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When GALE wrote her first song at age seven, she thought she might be a superhero.
Titled “Amor Sincero,” the salsa track was dedicated to a boy who didn’t like her back. “When I finished writing it, I was like, ‘Wait, did I just create something that didn’t exist just by using a melody and chords?’” she recalls. “I thought I had a superpower. Since then, I’ve just kept going.”
Expressing herself through music came easily to the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, who grew up surrounded by artistic minds. Her father is also a musician — who, along with his band, performs at local events. Her grandfather was a professional cuatro player. Meanwhile, her mother was an actress who performed theater. “I was always free to experiment,” says the 29-year-old, who’s written songs for artists such as Fanny Lu, Juanes and Manuel Turizo, and is currently working on her first album.
Even before learning to perform professionally at Escuela Libre de Música, her father had been preparing her for the big stage since she was a little girl. “He used to make me perform every single time at every family reunion,” GALE says. “He would tell me, ‘If this is what you want to do your whole life, you need to practice.’ I was like, ‘I just want to go play hide and seek with my cousins!’ But then I’d sing 10 songs and I’d enjoy it.”
Now, GALE has become a go-to songwriter for a handful of artists — and on Nov. 17, she won her first Latin Grammy, thanks for songwriting credits on Christina Aguilera’s Aguilera, which scored best traditional pop vocal album, and is also nominated for best Latin pop album at February’s Grammys. “If you work hard and you manifest it, it happens. It’s grounding.”
Creating a path for herself is what GALE — who grew up listening to Shakira, Avril Lavigne and Selena Quintanilla — focused on since moving to Miami from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. “First, I knew had to work my ass off to make things happen,” she explains. “What I always wanted was to have my own project as an artist and that’s what I was going to do no matter what. But how would I get there? I figured I’d start writing with other artists and build those relationships. Then get a publishing deal and get signed by a label.”
So, she started door-knocking and visited publishing companies to show them the catalog of songs she had recorded in her closet. Her first big break came in 2019, when peermusic invited her to a session with Colombian artist Fanny Lu, which is when they co-wrote “En Mis Tacones.” Since then, she says, doors opened thanks to “word of mouth because producers started recommending me, Fanny Lu wanted to work with me again.”
She eventually got a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music and a record deal with Sony Music Latin. Then, she landed on Aguilera’s project — co-writing (along with DallasK and Josh Berrios) the Ozuna-assisted “Santo,” which peaked at No. 12 on Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart in February.
She remembers meeting Aguilera during a writing session for “Brujería.” “She sat next to me and asks, ‘Is that you singing [on the demo]?’ I was like, ‘Yeah,’ and she said, ‘What a beautiful voice.’ In my mind I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve practiced singing Mi Reflejo every single day, I know the album from top to bottom. I’ve practiced performing all your songs…’ But what I really said was, ‘Thanks, you have a beautiful voice as well.’ It was a moment,” she says laughing.
Thankful that songwriting for other artists has opened doors, she’s now also focused on her own project, with plans to drop her debut album in 2023 — which would include her three singles, “Inmadura,” “Prolemas” and “D-Pic.” Describing her style as “Bad Bunny meets Dua Lipa meets Avril Lavigne,” her first songs showcase her raw, edgy songwriting skills and her pop-punk and rock influences. And, instead of going the collaborations route, she decided her first songs wouldn’t feature other artists. “It’s me saying, ‘This is who I am and this is it, I hope you like it,’” she says. “Collaborations will come because they’re also important and valuable. But for now, it’s just me.”
Below, learn more about this month’s Latin Artist on the Rise, in her own words:
Name: Carolina Isabel Colón Juarbe
Age: 29
Recommended Song: Oh snap, that’s hard. Because my three singles are all different, but they’re similar in that they’re raw and honest. I guess if someone is more into the romantic, nostalgic vibe, then listen to “Inmadura.” But if someone is like in their badass era, then they have to listen to “D-Pic.” And “Problemas” is like the perfect mix musically of what I do: pop, rock and urban. But if I had to pick, I’d say “D-Pic,” because it’s a statement. You’ll get a real representation of who I am as an artist.
