', , both being words for "ballad"), in classical music since the late 18th century, refers to a setting of a literary ballad, a narrative poem, in the musical tradition of the , or to a on ...
talking about lost love, Madonna sings in a deeper vocal register, inspired by
baroque pop
Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid 1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...
.
[ With its ]synths
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...
, banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
sounds, and hollow drums, "Body Shop" describes love as a damaged car on a highway, requiring a body repair to be alive.[ West also produced the next track, "]Holy Water
Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...
", where the singer compares her bodily fluids to the title. With hedonistic sound effects, the song is reminiscent of Madonna's 1990 single, "Justify My Love
"Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits album ''The Immaculate Collection'' (1990). It was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records as the lead single from ''The Immaculate Collection''. The song ...
" and contains a lyrical excerpt from "Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
". A bassline
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...
accompanies the chorus, consisting of moaning sounds, arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
music, and synths.[ "Inside Out" was produced by Mike Dean, and features Madonna's vocals with ]reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
, accompanied by piano sounds and restrained chords. " Wash All Over Me" follows, and is the last track on the standard version of the album. Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
piano sounds, and a steady military beat, lead up to the chorus as Madonna sings about the world changing, heartbreaks, and acceptance. A gospel choir and minimum synths back the song's sound.
The deluxe version of ''Rebel Heart'' continues with the track "Best Night", an '80s electro composition reminiscent of Sade
Sade may refer to:
People
* Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine
* Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band
* Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...
's songs with drums and Indian flute
A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the ''Ri ...
instrumentation. Madonna begins the song with the line, "You can call me M tonight" but her voice is not discernible in the chorus, only in the harmonies. There is another reference to "Justify My Love" at one point during the intermediate bridge.[ "Veni Vidi Vici" appears next, and is a ]rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
"origin story
In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reasons for their intent ...
song" with its lyrics built around Madonna's songs: "I expressed myself, came like a virgin down the aisle / Exposed my naked ass, and I did it with a smile / And when it came to sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
, I knew I walked the borderline / and when I struck a pose, all the gay boys lost their minds." Madonna sings the chorus over simple guitar beats, uttering "I came, I saw, I conquered", the English translation of the song's title. Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
appears for a guest verse talking about his own life as Diplo backs it with shotgun and crunching horn sounds. "S.E.X." is the next track where Madonna asks sarcastically "tell me what you know about sex" over sounds of bass, synths and a string arpeggio
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
.[ Near the end she lists a number of bondage items like: "Twisted rope, handcuffs, blindfold, string of pearls". Described as both an embodiment and critique of the act, "S.E.X." talks about the lack of intimacy with Madonna ]rapping
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
in a "dispassionate" voice; she purposely made it sound like she had a lisp
A lisp is a speech impairment in which a person misarticulates sibilants (, , , , , , , ). These misarticulations often result in unclear speech.
Types
* A frontal lisp occurs when the tongue is placed anterior to the target. Interdental lisping ...
as she articulated the words.
"Messiah" is a dramatic pop ballad[ with an ]orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
backing and violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
s. Madonna sings in a "deeper velvety" tone. The lyrics talk about lighting candles, necromancy
Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; ...
, and casting love spells. The title track finishes the deluxe version and was changed completely from its leaked demo. It consists of acoustic guitar and violins, with autobiographical lyrics. Amy Pettifer of ''The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quiet ...
'' noted, "'Rebel Heart' quietly cknowledges Madonna'spart in building the scene and popularizing stylistics that are the foundation of current trends."[ The super deluxe version presents tracks like "Graffiti Heart", where Madonna drew inspiration from artists, such as her former boyfriend ]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 ...
and friend 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 ...
, evoking the power of art in gaining freedom.[ It was described by the ''Pretty Much Amazing'' blog as "a galloping love letter to creativity", while "Beautiful Scars" is a ]disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
-lite throwback track. "Borrowed Time" deals with war and social issues while "Auto-Tune Baby" features a baby wailing in the background.
Release, leaks, and artwork
In May 2014, photographer Mert Alas
Mert and Marcus is the working name of two fashion photographers, Mert Alaş (born 1971) and Marcus Piggott (born 1971), who work together on a collaborative basis. Their work and style is influenced by photographer Guy Bourdin and, together, ...
posted on his Instagram account that he was listening to a new Madonna album. ''Billboard'' clarified that she was still in the process of recording it in Los Angeles. They later posted a 50-second snippet of an instrumental which media claimed was from Madonna, but the sample was traced back to Dutch DJ Sander Kleinenberg
Sander Kleinenberg (; born 29 December 1971) is a Dutch disc jockey, VDJ, and record producer. He founded and runs Little Mountain Recordings and THIS IS Recordings. Kleinenberg is well known for his use of digital video in concerts, his "Every ...
and his song "We Are Superstars". Oseary confirmed that Madonna looked forward to a 2015 release date for the album. However, on November 28, 2014, two songs titled "Rebel Heart
''Rebel Heart'' is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released by Interscope Records on March 6, 2015. She worked on the album throughout 2014, co-writing and co-producing it with various musicians, including Di ...
