Madge re-records album
01/15/2003 - peoplenews
It takes a brave record executive to tell Madonna what to do, but it seems just that has happened. Bosses at Warner Bros are rumoured to have demanded that Madge re-record some tracks on her new album, fearing that the album, as it is, will not be a commercial success. Although the singer surrounds herself with the best music producers in the business (for the new album it's French producer Mirwais), her bosses are concerned that the sound of the album is too avant-garde and have demanded she return to the studios for another two weeks. Warner have already paid an enormous 250,000 pound bill just for the photography shots for the cover of the CD.
Madonna's 'American Life'?
01/10/2003 - imdb
Pop queen Madonna's new single will be released in April, titled 'American Life.' The track is the first single from her upcoming ninth studio album. Although the Material Girl has yet to settle on a name for the LP - which is being produced by Mirwas and Les Rythmes Digitales' Jacques Lu Cont - rumors are rife Madonna wants to name the release Ein Sof, Hebrew for endlessness, in dedication to the Jewish Kabbalah faith. A representative for the singer, however, insists all rumors are untrue.
Madonna Follows Spiritual Muse For New Album
01/09/2003 - vh1
Before she released Ray of Light in 1998, Madonna revealed she had developed an interest in Kabbalah, a mystical sect of Judaism. The news was greeted with skepticism by some who had watched the business-savvy pop star embrace and discard materialism, eroticism and high culture. But Madonna's spiritual awakening seems to be for real.
She's taken to wearing a Jewish star and has encouraged her husband, Guy Ritchie, to explore the religion's teachings. And she recently told talk show host Larry King that she wanted to give her next album, due in April, a Hebrew name. At the time she was favoring Ein Sof, which means endlessness. Madonna's publicist said the album title is still undetermined and that there's a good chance it won't be in Hebrew.
The record is being co-produced by Madonna with Mirwais Ahmadzai, who manned the boards for 2000's Music and 'Die Another Day,' the lead track for the recent James Bond film of the same name. The first single will be 'American Life,' and the album may also contain a song co-written by Guy Sigsworth, Gem Jones and Jacques Lu Cont (a.k.a. Les Rythmes Digitales), who was Madonna's musical director and keyboardist during the Drowned World Tour.
Songs on the record will feature electronic instrumentation, but the vibe is 'very, very different' from anything Madonna has released, the publicist said.
Photographer Craig McDean has conducted a shoot for the album art, but Madonna hasn't decided whether to use the images. The publicist could not reveal additional track titles, but said a video for 'American Life' will not be shot by Jonas Akerlund, contrary to a report on Madonna's Web site.
Heather for Madge
12/23/2002 - peoplenews
A heather-growing centre in Scotland has decided to present Madonna and Guy Ritchie with a new species of heather as a second wedding anniversary present and to thank her for putting the area on the tourist trail. Madonna married Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle in Dornoch in December 2000, making the area a destination for people from across the world. The new heather will be called Romantic Heather and is being grown at the Speyside Heather Centre. 'By choosing Scotland as their place of marriage, they showcased Scotland's beauty and romance to the world and people from across the globe now make their vows here,' said Fiona Jack of the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board. 'Since the campaign launch inquiries for weddings have certainly increased from across the globe. The 'Madonna effect' continues to grow, so heather seemed like the perfect gift.'
Madonna And Celine Are Related
12/17/2002 - teenhollywood
Singing sensations Madonna and Celine Dion's musical success apparently runs in the family - they're related to each other.
The Globe carried out a family history study, which discovered the chart rivals share the same two grandparents 12 generations back in France.
A pal notes, 'Madonna's father is Italian, but her mother, who died young in 1964, was French.'
It has been discovered that back in the early 1660s, Zacherie Cloutier and his wife Sainte Dupont gave birth to two sons - Zacherie Jr. and Jean.
Zacherie Jr had a line of offspring that eventually resulted in the birth of Celine's dad, Adhemar Dion. Meanwhile, Jean's descendants lead to Madonna's mother, Madonna Louise Fortin.
But pals of Madonna say the Material Girl will be far from impressed at the discovery.
A friend explains, 'Madonna hates Celine's music. But her father is a huge Celine Dion fan, which doesn't please Madonna one bit.'