Biggest Achievement: Starting to take my songs that are born from a vulnerable and intimate place and perform in front of a live audience. One of my favorite performances was the one I did at Latin Music Week in September. It felt magical. The connection with the people was amazing. I thought, “D–n, I am ready for this.” I will share that before going onstage, I called my dad and he said, “Mi amor, don’t worry, from the stage you can’t see anyone because of the spotlight. You just do your thing.” First thing when I go up on the stage, I see everyone’s faces.
What’s Next: I am working on my debut album, which is almost done. It’s very special, because it’s born after a breakup, the exact moment when I decided to end things with this person that I knew, since the very beginning, that this person was not my person. But I wanted to make it work. When I broke up with them, all these songs started coming to me and they represent different stages. Because it hurts to hurt someone, it’s a roller coaster of feelings.
I’m very excited for the album. It’s coming early to mid-next year. And I’m definitely doing more shows next year. In fact, I’m performing at Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián in Puerto Rico in January, which is a huge event. It’s legendary in my country.
Geoff Wonfor, a Grammy-winning British filmmaker who directed the Beatles’ acclaimed “Anthology” documentary series and worked on the 1980s music program “The Tube” as well as several projects with Paul McCartney, has died at age 73.
His death was confirmed Tuesday by daughter Sam Wonfor, who said he died in Newcastle, where he grew up. Additional details were not immediately available.
Released in the mid-1990s, “The Beatles Anthology” was an authorized, multimedia project that included an eight-part documentary, three double albums and a coffee table book. Wonfor spent 4 1/2 years on the film, which combined archival footage with new interviews with the then-three surviving Beatles (McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who died in 2001). Wonfor’s challenges included weaving in commentary from John Lennon, who had been murdered in 1980.
“He was very vocal (in interviews),” Wonfor told the Los Angeles Times in 1995. “I hit on the idea of listening to his interviews that were done … getting all the pertinent questions and answers to any year we were doing (in the documentary) and then pose the exact same question to the other three Beatles, so it looked like the four of them were answering the same questions, which of course they were.”
The Anthology helped renew worldwide obsession in a band that had hardly been forgotten and brought Wonfor and co-director Bob Smeaton a Grammy in 1997 for best long form music video.
Wonfor also directed the McCartney videos “In the World Tonight” and “Young Boy” and a McCartney concert video from the Cavern Club, the Liverpool venue where the Beatles played many of their early shows. He was on hand, too, for a Beatles “reunion” from the 1990s — a video of “Real Love,” a song left unfinished by Lennon that the remaining Beatles completed and recorded.
His other credits included “Band Aid 20,” a documentary about the anniversary re-recording of the British charity song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “Sunday for Sammy,” a tribute to the late British actor Sammy Johnson.
Wonfor had been prominent in British entertainment since the 1980s, when he directed a handful of episodes of “The Tube” and made a documentary about “Shanghai Surprise,” a feature film produced by Harrison and starring Madonna and Sean Penn. His work with Harrison would unexpectedly lead to the biggest undertaking of his career.
“I was at my dad’s and it was Paul McCartney who rang up and he says, ‘Hello there, you’re alright’? And I say, ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’” Wonfor explained during a 2018 appearance at the Newcastle Film Festival.
“He said, ‘I was talking to a mate of yours last night.’ I went, ‘Who the hell does he know that I know?’ He says, ‘A little guy called George Harrison.’ … And he says, ‘Anyway,’ and we talked long into the night and he says, ‘We want to do a history of the Beatles and you are that man.’”
It was “Fright Night” on Fox’s The Masked Singer, and two icons gave its judges the fright of their lives.
Season 8, episode 9 featured another two reveals.
In a real shocker, the Scarecrow volunteered to unmask and let the other rivals progress.
Under the helmet was Linda Blair, the Oscar-nominated, head-turning, projectile-vomiting child star of The Exorcist. “My mind is blow right now,” commented judge Jenny McCarthy. “I’ve never been so shocked i this series as I am right now.”
Judging by the faces of the audience and her fellow panelists, she wasn’t the only one.
Soon after, Sir Bugaboo was unmasked after a battle royale with Snowstorm, which saw both contestants take turns singing Rockwell’s “Somebody Watching Me.”
