The tour that celebrates 40 years of his career Madonna ends here in Brazil this week, with the mega-show in Copacabana, in Rio de Janeiro, but this story began in a very curious way back in 1985, when Queen of Pop formed an unusual partnership with the Beastie Boys.
That’s right: the diva’s first big tour had the “bad boys” of Rap and Hardcore as the opening show – an idea that they themselves defined as “terrible”, but which led to a great friendship between the artists.
Between April and June 1985, Madonna and the Beastie Boys played 40 sold-out performances across the United States and Canada, but the group Ad-Rock, Adam M.C.A. It is Mike D was booed at most of the shows, and in this special article we will tell you all the behind-the-scenes details of this unlikely tour!
Madonna: early career and The Virgin Tour
After forming bands as a teenager like Breakfast Club and the Emmy and the Emmysin which she played drums and guitar, Madonna moved to New York in 1978, at the age of 20, to pursue a career as a dancer.
The artist even toured Europe with dance groups, and this opened the door for her to get her first record deal in 1982. The following year, she released her first album as a solo artist, self-titled.
Produced by DJs from the underground clubs that Madonna frequented, such as CBGB, Danceteria and Mudd Club, the album reached the American charts and started a craze among younger girls, who transformed the singer into a fashion and cultural icon.
When the second album came, the classic Like a Virgin In 1984, Madonna performed on TV for the first time singing the hits “Material Girl” It is “Like a Virgin” in programs Top of the Pops It is MTV Video Music Awards – but I hadn’t done a real tour yet.
The album was number 1 in countries such as Germany, Italy and New Zealand, in addition to the USA and the United Kingdom, and at that time the singer married the actor Sean Penn and participated in some big films in Hollywood. There, it became clear that the tour Like a Virgin it would be a success.
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Madonna chose the Beastie Boys to open her tour?
The Beastie Boys enter this story by chance. In fact, Madonna’s manager, Freddy DeManncontacted Def Jam Recordings to sign a Hip-hop trio called The Fat Boys to open the shows.
Turns out the Fat Boys weren’t on Def Jam, and the label owner suggested the Run-DMC for the place, since these were from the company’s cast… but they charged a very expensive fee.
The group of Ad-Rock, Adam MCA and Mike D had been active since 1981 and was well known in New York clubs – the same ones that Madonna frequented –, but had not yet released a full album, and therefore charged a premium more accessible.
With the legendary producer Rick Rubin As a DJ, the Beastie Boys played 40 highly controversial shows that included obscene gestures towards the audience, beer showers and lots of swearing, which naturally drew boos from young Madonna fans in almost every city.
In an interview with Spin In 1998, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz recognized that the idea of combining the two presentations was bad, but it ended up working out along the wrong lines:
It’s not like we were super close to Madonna at the time, but we used to go to the Danceteria club, so we knew each other. I just don’t know why she thought it would be a good idea [ter o Beastie Boys de abertura]. It was a bad idea. But it was great in a way, because we did so badly that when she came on stage, the audience was even happier.
Madonna, who insisted on continuing with the Beastie Boys when their producer threatened to fire them from the tour, loved the Hip-hop group’s rebelliousness (among other things):
They were very ‘bad boys’, they said ‘fuck you’ all the time on stage. The audience always booed them, and they told everyone to fuck off. I loved them for that. I couldn’t understand why everyone hated them, I thought they were so adorable. I think I made out with Adam Yauch once in the dressing room.
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Madonna and the Beastie Boys became icons
In the end, the The Virgin Tour raised more than US$14 million, in the current conversion, and produced the DVD Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour. In the press, Madonna was hailed as an artist “on the same level as Prince It is Bruce Springsteen“.
As we know, the Queen of Pop continued releasing iconic albums like TrueBlue (1986), Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and became the best-selling female artist of all time.
The Beastie Boys recorded their first album a year after the tour with Madonna, the Licensed to Ill (1986), which has classics such as “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” It is “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” and became the first Rap album to reach the top of the Billboard.
It’s hard to find a more unlikely tour story than this!
READ ALSO: Madonna: the 5 essential albums to learn about the Queen of Pop’s career