Shooting at Madge's house
12/12/2002 - peoplenews
Madonna and Guy Ritchie are planning to celebrate the season of goodwill by blowing things up, on their country estate, on Boxing Day. A shoot on Boxing Day appears to be a tradition, chez the Ritchies, and the pair plan to invite a few of their friends - including Vinnie Jones, the very-pregnant Claudia Schiffer and Matthew Vaughn and Sting and Trudie Styler - to accompany them while they take pot-shots at pieces of flying clay. The shoot will take place at Madge and Guy's country retreat, Ashcombe House, in Wiltshire. Madonna wisely said on the subject of shooting recently, 'you have more respect for things you eat when you go through the process of killing them.' She also claims that hunting gives her a lot of time to meditate.
Madge helps Hermes
11/29/2002 - peoplenews
Madonna may have failed to ignite the imaginations of either audiences or critics with their latest cinematic offering, Swept Away, but the film was a hit in an unlikely quarter - French fashion house Hermes. Since the woman Guy Ritchie calls 'the missus' wore a green and gold silk Hermes scarf in her latest film, the shop has been inundated with requests for the garment. 'They've been flying off the shelves,' chuckles our man between the coat-hangers. 'Everyone was pretty surprised but obviously chuffed. Having Madonna wear one of your pieces in a movie - however bad - is the kind of advertising you just can't buy.' This kind of indirect celebrity endorsement seems to be getting more and more popular – Saks in New York recently reported a huge increase in interest in the items that Winona tried to shoplift from their store.
Dear Tony.......Love Madonna
11/25/2002 - peoplenews
As if he hasn't got enough on his plate, what with Saddam Hussein and the firemen, Tony Blair is now having to deal with perhaps his biggest challenge yet - an angry Madonna. In the latest installment of a long-running saga about access to the grounds of their Dorset home, Ashcombe House, the Material Girl and her hubby Guy Ritchie have written to the PM to ask him to intervene and stop ramblers getting on their property. The dynamic duo are worried about 'right to roam' legislation which will allow walkers to picnic just 100 yards from their £9m estate. Guy's step-mother Shireen Ritchie said: 'Their concern above all else is security. They feel the legislation has put them and their two young children in a potentially dangerous situation.' But Madge and Guy's pleas have fallen of the deaf ears of the Environment Secretary Michael Meacher, who refuses to budge on the issue. 'We will not treat this as a special case,' he said, firmly. In June, Madge and Guy erected several four-metre gates around their mansion after several men tried to get through the fence in a Range Rover.
Madge and Guy produce Dusty
11/22/2002 - peoplenews
Madonna's film history has never been much to write home about, particularly when in collaboration with Guy Ritchie, but the Queen of pop's latest foray into film sees her producing rather than acting. Previously rumoured to play Dusty Springfield in a biopic of the singer's life, the star has now decided on a more passive role, perhaps due to the slating she received for her performance in the flop Swept Away. Madge will produce the movie about the legendary sixties icon with husband Guy Ritchie, who will reportedly also direct. Former EastEnder actress Michelle Collins will play the British pop sensation. The film is said to highlight the singer's secret lesbianism and is sure to cause controversy. A perfect choice, then for Madonna and Guy who are no strangers to film or personal controversy and are still recovering from press reviews of their first collaboration Swept Away. The dynamic duo will be hoping for an improvement with The Dusty Springfield Story when filming begins next year.
Madonna Begs Money After Forgetting Purse
11/21/2002 - yahoo
Multi-millionaire pop singer Madonna had to borrow money in a London restaurant after finding herself short of cash to buy a slice of cake for her son, a British newspaper reported on Thursday.
The Sun said Madonna told two sisters, Mimi and Titi Negussie, that she had forgotten her purse when she went into the restaurant with film director husband Guy Ritchie , their son Rocco and her daughter Lourdes.
'A woman came up and said, 'Excuse me, but you look like really nice people. Can I borrow some money? We forgot our wallets',' Mimi Negussie told the Sun.
Titi, who did not recognize the singer, gave the Material Girl a two-pound coin to help her cover a 1.25 pound ($2) shortfall in her 5.25 pound bill.
A spokesman for Madonna told the Sun the sisters would be sent CDs and a check to cover the loan.
Michigan-born Madonna, now a UK resident, was the highest earning musician in Britain in this year's Sunday Times Pay List, with estimated annual earnings of 36 million pounds. ($1=.6348 Pound)