Beneath the mask was the original Ghostbuster, Ray Parker, Jr., whose theme song for the classic ‘80s comedy-horror logged three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award (for best pop instrumental performance).
“What an honor to have you on the show, man,” commented judge Robin Thicke.
“It’s good to be here. I’ve had too much fun,” was his response.
When asked if wanted to share a thought with the audience, Parker’s message was clear: if you need an extra celebrity on the show, who you gonna call?
Blair and Parker join the likes of George Foreman (Venus Flytrap), George Clinton (Gopher), Daymond John (Fortune Teller), the “Brady boys” Mike Lookinland, Barry Williams and Christopher Knight (Mummies), Montell Jordan (Panther), Jeff Dunham (Pi-Rat), Chris Kirkpatrick (Hummingbird), Eric Idle (Hedgehog) and William Shatner (Knight) as contestants revealed so far in the 2022 series.
TMS season 8 introduces several changes to its format.
For the first time, each episode features a completely new round of masked celebs with only one contestant moving forward by the end of the hour. Plus, the audience votes in-studio for their favorite performance of the night, and the singer with the lowest tally will then unmask in the middle of the show before taking his or her place in the new Masked Singer VIP section to watch the rest of the episode.
While making your debut into the K-pop industry is a battle in and of itself, carving your place in it is another conversation entirely that VERIVERY found required a series of experimenting and ultimately confronting harsh realities about themselves and their futures.
After VERIVERY hit the K-pop scene in early 2019 with their feel-good, throwback-pop single “Ring Ring Ring,” the K-pop boy band dipped into singles that spanned into hard-hitting EDM, smooth-groove R&B, experimental electronica and more. The septet always had international expansion top of mind with a DIY mindset being hands-on with music they felt was relatable beyond core K-pop fans and creatively directing and editing some of their music videos and album packages. Despite fluctuating album sales and public reactions through the years, the group pushed into 2022 as their most ambitious yet with more music, touring and honesty than ever.
VERIVERY’s third major musical shift began in early 2021 with the release of their Series ‘O’ Round 1: Hall EP and the dramatic, dark electro-pop single “Get Away.” The new musical vision was brought to the group by their Korean record label Jellyfish Entertainment (home to fellow boy band VIXX, who have made a splash on various world-music Billboard charts) with the concept how young people face, fight against and embrace the darkness in themselves and the world at large.
With two EPs and their first full-length album Series ‘O’ Round 3: Whole released this past April, VERIVERY tell Billboard that they found themselves taking in their music’s messages to seriously reflect on surviving in the K-pop market and disappointments from the past. VERIVERY tell Billboard that they found themselves taking in their music’s messages to seriously reflect their innermost worries about surviving in the K-pop market and disappointments from the past. “The lifetime of an idol isn’t that long,” dancer-rapper Hoyoung says. “After being a member of VERIVERY for four years, we do have to think about the future.” Leader and eldest member Dongheon admits, “We were afraid for our future.”
After speaking the worst-case scenario out loud and pushing on regardless, VERIVERY returned last week with the new single “Tap Tap” off their Liminality – EP. LOVE. Instead of a new direction, the band returned to their rookie roots with another bright, bouncy single that boasted ’80s synth-rock production and unexpected sonic shifts. Almost like a rebirth, Liminality smashed their best sales records in days while “Tap Tap” took their first-ever No. 1-winning spot on Korea’s competitive music-chart program Show Champion. These shows act as signals to the K-pop industry that an artist has made an impact with the shocked tears the members shed while accepting their trophy all the more indicative of how important this moment was for the group.
“It took us 1,415 days to reach where we are at right now,” the group says in a joint statement to Billboard just moments after securing the win. “Looking back on that journey, it may seem like we’ve come full circle, but we think that viewing the win as a new start is much more important. We want to thank all the fans who have constantly pushed us to stride forward and do better through their love and support, and taking that into account we think it’s more fitting to view it as a fresh start so that we can begin paying back all those who have cheered us on by working even harder. Thank you to everyone who have made this possible.”
Read on for more from Dongheon, Hoyoung, Minchan, Yeonho, Gyehyeon, Yongseung and Kangmin about the work put into their 2022, facing fears, and where this new musical step will take them next.