" and "Wash All Over Me" were leaked onto the Internet; the songs were taken down immediately, and Oseary tweeted asking for help finding the source of the leaks. On December 17, 2014, thirteen songs were leaked, as well as artwork suggesting the album was to be named ''Iconic''. An aggravated Madonna clarified that the songs were demo versions from earlier recordings; she described the leak as "artistic rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
". The singer was criticized for referring to the hack as "terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
", due to the then-recent Peshawar school massacre and the Sydney hostage crisis. Madonna said in a ''Billboard'' interview that after the leak she and her team tried to trace it to the source, but ultimately decided to release the finished songs. Referring to the Sony Pictures hack
On November 24, 2014, a hacker group identifying itself as "Guardians of Peace" leaked a release of confidential data from the film studio Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). The data included personal information about Sony Pictures employees ...
, she was critical of the Internet and explained that the incident led to her securing her laptop and hard drives, and disabling the Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
. "I wanted to plan everything in advance. Release the single, shoot a video, start talking about my record. And you know, prepare for the release of the entire album and have everything set up just so... But we sort of were left with no choice", she added.
On December 20, 2014, the album was made available for pre-order at the iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. Once ordered, six tracks, "Living for Love", "Devil Pray", "Ghosttown", "Unapologetic Bitch", "Illuminati" and "Bitch I'm Madonna", were automatically downloaded. Madonna said the songs were meant to be "an early Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
gift" for her fans, with the final release of the album scheduled for March 10, 2015. Originally, "Living for Love" was intended to serve as the album's lead single. It was to be released on Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
, with the rest of the record slated for the spring. However, due to the leak, the release date had to be pushed up. Oseary recalled that they did not receive a confirmation until Friday night whether the pre-release could be executed, since iTunes was closing for the Christmas weekend. After much discussion on the pros and cons of the release, and with the aid of Interscope Vice-Chairman Steve Berman, and Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
's Robert Kondrk, they were able to go live slowly. The six songs Madonna chose had to be polished, and since the tracks' producers were unavailable, she mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...
and mixed them herself.
The album's release was compared to singer Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
's 2013 surprise album release, with ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' calling it a "partial ''Beyoncé''". The leaks continued with fourteen new demos being revealed between December 23 and 27. Three new tracks, "Hold Tight", "Joan of Arc" and "Iconic", became available following Madonna's Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
performance in February 2015. The final track list for ''Rebel Heart'' was revealed on January 20, 2015, including the standard and deluxe version song names. A day later Israeli police
The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...
arrested a man suspected of hacking into Madonna's, as well as other musicians' computers, stealing and leaking content. Lahav 433
Lahav 433 () is an Israeli crime-fighting umbrella organization within the Israel Police, created on January 1, 2008. Known as the "Israeli FBI", the unit is the merger of five law enforcement offices into one. It was established as an initiative ...
, an Israeli crime-fighting umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
, had led a month-long investigation after the leaks occurred, working closely with the FBI. Although Israeli police refused to name the suspect, media identified him as former reality show contestant Adi Lederman, who had participated in the Israeli singing competition, ''Kokhav Nolad'', season ten. As the deluxe edition leaked in full, Lederman was charged by Israel's Magistrate Court on four counts: computer trespassing (two charges), prohibited secret monitoring, copyright infringement, and obstructing investigation. The investigation also revealed that Lederman had leaked the demo of Madonna's lead single from ''MDNA'', "Give Me All Your Luvin'
"Give Me All Your Luvin'" is a song by American singer Madonna from her twelfth studio album, '' MDNA'' (2012). It features guest vocals by Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj and English rapper M.I.A. The song was written and produced b ...
". Copies of songs, including rehearsal recordings of upcoming Madonna performances, were sold for more than $1,000 to various clients. Lederman was ultimately sentenced to fourteen months in a Tel Aviv prison.
The cover art, featuring Madonna's face inter-crossed with black wires, became popular on social media resulting in numerous memes being created on Instagram, Tumblr
Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
and Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. Fans wound black wires across their faces imitating the cover, and created memes
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
using the images of celebrities, including Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
, Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...
