Marea Stamper (born 1977), better known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

the Blessed Madonna (formerly the Black Madonna), is an American DJ, producer and musician. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' named her the DJ of the year in 2016. She founded her own record label called We Still Believe.

Musical career

Born Marea Stamper, a high-school dropout who was bullied for her

gender-nonconforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

appearance, Stamper started her career in the late 1990s, selling

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s by underground DJs at

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

s. She has been called "one of the world's most exciting

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system ...

s." In 2013, she released her EP “Lady Of Sorrows”. In 2014, she released two singles, “Stay” and “Exodus”. On November 11, 2016, she released a new single “He Is The Voice I Hear” at

Gramaphone Records Gramaphone Records is a DJ-based vinyl record store in Chicago, Illinois. History The store opened in 1969 and originally sold folk, jazz, and blues music. By the 1980s, the store was selling house music records. The store was the first of its ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The song was later released on streaming platforms through her own label, We Still Believe, in the beginning of 2017. In 2018, The Blessed Madonna appeared as herself in ''

Grand Theft Auto Online ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbo ...

'', as part of the ''After Hours'' DLC. Stamper’s former stage name, The Black Madonna, references the

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found both ...

paintings of the

Virgin 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 o ...

, a tribute to her family's favorite Catholic saint. Historically Stamper defended the use of The Black Madonna, citing her Catholic faith as a reason for her attachment to the icon. However, in response to a

Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

petition that raised concerns of racial insensitivity, Stamper changed her stage name to The Blessed Madonna on July 20, 2020. She cited "controversy, confusion, pain and frustration" caused by the previous name and stated, "People who shared that devotion loved the name, but in retrospect I should have listened harder to other perspectives." On July 27, 2020, British singer

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

announced the release of a remix by Stamper of her song " Levitating" featuring American artists

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 ...

and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

to serve as the fifth single of her 2020 album, ''

Future Nostalgia ''Future Nostalgia'' is the second studio album by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, released on 27 March 2020 by Warner Records. Lipa enlisted writers and producers such as Jeff Bhasker, Ian Kirkpatrick, Stuart Price, the Monsters & Strange ...

''. The remix was released on August 14, 2020. On August 4, Dua Lipa announced ''

Club Future Nostalgia ''Club Future Nostalgia'' is a remix album by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa and American DJ the Blessed Madonna. A DJ mix edition of it was released on 28 August 2020, with the standard edition following on 11 September of the same year. Th ...

'', which was mixed by Stamper, and features previously announced guests Madonna and Missy Elliott, as well as

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

, and others. In late 2021, Stamper began hosting regular shows on

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. After 6 years, Stamper released a new single “Serotonin Moonbeams” which featured vocals from singer

Uffie Anna-Catherine Hartley (born December 9, 1987), known professionally as Uffie (), is an American-French singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ, and fashion designer formerly signed to French electronic music record label Ed Banger Records. Uffie's music ...

, as well as a sample from

Burton Inc. Burton, Burtons, or Burton's may refer to: Companies * Burton (retailer), a clothing retailer ** Burton's, Abergavenny, a shop built for the company in 1937 **The Montague Burton Building, Dublin a shop built for the company between 1929 and ...

’s “ Why Don’t You Let Me Know”. The track interpolated

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

’s hit song “ Tom’s Diner”.

Discography

Remix albums

* ''DGTL: The Blessed Madonna at DGTL Madrid, 2018'' (2018) *''

'' (2020; with

) * ''NYE 2021'' (2020)

Singles

* "He Is the Voice I Hear" (2017) *" Levitating (The Blessed Madonna Remix)" (with

featuring

and

; 2020) * " Marea (We've Lost Dancing)" (with

Fred Again Fred John Philip Gibson, (born 19 July 1993) known professionally as Fred Again (stylised as Fred again..) or simply Fred (stylised as FRED), is a British record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ. Early life and educa ...

; 2021) * "Serotonin Moonbeams" (2022)

Selected remixes

* 2015: Nick Höppner – "Relate" * 2016:

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

– " Indestructible" * 2016: Tiga – "Blondes Have More Fun" * 2018: Silk City and

– "

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

" * 2019: Robyn – " Between the Lines" * 2019:

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

– " About Work the Dancefloor" * 2020: Celeste – "

Stop This Flame "Stop This Flame" is a song by British singer and songwriter Celeste. The single was released on 9 January 2020 through Both Sides and Polydor Records as the second single from her debut studio album ''Not Your Muse''. It was written by Celeste ...

References

External links

*
''The Blessed Madonna''
(BBC Radio 6 Music) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blessed Madonna, The Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American DJs American house musicians American Roman Catholics American women DJs BBC Radio 6 Music presenters House DJs Electronic dance music DJs Record producers from Kentucky Musicians from Kentucky American women record producers American women in electronic music 21st-century American women