You just wrapped your U.S. and Latin American tour last month. Were there any markers you had to know it was a successful tour?
HOYOUNG: Because we were going to so many cities, I want to make sure that a lot of people got to know VERIVERY and that we’re spreading VERIVERY’s name.
KANGMIN: I think what determines a successful world tour is what shows on the fans’ faces and how they felt.
GYEHYEON: For me, If the fans re-visit us, wherever we are on tour, I think that just defines like, “Wow, this is a successful tour.” Also, a successful tour is just completing it without anybody getting hurt.
Originally, VERIVERY was the first K-pop act to come back to tour the U.S. in late 2021, which was exciting, but a COVID infection cut it short. Did you take any different precautions or preparations this time?
HOYOUNG: We’re always doing exercises, especially vocal exercises. Actually, YEONHO has this tape that covers his mouth when he sleeps so he can breathe through his nose, it protects his throat. It’s keeping his throat a little more moisturized so that he can sing better.
YEONHO: Yeah, it helps when it comes to the big notes so I had to get to used to sleeping with that.
HOYOUNG: And we got to meet fans face-to-face this time, no more barriers in front of us. We could do hi-touch [high fives] and take photos with them. We did a fan sign in LA.
KANGMIN: We were kind of nervous because I can’t speak English! [Laughs]
YONGSEUNG: Communication is so important.
True, but fans love you for things beyond language and you guys do a great job at expressing yourselves. Like, the Series ‘O’ era that included songs written by you and your first full-length album. How did you feel about the time period overall?
DONGHEON: After our last tour [ended in 2021], we were able to release multiple albums and, through that, I think our mindset got a little bit more chill and we were more relaxed. During tour, we had a lot of conversations with our members and a lot to talk about. We had some difficulties, but we were able to overcome that. And then throughout this tour, we were able to enjoy it more than ever.
What kind of difficulties did you have?
DONGHEON: Hm, well there were just the big and small stresses like jet lag and we weren’t able to control our mentality or health as well while we were on tour. That became a little sensitive. But just seeing our fans on tour allows us to be able to overcome that, and that mindset really changes throughout.
HOYOUNG: The main keyword to the Series ‘O’ was embracing the darkness in us. When we first heard that was our story for our next album, we thought a lot about how to try to deliver that to our fans. But as we started progressing through the albums, we found that we had a lot of time thinking about ourselves individually and about the darkness within us. I think that kind of made us think more maturely and grow up a bit into adults.
DONGHEON: Many people have just questions about their future and we were afraid for our future. We always think about our future and our team, our music, our dance. It can be very dark…
HOYOUNG: Adding a word to what DONGHEON said, after being a member of VERIVERY for four years we do think about the future because we know that the lifetime of an idol isn’t that long, to be honest right? We’re thinking about the future, thinking about us as a group and what more we can achieve. I think we’re very energetic, outgoing and active but all our members do have a lot on their minds. We have had some hard times with having too many thoughts in our brain but we talk a lot as a group to overcome that.
What do those talks look like? Is it at the label? In a dorm? At a bar?
HOYOUNG: We gather around a lot at the lounge [living room] and talk. Now that we’re all adults, even KANGMIN, we might have a little to drink… [Group laughs] But we really try to take those times after practice and rehearsals to try and reflect on our previous practices to make a better performance. Even when we fight, we try to finish any arguments on that day so that, as a team, there’s nothing that could split us apart or anything. The most that we can do as a group is always talking with each other, connect with each other member-to-member. I think that’s how our teamwork improved a lot. Our leader usually just says, “Should we have dinner?” That’s kind of the sign for “Let’s have a talk.”
Did you learn that habit from anyone or did that happen naturally in the team?
HOYOUNG: We’ve done that since we were trainees but, honestly speaking, as trainees we were too desperate to debut. We practiced alone just to survive, to be honest. But after DONGHEON came in to Jellyfish Entertainment, he helped us come together as a group. I think that’s how VERIVERY was formed. We have a lot of thanks to him and I know that the rest of the members all feel the same way that I do right now that being a leader isn’t an easy job but he’s handling everything.