, and Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
. Madonna forwarded many of the images to her social media accounts. However, three of the images—those of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
and Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
with the same wires around their faces—were heavily criticized for being "disrespectful and racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
". The singer explained the photos the next day, saying that she was flattered by the comparison to the three and characterized herself as a "freedom fighter". ''Rebel Heart'' became the singer's fourth studio album to bear the Parental Advisory
Advisory (abbreviated PAL) is a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profan ...
label after '' Erotica'' (1992), '' American Life'' (2003) and ''MDNA'', due to the profanity
Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
and sexual references in tracks such as "Holy Water". In 2022, Madonna named ''Rebel Heart'' the "most stressful" album she's ever done due to its multiple collaborators.
In 2022, a demo track called "Back That Up to the Beat", from ''Rebel Heart''s recording sessions began gaining popularity on video sharing app TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
, leading to Madonna releasing the track on digital music platforms on December 30, alongside a sped-up version of the demo. The final version of "Back That Up to the Beat" had previously been included in the 2-CD deluxe edition of Madonna's 2019 studio album, ''Madame X
''Madame X'' (original title ''La Femme X'') is a 1908 play by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). It was novelized in English and adapted for the American stage; it was also adapted for the screen twelve times over sixty-five ...
''.
Promotion
Live appearances
Madonna confirmed her appearance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time ...
on February 8, 2015; Oseary clarified she would also sing during the ceremony. The singer performed "Living for Love" wearing a one-piece, matador red outfit, surrounded by male dancers dressed as minotaurs similar to the song's music video. ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' reported that Madonna's performance was the most-watched moment of the night. Her choice to sing live without Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances.
Auto-Tu ...
during the choreographed performance was widely praised. She also performed the song at the 2015 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2015 was held on 25 February 2015. This was the 35th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, presented by Ant & Dec. This was their second time ...
, on February 25, 2015. However, in the early stages of the performance, a wardrobe malfunction caused her to be pulled down a flight of stairs that made up part of the stage. She later took to Instagram to confirm she was well, posting: "Thanks for the good wishes! I'm fine." It was later revealed that her cape was tied too tightly. When her dancers attempted to remove it from her neck, this caused her to crash to the floor, leaving the audience in shock. After several seconds, she continued her performance as planned.
Madonna partnered with the geosocial networking
Geosocial networking is a type of social networking in which geographic services and capabilities such as geocoding and geotagging are used to enable additional social dynamics. app, Grindr to promote ''Rebel Heart''. A contest was held, and five of the app's users were selected for an exclusive interview with the artist. The contest required re-creating the artwork for ''Rebel Heart'' and posting it as a Grindr profile picture. Other winners received signed copies of the album. Joe Stone from ''The Guardian'' considered this a "savvy" promotional method allowing Madonna to connect directly with her gay audience. Madonna appeared on ''The Jonathan Ross Show
''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jonatha ...
'', for her first UK television interview in three years, on February 26, 2015 (aired on March 14). She performed an edited version of "Living for Love", as well as "Ghosttown" for the first time. On March 1, she traveled to Italy for an appearance on the television show '' Che tempo che fa'' (aired on March 8). She performed "Devil Pray" and "Ghosttown" while talking with host Fabio Fazio
Fabio Fazio (; born 30 November 1964) is an Italian television presenter. After debuting in 1982, he presented many TV programs, including ''Quelli che... il Calcio'', ''Vieni via con me'' and ''Quello che (non) ho''. Since 2003, he presents the ...
about a number of topics including the album's development process. The next day she appeared on France's '' Le Grand Journal'' show, performing an edited version of "Living for Love" and "Ghosttown". Another interview aired on ''The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
'' on March 9 and 10, 2015, where she spoke to host Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, Television producer, producer, and celebrity, television personality. Prior to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'', ...
about the ''Rebel Heart'' leaks. Madonna appeared for the first time on a special edition of ''The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'' on March 11, 2015. She discussed her life and personal relationships, as well as confirming that "Ghosttown" was to be ''Rebel Heart''s second single.
Madonna appeared and performed on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show
''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...
'' in the US for the entire week of March 16 to 20. Songs performed included "Living for Love" with DeGeneres herself joining the singer onstage. She also sang a stripped-down version of "Joan of Arc", "Ghosttown", and finally, her 1985 single "Dress You Up
"Dress You Up" is a song by American singer Madonna from her second studio album '' Like a Virgin'' (1984). It was released as the fifth and final single from ''Like a Virgin'' on July 31, 1985, by Sire Records. The song was the last track to ...
", during a bathroom concert sequence with DeGeneres. On March 29, 2015, Madonna performed "Ghosttown" at the 2nd iHeartRadio Music Awards
The 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards was the second music award show presented by iHeartMedia's platform iHeartRadio and NBC. The awards were held on March 29, 2015, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and were hosted by Jamie Foxx.
