Why Madonna Isn't A Legend
Why Madonna Is A Legend
Madonna: Living Legend or Pseudo-Superstar?
Serving pop for an admirable 33 years, Madonna has truly raised herself to legend status.
Springing on to the music scene in the early 1980s with contagious tracks such as ‘Into The Groove’, ‘Like A Virgin’ and ‘Holiday’, which I still see standing as pop music landmarks to this day, Madonna was swift to proclaim her place in the hierarchy of music legends.
I have seen hardly any artists who have achieved the mighty stance that Madonna carries with her. Even today, she continues to embody this, with the most recent example being continuing with her performance after an unfortunate fall at this year’s BRIT Awards. Whilst other artists may have been embarrassed or furious about this disaster, Madonna was adamant to be unbeaten, persevering through any injuries and showcasing exceptional routine to the best of her ability.
However, I believe that Madonna’s current actions aren’t the only thing that makes her remarkable. During the course of her career she has planted an array of milestones, challenging norms that have not only changed views on women in music but womanhood as a whole. Prime examples that spring to mind are Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, where she questioned the taboo of female masturbation, and release of the book ‘Sex’, which a large proportion of society regarded as too explicit but became an iconic feminist statement. Even to this day, Madonna continues to promote her sexuality. Whilst people may frown upon this in a 56 year old woman, it makes the statement that a woman can utilise her sexuality at any age and no one has the right to say different.
Madonna propelled herself to her iconic status not only through her influence on music. She showed that she was in control of her own image and career by becoming a figure in other mediums such as film and fashion, flouting stereotypes. Fundamentally, she became a dynamic and robust idol.
Many deem Madonna irrelevant and out-dated in the modern music industry but I see this as very much untrue. Her most recent album Rebel Heart is on track to become her 12th UK number one, steaming ahead of modern day stars such as Sam Smith. If Madonna isn’t a legend, why, 33 years later, are her albums still topping the charts?
To deny Madonna as a musical legend is crazy. With such an extensive career behind her, I can’t see any reason to claim that she is neither worthy nor deserving of the position of a symbolic artist, even in today’s industry. For me, for as long as she continues to produce music and defy what is expected of her, Madonna will always be one of the most definitive, inspiring and influential people to grace pop music.
Aaron Jolliff
Madonna used to be a legend. USED to be. That was until in the early noughties, when she decided to start parading around in leotards that were far too small for her and create music that was far from the masterpieces that she’d created to gain the title ‘Queen of Pop’.
Of course, when you’re known as ‘The Queen of Pop’, you’re under immense pressure to recreate the same album that claimed you that title. Some may argue that it’s due to different times and growing tastes, but Madonna’s newer music is just not up-to-scratch.
Her latest track ‘Living For Love’, failed to make the top 20 on the Radio 1 Chart Show this week. Showing that up against artists such as Taylor Swift, Madge is being forced to take a back seat in the music industry.
Her fans may argue that her latest album Rebel Heart is heading for number one, but how many record sales do you need today to get to number one compared to ten years ago? Rebel Heart “will debut with a pure sales figure in the 100-110,000 range” states headlineplanet.com. This is a shocking defeat compared to 1990’s The Immaculate Collection, which sold 5,777,000 copies - or even 2005’s Confession’s on a Dance Floor, which sold 1,695,000 copies.
It’s not just the music that’s letting Madonna down either. We all know that Madonna has never been shy about her sexuality. In 1992 she released her own book entitled ‘Sex’, filled with graphic images of her performing various sexual acts with both models and porn stars - but there comes a time when doing too much of the same thing becomes tiresome.
In the video for her 2005 hit single ‘Hung Up’, the first 20 seconds sees Madonna undress and then bend over with a close-up of her pale backside. This kind of imagery continues throughout the entire video, with, at one point, Madge rubbing her lady parts along the floor like a dog with worms.
It’s not that Madonna doesn’t have a great body, but when you’re middle aged with more bum cheek on show than a baby having it’s nappy changed, it really makes you question - has Queen Madge’s music got that bad that she’s having to use her body to sell it?
Now at the age of 56, Madge is mum to her four children Lourdes, Rocco, Mercy and David. Eldest child Lourdes is now 18 years old - an age where any child may find their parents embarrassing, especially if they are posing in patent underwear for magazines.
We know that Madonna loves her children dearly, but even she herself admitted in an interview with The Daily Mail yesterday that her children are embarrassed of their mother being so revealing.
When talking to The Daily Mail, Madge said 'At this point, Rocco doesn't care, it just goes over his head. He's like, "Oh, mom. Mom's being mom." The other little kids don't really — they're not tuned into that frequency yet. And Lo [Lourdes] is horrified by all of it. She just wants me to be her mom.'
It’s not just Madge’s lack of clothing that grinds my gears, and it certainly isn’t her age, it’s the fact that she has gradually ruined her legacy in the past 10 years by producing music that, quite frankly, is no way near as good as it used to be.
Martha Gregory