Do you feel pressure as a leader, DONGHEON? Is there a different kind of pressure when expanding into new places like America?
DONGHEON: I’m flustered by the compliments. [Laughs] But it’s very hard because so many members have many ideas and many opinions. To be honest, it’s very hard, but I like it.
During Series ‘O,’, was there anything else you guys felt you needed to process individually versus as a group?
YONGSEUNG: In my case, we had to stop the last tour because of me. [YONGSEUNG and VERIVERY have a light laugh] I was very sad and disappointed in myself. It’s very hard to let that feeling go. So, I was very disappointed, but now I think I overcame that. This time, this tour is different. I exercise a lot with members and I practice a lot. So, I wanted to show the next version of VERIVERY on this tour. In fact, I feel a lot more comfortable now.
Will the Americas continue to be a focus for you guys?
HOYOUNG: America’s a place that we always thought we must go to; it just fits with us. The songs can be really relatable to the fans so it’s always been a place that we thought that we have to go so we’re thinking of coming back a lot.
MINCHAN: And I want to tell the international fans, that “I love you.” [Laughs] It’s a very important thing, right? At every show, I received so much energy from the fans so keeping up this momentum, we’re going to push right through and enjoy ourselves. We’ll keep going!
What’s next as you keep going further?
YONGSEUNG: We included a fully self-composed song in the full-length album. So, coming up next, expect new, self-composed songs.
Is that the vibe you guys are going for, trying to take a little more ownership of the music and concepts?
YONGSEUNG: On tour, we performed a song we made “Crack It,” we want to share more of our self-composed songs.
HOYOUNG: What I’m thinking is we’ve done some dark, I’m thinking that we’re going to do something bright now. We’re going through a lot of hard darkness and now going through a bright stage. I think that’s going to end up really good.
“Tap Tap” just dropped with HOYOUNG as a co-writer and is looking to be your biggest single yet. Tell me more about the viewpoint now with this song and Liminality – EP. LOVE.
YONGSEUNG: We’ve been through lots of things like concerts and our tour since we promoted our last single “Undercover.” This is an album coming off of those various experiences, as well as the first bright concept we’ve had in a while so we hope that it holds just as much meaning to fans as it does to us.
MINCHAN: It’s our first comeback with a bright concept ever since our debut era and I hope that we can prove to everyone that VERIVERY is able to pull off bright, happy concepts as well.
DONGHEON: I’m hoping that this album is able to provide a different experience as “Tap Tap” is a song that keeps you bouncing even in the winter. It’s a brighter, happier version of VERIVERY that people haven’t been seen in a while, so I hope the song leads to more opportunities for everyone to laugh a little more.
HOYOUNG: I’m excited to show to our VERRER how VERIVERY can pull off a brighter concept with almost four years under our belt.
What else do you want to tell VERRER fans at this point?
MINCHAN: I want to say thanks to all the fans who came to our show. We tried hard for this tour. Please look forward to what’s next.
GYEHYEON: With the bright, bouncy song that we’ve come back with, VERIVERY will make sure to provide everyone with tons of love so that we could all wrap up the year happily.
Louis Tomlinson’s second solo album Faith in the Future debuts at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales (dated Nov. 26), scoring the pop star his highest-charting set yet on the list, and best sales week (37,500 sold in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Luminate).
Faith in the Future also bows at No. 2 on Top Current Album Sales, Independent Albums and Vinyl Albums, No. 3 on Tastemaker Albums and No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Top Current Album Sales lists the week’s best-selling current (not catalog, or older albums) albums by traditional album sales. Independent Albums reflects the week’s most popular albums, by units, released by independent record labels. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week. Tastemaker Albums ranks the week’s best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores.
Of Faith in the Future’s 37,500 sold, physical sales comprise 31,500 (with 16,500 on vinyl; 14,000 on CD and 1,000 on cassette) and digital album download sales comprise 6,000.
Faith’s first-week sales figure was bolstered by its availability across multiple collectible physical variants of the album. It was issued in 10 vinyl variants (including exclusive editions for Amazon and Barnes & Noble; as well as two indie retail-exclusive versions, one of which was signed), four CD variants (including a deluxe Zine/CD package, a Target-exclusive edition with two bonus tracks and a lenticular cover, and a signed Newbury Comics-exclusive CD) and three cassette tapes.