Taylor Swi ...
in Los Angeles, where singer Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
joined her on stage playing guitar. Two days later, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
's Jo Whiley
Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...
interviewed her for Radio 2, the singer's first radio interview in the UK. Madonna appeared on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'' on April 9, 2015, singing "Bitch I'm Madonna" and her 1983 single, "Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
".
Singles
"Living for Love" was the first single from the album, released along with five other tracks. It was sent for radio play in the US on February 10, 2015. The song received positive feedback with ''Slant Magazine'' listing it at number 25 on their year-end top songs list for 2015, saying: "Overworked and overthought, for sure, but the song's essence remains intact, and if Madonna's message of life after love didn't register as a commercial comeback on the scale of, say, Cher
Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...
's 'Believe
Believe may refer to:
*Belief, a psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true, with or without proof for such proposition
*Faith, a belief in something which has not been proven
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
', it remains a pop-gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
sequel of the highest order." An accompanying music video, directed by the French duo Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen, together known as J.A.C.K., was released in February 2015. Its storyline incorporates mythological elements and shows Madonna as a matador
A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...
, fighting her dancers dressed like minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
s on a red circular stage.
"Ghosttown" was first sent for radio airplay in Italy on March 13, 2015, and a week later in Australia. Jonas Åkerlund
Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish film director, screenwriter, music video director, and drummer. His video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form, and a record of fiv ...
directed the music video, which starred actor Terrence Howard
Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...
. The video's main theme was "an apocalyptic situation mimicking the end of the world", showing the singer and Howard as the sole survivors in a destroyed city.
The third single, "Bitch I'm Madonna", was released as a remix EP, featuring remixes by various collaborators. Åkerlund again helmed the video for the song, which featured Minaj and Diplo with Madonna, and cameo appearances by: Rita Ora
Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...
, Chris Rock
Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...
, Jon Kortajarena
Jon Kortajarena Redruello (born 19 May 1985) is a Spanish fashion model and actor. He has landed advertising campaigns for Just Cavalli, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Bally, Etro, Trussardi, Diesel, Mangano, Lagerfeld, Pepe Jeans but notably H&M ...
, Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
, Alexander Wang, Beyoncé, Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
, Kanye West, and Madonna's two sons, Rocco and David. Shot at the Standard Hotel
Standard Hotels is a group of seven boutique hotels in New York City (Meatpacking District and East Village), Miami Beach, London, Maldives, Ibiza, and Hua Hin, Thailand. The hotels are operated by Standard International Management. The two origi ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the video shows Madonna and her entourage partying throughout the building, ending on the rooftop. Technical difficulties plagued the release of the video to the streaming service Tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* ...
; it was met with a mixed response. Critics complimented the craziness of the clip but panned the absence of the guest stars from the set.
"Hold Tight" was a radio only single in Italy, released for airplay on July 24, 2015, and served as the fourth single from ''Rebel Heart'' in that country.
"Bitch I'm Madonna" became the only track from the album to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It debuted and peaked at number 84 on the chart, aided by a total of 2.6 million streams of the song's audio and video. The first three singles reached the top of the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
. This extended Madonna's record as the artist with the most number one songs on the chart. As well, she became the artist with the most number-one singles ever on a ''Billboard'' chart, breaking a tie with country singer George Strait
George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...
who earned 44 number-ones on the Hot Country Singles chart. "Living for Love" reached number 26 in the United Kingdom, becoming Madonna's 71st top-forty single, extending her record as the female artist with the most top-forty UK singles.
Tour
Many news outlets began reporting on the concert tour supporting ''Rebel Heart''. The Italian newspaper '' Torino Today'' reported Madonna was planning on returning to Turin with the tour on November 20 and 21, 2015. The Rebel Heart Tour
The Rebel Heart Tour was the tenth concert tour by American singer Madonna, staged in support of her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). Comprising 82 shows, the tour visited North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. It began on S ...
kicked off on September 9, 2015, and visited North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. ''Billboard'' reported it would only use arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
s, and visit cities where Madonna had not performed previously. The initial itinerary included 25–30 shows in North America and 20–25 shows in Europe, with additional dates being revealed later. It was the singer's first visit to Australia since 1993's The Girlie Show, as well as her first time performing in New Zealand and the Philippines.
The tour's main stage was elevated and set up at the end of each arena. A long catwalk extended from the middle into the audience ending in a heart-shaped stage. The catwalk was bisected by an arena-wide cross stage. Designers working on the tour's wardrobe included: Jeremy Scott
Jeremy Scott (born August 8, 1975) is an American fashion designer. He is the creative director of the fashion house Moschino and the sole owner of his namesake label. Since launching his brand in Paris in 1997, Scott has built a reputation as ...
for Moschino
Moschino () is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1983 by Franco Moschino in Milan known for over-the-top, campy designs. The company specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, and fashion accessories.
