Maps of Music

Rebel Heart (2015)

Where the lyrics of Rebel Heart take you, and where it was really made.

Leaks forced Madonna's hand: six songs went on sale on iTunes before the album's official release date.

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Rebel Heart: thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna
Released by Interscope Records on March 6, 2015
Madonna worked on the album throughout 2014
Co-written and co-produced with Diplo, Sophie Xeon, Avicii, and Kanye West
Guest vocals from boxer Mike Tyson and rappers Nicki Minaj, Nas, and Chance the Rapper
Pop record that merges 1990s house, trap, and reggae with acoustic guitars and a gospel choir
Some songs are autobiographical; others deal with love and Madonna's career

Followed MDNA (2012) and The MDNA Tour
That tour drew controversy over statements on violence, human rights, politics, fake firearms, and on-stage nudity
Madonna said her next album would be connected to Art for Freedom
In February 2014 she confirmed she had begun work on her thirteenth studio album
She split her time between writing a screenplay for The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells and writing songs
Many collaborators made it hard to keep a cohesive sound and creative direction

Sessions with Avicii in early 2014; Carl Falk recalled eleven demos recorded within a week at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood
Diplo and Madonna wrote and recorded seven songs together
Living for Love was recorded in nearly twenty versions, from a piano ballad to an EDM version
Final version settled midway between the piano and EDM styles

Madonna's face is crossed with black wires
The cover became popular on social media and inspired numerous memes on Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter

1	Beautiful Scars	4:19
2	Borrowed Time	3:25
3	Addicted	3:33
4	Graffiti Heart	3:39
5	Living for Love (DJ Paulo and Jackinsky full vocal mix)	7:14
6	Living for Love (Funk Generation & H3drush dub)	6:07

Madonna Louise Ciccone, born August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress.
Raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township; moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue dance.
Performed as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy before signing with Sire Records.
Debut album Madonna (1983) brought her fame.

Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990) are among the best-selling albums of all time.
Rolling Stone ranked Like a Prayer (1989), Ray of Light (1998), and Music (2000) among the greatest albums of all time.
Known for continual reinvention and for works addressing social, political, sexual, and religious themes.
Acting credits include Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996), for which she won a Golden Globe.
Founded the entertainment company Maverick (1992–2009), including Maverick Records.
Is the best-selling female music artist of all time and the first female performer to accumulate US$1 billion from concerts.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, in her first year of eligibility.

Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that for the first time in years she doesn't sound desperate
Andy Gill of The Independent gave 4 out of 5 stars and found Madonna's vocals the most impressive aspect
Lauren Murphy of The Irish Times gave 4 out of 5 stars
Kyle Anderson and Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly gave a B and called it Madonna's best outing since 2000's Music
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian and Nick Levine of Time Out gave 3 out of 5 stars
Gavin Haynes of NME panned the album as a wasted opportunity
Metacritic: the album received an average score of 68, based on 29 reviews

Rolling Stone ranked Rebel Heart at number 45 in its 2015 year-end review of albums and at number six among the 20 Best Pop Albums of 2015
Spin listed the album at number 21 in its 2015 year-end review
Digital Spy listed it at number 10 among the top 25 albums of 2015
Associated Press music editor Mesfin Fekadu ranked it at number five

United States: debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 121,000 album equivalent units, behind the Empire soundtrack
Billboard 200 year-end chart for 2015: number 151
United Kingdom: entered the UK Albums Chart at number two with 37,245 units
Germany: debuted at the top of the German Albums Chart
Australia: debuted at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart with 6,962 copies
Canada: debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with 18,000 copies in the first week
Worldwide: sold one million copies as of 2018

The leak forced an early release: six songs were downloaded automatically once fans pre-ordered the album on iTunes on December 20, 2014.
Madonna's Brit Awards 2015 performance of Living for Love: a cape tied too tightly pulled her down the stage stairs, and it was later revealed that her cape was tied too tightly.
Her Grammy performance of Living for Love, sung live without Auto-Tune, was widely praised.
The hacker case: Lederman was ultimately sentenced to fourteen months in a Tel Aviv prison.
Diplo said Madonna was very open-minded to my ideas during the collaboration.