The set was preceded by the single “Bigger Than Me,” which became Tomlinson’s fourth solo hit on the Pop Airplay chart (outside his tenure in One Direction).
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales is Taylor Swift’s Midnights, which spends a fourth straight week atop the list (60,000 sold; down 36%).
Bruce Springsteen’s new covers set Only the Strong Survive enters at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 37,000 sold. It’s the 17th top 10 for Springsteen since the list launched in 1991. The Beatles’ Revolver falls 3-4 with 10,000 sold (down 31%).
Nas’ King’s Disease III bows at No. 5 with a little more than 8,000 sold (his 16th top 10) and GloRilla’s Anyways, Life’s Great… starts at No. 6 with 8,000.
Louis Armstrong’s holiday compilation Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule rings in at No. 7 with 7,500 copies sold. It’s the legend’s first top 10 on the 31-year-old chart. The new 11-track set is promoted as Armstrong’s “first-ever Christmas album,” though the late artist (who died in 1971) has previously released a number of holiday compilations alongside other acts that feature most of the album’s tracks (such as Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s Ella & Louis Christmas). Notably, Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule includes a previously unreleased recording from Armstrong, “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (also known as “The Night Before Christmas”), recorded shortly before his death. It is his first newly released track in over 20 years.
Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule also debuts in the top 10 on Top Current Album Sales, Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums, Top Holiday Albums and Vinyl Albums. It also bows at No. 122 on the Billboard 200. (Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums and Top Holiday Albums rank the week’s most popular overall jazz, traditional jazz, and holiday albums, respectively, by equivalent album units.)
Rounding out the top 10 on the new Top Album Sales chart is Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House (rising 11-8 with just over 7,000 sold; up 17%), Prince’s The Hits 2 (16-9 with 7,000; up 59%) and the Stranger Things: Season 4 soundtrack (4-10 with nearly 7,000 sold; down 51%).
In the week ending Nov. 17, there were 1.937 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 10.8% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.564 million (up 14.7%) and digital albums comprised 374,000 (down 3.1%).
There were 648,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Nov. 17 (up 2.7% week-over-week) and 903,000 vinyl albums sold (up 25.6%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 30.301 million (down 8.2% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 34.198 million (up 3.1%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 82.901 million (down 7.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 64.976 million (down 2.4%) and digital album sales total 17.955 million (down 21.6%).
Madonna will ring in three decades of Sex at Miami’s Art Basel later this month.
The pop star’s 1992 erotic coffee table book is set to receive a 30th-anniversary re-release during the art show courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent and New York-based published Callaway. The new edition of Sex will be 800 pages long and come with its own art exhibition curated by Madonna and YSL’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello.
“I’d like to put you in a trance. ……………YSL presents SEX-Re-Release…Miami Nov 29- Dec 4,” Madonna shared on Instagram alongside a photo of herself with red hair, staring in the mirror, waring a nude-colored corset and tan fur coat. A separate post of the event’s invitation confirms the exhibit will be held at Yves Saint Laurent’s Rive Droite project.
With photography by the famous Stephen Meisel, Madonna originally released Sex on Oct. 21, 1992, as a sort of visual companion to her fifth studio album Erotica. The LP contained sexually charged singles like the title track, “Deeper and Deeper,” “Bad Girl” and “Fever” and ultimately bowed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
The book, meanwhile, created quite the stir as it spent three weeks at No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List and became — according to her 2002 biography by Andrew Morton — the best-selling coffee table book of all time.
Last month, Madonna reflected on Sex‘s cultural impact in a separate Instagram post, writing in part, “I also wrote about my sexual fantasies and shared my point of view about sexuality in an ironic way. I spent the next few years being interviewed by narrow minded people who tried to shame me for empowering myself as a Woman. I was called a whore, a witch, a heretic and the devil.
“Now Cardi B can sing about her WAP. Kim Kardashian can grace the cover of any magazine with her naked ass and Miley Cyrus can come in like a wrecking ball,” Her Madgesty continued. “You’re welcome bi—es.”
Check out Madonna’s announcement below.