History Founding and 1990s
Franco Mosc ...
, Alessandro Michele
Alessandro Michele (; born 25 November 1972) is an Italian fashion designer who most recently served as the creative director of Gucci, the Italian fashion luxury house where he had been working since 2002. Known for his maximalist designs, Aless ...
for Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...
and Alexander Wang, along with Fausto Puglisi, Prada
Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...
, Miu Miu
Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Paris, France.
History
Miu Miu was established in 1992 by Miuccia Prada. The name ...
, Swarovski
Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.
The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...
, Lebanese designer Nicolas Jebran
Nicolas Jebran ( ar, نيكولا جبران) is a Lebanese fashion designer famous for haute couture in addition to his line of accessories, shoes and bags called "Jebran".
Jebran started showing interest in art very early on. In 1999 he took ...
, as well as Madonna's longtime collaborator Arianne Phillips
Arianne Phillips (born April 26, 1963) is an American costume designer. Phillips was recognized for her work on the Broadway musical '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', starring Neil Patrick Harris, earning her a Tony award nomination for Best Cost ...
. The tour generated positive critical reviews, many noting that Madonna appeared to be in a happy mood onstage. It grossed a total of $169.8 million from 82 shows, with over 1.045 million ticket sales. A live album of the tour was released on September 15, 2017, as DVD, Blu-ray and digital download.
Critical reception
On its release, ''Rebel Heart'' received predominantly positive critical reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a weighted mean
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating out of 100 to reviews by music critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on 29 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' writer Neil McCormick, Andy Gill of ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
, and Lauren Murphy of ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' each gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. McCormick felt that "(f)or the first time in years, adonnadoesn't sound desperate", praising it in comparison to ''Hard Candy'' and ''MDNA''. Murphy wrote "the indisputable pop icon is back with a tentative bang" after ''MDNA'' had "few memorable pop hits". For Gill, the most impressive aspect of ''Rebel Heart'' was Madonna's vocals, while Erlewine found the album a revival of Madonna's defiant side and her confessional mood. Saeed Saeed of ''The National'' called it: "a fine collection of sturdy pop tunes in which Madonna finally allows herself to look back and sometimes pilfer from her peak periods of the late 80s and early 2000s."
Writing for ''The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quiet ...
'', Amy Pettifer praised the album, describing it as: "a darker return to the club culture roots or Madonna and it seems—on some level—to face up to the missteps of her more recent releases. Giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars, ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' writer Elysa Gardner described the album's sound and lyrics as "piercingly direct".[ '']Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
and Randall Roberts of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' awarded it 3 out of 4 stars. Kot believed the album would have been better without the songs referencing sexuality, but still considered it "fascinating". Roberts believed ''Rebel Heart'' stood out "sturdily" because of its production. Writing for ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', James Reed opined that the album was a, "welcome detour in the artist's recent discography... her most satisfying effort in a decade and nimbly connects the dots between Madonna's various eras and guises." Critic Joey Guerra of the ''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' called ''Rebel Heart'': "a complex, consistently strong album".
''Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' editor Sal Cinquemani, Joe Levy of ''Billboard'', and Caryn Ganz of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' each awarded the album 3.5 out of 5 stars. Cinquemani wrote that the album was "all over the map", yet felt it was "a surprisingly coherent one".[ Levy wrote that the album was "subtle" compared to "current standards", adding that: "These songs unfold slowly, building through foreplay-like intros before hooks are displayed over a shifting series of textures".][ Ganz felt that ''Rebel Heart'' "is at its strongest when Madonna shoves everyone to the side and just tells it to us straight", adding: "Deep down, Madonna does have a rebel heart – and you can't fault her for reminding us that pop music is all the better for it."][ Jamieson Cox of '']Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' commended the album for its consistent production and sound, and for Madonna's vocals and songwriting. Giving it a rating of "B", Kyle Anderson and Adam Markovitz of ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' called the album "Madonna's best outing since 2000's ''Music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
''". Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' and ''Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an enginee ...
'' writer Nick Levine gave the album 3 out of 5 stars. Petridis felt that the two contrasting sides of the album did not "quite gel", reasoning that: "the former might represent the music Madonna wants to make, while the latter is the music she feels obliged to make".[ Levine wrote: "'Rebel Heart' may lack cohesion, but she's definitely not down for the count: this contains some of the best music Madonna's made in a decade."
Annie Zalesky of '']The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' said the record had its "fair share of those head scratching moments", but found it to be a move in the right direction musically. ''Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' writer Andrew Unterberger gave ''Rebel Heart'' a 6 out of 10 rating. While calling it "clunky", he felt the album "contains a number of Madonna's best songs in years." ''Instinct
Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a v ...
