Like a Virgin – Madonna (1984)

September 5, 2025

Despite the success of her self-titled debut album in 1983 – which peaked at #8 and included three hit songs in “Lucky Star” (#4), “Borderline” (#10), and “Holiday” (#16) – Madonna was deeply dissatisfied with the record and wanted to go in a new direction. So after becoming enamored with David Bowie’s Let’s Dance – which came out the same year as Madonna – she reached out to producer and former Chic member, Nile Rodgers, to see if he’d be interested in producing her follow-up. When she met Rodgers, the stunningly confident 25-year-old brought along demos for what would become 1984’s Like a Virgin and said, “if you don’t love these songs we can’t work together,” to which he replied, “I don’t love them now, but I will when I’ve finished working on them.” 

Understanding the level of disappointment Madonna had felt about her first album, Rodgers decided the best approach would be to ditch the overproduced, synth-heavy sound that had defined it. Instead, he brought in the members of Chic to record live in the studio and provide what he described as a “more streetwise sound.” The combination of the instrumental prowess of the disco funk legends and the irresistible sex appeal that dripped from Madonna’s Betty Boop vocals and carnally charged lyrics created what would become one of the best selling albums of all-time. The record shot to #1 and became the first album by a female artist to sell over five million copies in the U.S. It also included four hit singles that would all reach the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 – with the title track hitting #1, “Material Girl” reaching #2, and both “Angel” and “Dress You Up” landing at #5. 

Madonna and Nile Rodgers at a Duran Duran concert at Madison Square Garden

Beyond just the commercial success of the album and its singles, it is difficult to adequately emphasize what a cultural phenomenon Madonna became after this release. Her performance of “Like a Virgin” at the 1984 VMAs – during which she descended from a wedding cake in a white gown and rolled around the stage while mimicking sexual acts – not only attracted her immense attention from younger audiences, but ignited intense controversy from conservative voices. The performance was considered to be one of the most iconic in history and was described by Rolling Stone as a moment that was “as indelible as the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.” Every teenage girl wanted to dress like her, every teenage boy wanted to sleep with her, and every Christian conservative wanted her banned from record stores and television sets. Her music was on constant radio rotation, her videos were MTV staples, and her live performances were appointment television – she was an absolute sensation and became a bona fide pop icon basically overnight. 

On top of the A-list celebrity Madonna became and the controversy she was able to ignite, Like a Virgin is legitimately an excellent pop record. The title track is one of the most widely known songs of all time, and became a lyric that would get dissected nearly a decade later in another controversial icon’s first film. “Material Girl” – although written ironically according to Madonna – is about as perfect of a summation as someone could possibly write about the materialism and superficiality of culture in the 1980s, and another song title that immediately entered the cultural lexicon as an all-time catchphrase. And “Into the Groove” – which was written for Desperately Seeking Susan and didn’t even get included until the international re-issue of the album was released a year later – is widely considered to be one of the best dance songs of the 80s and is actually Madonna’s best-selling single despite not being technically eligible for the Billboard Hot 100.

Madonna performs at the MTV Video Music Awards in ’84

Whether you love or hate the extremely polarizing Queen of Pop, you really have no choice but to respect her. In her mid-twenties and coming off of a very successful debut, she rewrote the playbook for her follow-up instead of just going into rinse-and-repeat mode. She not only was able to create one of the defining albums of the 80s (which is truly only rivaled by Thriller in terms of cultural significance), but was able to dive headfirst into controversy and ignite discussions about women’s sexuality and the place of promiscuity in American culture. Absolutely nobody was (and arguably ever has been since) better at capturing the public eye and taking advantage of the spotlight once they had it, and Madonna is not only one of the defining artists of the 80s – but one of the biggest stars the world has ever seen.