''s Samuel Murrian opined that " 'Rebel Heart''might have been something like a home run if it were a few tracks shorter". Writing for ''The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'', Lydia Jenkin gave it a mixed review, deeming the album a "bit of a mess" and "confused". Lindsay Zoladz of ''New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine was disappointed, feeling the songs sounded "safe", adding that: "Madonna of ''Rebel Heart'' assucceeded once again in the increasingly empty goal of sounding current". Gavin Haynes of ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' panned the album, saying that it "feels like a wasted opportunity. Trite self-empowerment anthem 'Iconic' informs us that there's only two letters difference between Icon and I Can't. Sadly, there are also two letters between class and ass."
Commercial performance
According to Andrew Hampp of ''Billboard'', pre-orders for ''Rebel Heart'' were strong after its global release to iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. They were estimated at around 50,000 to 60,000 copies by industry prognosticators. ''Rebel Heart'' debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart with 121,000 album equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...
s, behind the soundtrack of the TV series ''Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'', which sold 9,000 units more. While it was the best-selling album of the week—ranking number one on ''Billboard''s Top Album Sales chart with pure album sales of 116,000 copies (96% of overall units)—it fell behind the soundtrack when it came to streaming and track equivalent album units, with just over 1,000 and 4,000 units respectively. It became Madonna's 21st top-ten album, but was her first studio release not to debut atop the chart since ''Ray of Light
''Ray of Light'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released in early 1998 by Maverick Records. A stylistic and aesthetical departure from her previous work, ''Ray of Light'' is an electronica and techno-pop reco ...
'' (1998). ''Rebel Heart''s concert tour bundle amounted to less than 10,000 copies compared to the 180,000 copies sold for her previous album, ''MDNA''. The release also saw Madonna debut at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Artist 100 chart, moving up by 2,919% in overall Artist 100 points and gaining 31% in social media activity. In Canada, ''Rebel Heart'' debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...
. With 18,000 copies sold in the first week, it became Madonna's seventh number-one there during the SoundScan era. The next week, the album dropped 19 places on the ''Billboard'' 200, while in Canada it dropped only one position. ''Billboard'' reported sales dropped by 78% to 26,000 units, a reflection of the high pre-orders during the first week. The album was present for a total of 11 weeks on the chart, and ranked at number 151 on the ''Billboard'' 200 year end chart for 2015. As of December 2016, the album has sold 238,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
.
Despite outselling its nearest competitors by a ratio of nearly 3:1 within 24 hours on sale in the United Kingdom, ''Rebel Heart'' entered the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
at number two with 37,245 units. The chart-topper of that week, Sam Smith
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
's ''In the Lonely Hour
''In the Lonely Hour'' is the debut album by English singer and songwriter Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2014 via Capitol UK and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014 through Capitol ...
'', pushed ahead at the last minute and sold 12,000 copies more than ''Rebel Heart''. It became Madonna's first studio album to miss the top spot since '' Bedtime Stories'', which also debuted at number two in 1994. The following week, the album dropped to number seven, with sales declining by 67.46% to 11,983 copies. The album had sold 76,490 copies as of June 2015, and was later certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
(BPI) for 100,000 units. ''Rebel Heart'' debuted at the top of the German Albums Chart, becoming her twelfth chart-topping record there. Madonna surpassed the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
as the foreign act with the most number-one albums in German chart history. She equaled Herbert Grönemeyer
Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...
for third place overall, behind only Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer.
Early life
Born in Braşov (german: link=no, Kronstadt), Romania, the son of a German (Transylvanian Saxon), h ...
and James Last
James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for "best bassist" in Germany in each of ...
with 16 and 13 chart-toppers respectively. In France, the album debuted at number three on the SNEP Albums chart, with three-day sales of 17,000 copies. ''Rebel Heart'' also debuted at number one on record charts in: Austria, Belgium (Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
), Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, as well as in the top ten in the rest of Europe.
In Australia, ''Rebel Heart'' debuted at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart with sales of 6,962 copies. It was Madonna's eleventh number-one album in the country tying her with U2 as the act with the most number-one albums since ARIA's establishment in 1983. ''Rebel Heart'' became Madonna's 19th week atop the chart, ranking her at number 24 on the list of artists with most accumulated weeks at the top. The album had a sharp drop the next week, selling 1,312 copies and falling to number 18 on the album chart.[ In New Zealand, it debuted at number seven on the ]Official New Zealand Music Chart
The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Musi ...
. In Japan, ''Rebel Heart'' debuted at number eight on the Oricon Albums Chart
The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...
with first-week sales of 7,548 physical units, becoming her record-extending 23rd top-ten album there. It also entered the Oricon International Albums Chart at number one, staying there for a second week. In South Korea, the album gave Madonna two top-ten entries simultaneously on the Gaon International Albums Chart, with the deluxe edition at number one and the standard edition at number seven. ''Rebel Heart'' ended 2015 as the 39th best-selling album of the year with sales of 900,000 copies. As of 2018, ''Rebel Heart'' has sold one million copies worldwide.
Accolades
In its year end review of albums released in 2015, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked ''Rebel Heart'' at number 45 noting: "''Rebel Heart'' was adonna'sfinest album in a decade, picking up the disco-stick baton of her 2005 '' Confessions on a Dance Floor'' as Madonna voyages back into the groove and reflects on where she's been lately." It was also listed at number six on its ranking of the 20 Best Pop Albums of 2015. Similarly, in its year end review, ''Spin'' magazine listed the album at number 21 as Andrew Unterberger noted that: "For most artists who spent whole decades defining the mainstream, titling an album ''Rebel Heart'' would seem misguided at best, but for Madonna, it's truer now than ever: A fifty-something refusing to bend to public demands about how she should age gracefully... is as big an act of defiance as you can stage in contemporary pop music." AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
called ''Rebel Heart'' one of their Favorite Pop Albums of 2015, describing it as: "Bold, messy, and life-affirming record that finds Madonna simultaneously looking forward and back."
For its year end tabulation, ''Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'' listed ''Rebel Heart'' at number 10 on the list of Top 25 Albums of 2015. Lewis Corner noted the tracks ranged from: "brilliant, dancehall groove to more reflective and somber pop ballads". He added that: "At this stage in her career, if Madonna doesn't have 'pop chameleon' on her LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
profile... then ''Rebel Heart'' alone is enough to endorse that title." He listed "Devil Pray" as a standout track. About.com ranked the record as the fifth best Pop Album of 2015, with reviewer Bill Lamb calling it a "return to form", and her strongest endeavor since ''Music'' (2000). Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
music editor Mesfin Fekadu ranked the album at number five, describing the album as a "contemporary classic that puts albums from other female artists half adonnas age to shame." Fekadu felt it "unfortunate" radio stations did not play songs from the album, listing "Bitch I'm Madonna" and "Joan of Arc" as highlights. ''Billboard'' listed the Deluxe edition album cover at number 15 in their ranking of the Best Album Covers of 2015.
Track listing
Credits adapted from Madonna's official website.
Notes
* signifies a co-producer
* signifies an additional producer
* signifies a remixer
* signifies personnel listed with BMI as songwriter on the song.
Personnel
Personnel adapted from Madonna's official website.
* 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 ...
– vocals
* Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...
– vocals
* Chance the Rapper
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...
– vocals
* Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
– vocals
* Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
– vocals
* DJ Dahi
Dacoury Dahi Natche (born March 10, 1983), professionally known as DJ Dahi, is an American DJ, songwriter, record producer and singer from Inglewood, California. Dahi is perhaps best known for producing " Money Trees" by American rapper Kendric ...
– additional vocals (outro), programming
* MNEK
Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK (, ), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Awards, Brit Award, and has received the ...
– background vocals
* Santell – background vocals
* London Community Gospel Choir
The London Community Gospel Choir is Britain's first renowned contemporary "performance touring, inspirational gospel choir band", fusing gospel with multi-genres of music, including pop, soul, jazz, R&B, and classical. It was founded in 198 ...
– background vocals
* Jason Evigan
Jason Gregory Evigan (born June 10, 1983) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
His songwriting credits include co-writing and production of Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" and "What Lovers Do", Madonna's " Ghosttown", ...
– background vocals
* Salem Al Fakir
Lars Salem Al Fakir (born 27 October 1981) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He regularly collaborates with Vincent Pontare as the songwriting and production duo Vargas and Lagola. Together, they have worked with many ...
– background vocals, marching drums, keys
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
, guitars, orchestra editing
* Vincent Pontare
Fred Vincent Pontare (born 13 May 1980) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He is also known by the mononym Vincent. He regularly collaborates with Salem Al Fakir as songwriting, producer, and duo Vargas & Lagola. Together, they have w ...
– background vocals, additional background vocals, vocal editing
* Toby Gad
Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a Los Angeles-based German music producer/songwriter, best known for co-writing John Legend's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and producin ...
– additional background vocals, musician, guitars, programming, instruments, additional programming, mixing
* MoZella – additional background vocals
* Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
– piano
* Carl Falk – guitars, keyboards, programming
* Avicii
Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...
– keyboards, programming
* Shelco Garcia & Teenwolf – musician
* Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
– musician
* Mike Dean – guitar, keyboards and drum programming, key bass, additional programming, mixing, engineering
* Abel Korzeniowski
Abel Korzeniowski (; born 18 July 1972) is a Polish composer of film and theatre scores.
Life and career
Korzeniowski was born in Kraków. He had contact with music from early childhood: his mother Barbara plays the cello and both his brothers A ...
– electric cello
The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification (rather than acoustic resonance) to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built-i ...
* L.A. Orchestra – musician
* Joacim Ottebjork – bass
* AFSHeeN – musician, programming, instruments
* Josh Cumbee
Joshua Kissiah Cumbee is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his artist collaborations with Armin van Buuren and as a songwriter for other artists. In 2015, he was nominated ...
– musician, programming, instruments
* Stephen Kozmeniuk
Stephen Kozmeniuk, known professionally as Koz, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, engineer and instrumentalist. Production and writing credits include Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, and Dua Lipa. Koz received 3 Grammy nominatio ...
– musician, programming, instruments
* Dan Warner – programming, instruments (guitar)
* Lee Levin – programming, instruments
* Michael Diamonds – programming
* Magnus Lidehäll
Magnus Lidehäll is a Swedish award winning producer, composer and songwriter. He works close with songwriting duo Vargas & Lagola – with whom he won the composer of the year award at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014. Together they have produce ...
– programming
* Demacio "Demo" Castellon – additional programming, engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, mixing
* Nick Rowe – engineering
* Angie Teo – mixing, additional recording, additional mixing
* Ann Mincieli – additional recording
* Ron Taylor – additional Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
editing
* Noah Goldstein – engineering, mixing
* Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine – engineering
* Zeke Mishanec – additional recording
* Rob Suchecki – additional recording
*Mert and Marcus
Mert and Marcus is the working name of two fashion photographers, Mert Alaş (born 1971) and Marcus Piggott (born 1971), who work together on a collaborative basis. Their work and style is influenced by photographer Guy Bourdin and, together, t ...
– photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
See also
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (Australia)
The ARIA Albums Chart ranks the best-performing albums and extended plays (EPs) in Australia. Its data, published by the Australian Recording Industry Association, is based collectively on each album and EP's weekly physical and digital sales ...
* List of number-one hits of 2015 (Austria)
This is a list of the Austrian number-one singles and albums of 2015 as compiled by Ö3 Austria Top 40, the official chart provider of Austria.
References
{{AustrianNumber1s
Number-one hits
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich of ...
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (Belgium)
The Belgian Albums Chart, divided into the two main regions Flanders and Wallonia, ranks the best-performing albums in Belgium, as compiled by Ultratop.
Flanders
Wallonia
References
{{Ultratop 200
2015 record charts, Belgium Album ...
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (Canada)
These are the Canadian number-one albums of 2015. The chart is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and published by '' Jam!'' Canoe, issued every Sunday. The chart also appears in ''Billboard'' magazine as Top Canadian Albums.
Note that ''Billboard'' ...
* List of number-one hits of 2015 (Germany)
The Media Control Charts are record charts compiled by Media Control on behalf of the German record industry. They include the "Single Top 100" and the "Album Top 100" chart. The chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, and the chart compilatio ...
* List of number-one hits of 2015 (Italy)
This is a list of the number-one hits of 2015 on FIMI's Italian Singles and Albums Charts.
See also
* 2015 in music
* List of number-one hits in Italy
References
{{FIMI
Number-one hits
Italy
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From ...
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (Netherlands)
The MegaCharts, Dutch Albums Chart ranks the best-performing albums in the Netherlands, as compiled by MegaCharts, GfK Dutch Charts.
References
{{reflist, 30em
2015 in the Netherlands, Number one albums
2015 record charts, Netherlands
Li ...
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (Portugal)
The Portuguese Albums Chart ranks the best-performing albums in Portugal, as compiled by the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa.
References
{{Portuguese charts
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Po ...
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (South Korea)
* List of number-one albums of 2015 (Spain)
Top 100 España is a record chart published weekly by PROMUSICAE (Productores de Música de España), a non-profit organization composed by Spain and multinational record companies. This association tracks record sales ( physical and digital) in ...
* List of number-one hits of 2015 (Switzerland)
This is a list of the Swiss Hitparade number ones of 2015.
Swiss charts
Romandie charts
References
Swisschart No.1 Singles and Albums 2015Swiss Romandie Singles Chart
{{SwissNumber1s
Number-one hits
Switzerland
2015
File:2015 E ...
* List of Downloads Chart number-one albums of the 2010s (UK)
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Albums produced by Ariel Rechtshaid
Albums produced by Diplo
Albums produced by DJ Dahi
Albums produced by Kanye West
Albums produced by Madonna
Albums produced by Mike Dean (record producer)
Interscope Records albums
Madonna albums
Albums produced by Jason Evigan