Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: Madonna, LIKE A VIRGIN

32 years ago today, Madonna’s sophomore album arrived at the top of the Billboard 200, giving her the first – but definitely not the last - #1 album of her career.

Although Madonna had found a fair amount of success with her self-titled debut album, she walked into the studio to record LIKE A VIRGIN with a couple of ringers in her court: producer Nile Rodgers helmed the record, and – even better – he brought his Chic compadres Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson to play bass and drums, respectively. (If you’re wondering, no, they didn’t play on every track, but they’re definitely both in the mix on several tracks.) But the heart of the album was Madonna, of course. “When we did that album, it was the perfect union, and I knew it from the first day in the studio,” Rodgers said in Randy J. Taraborrelli’s book Madonna: An Intimate Biography. “The thing between us, man, it was sexual, it was passionate, it was creativity… It was pop.”

Indeed, it was pop, which would explain how it managed to win over listeners enough to spawn four Hot 100 hits: “Material Girl,” “Angel,” “Dress You Up,” and the title track. In addition, LIKE A VIRGIN technically ended up with a fifth hit single, since “Into the Groove” was ultimately added to its track listing.

By the time LIKE A VIRGIN had run its course, Madonna was officially a superstar, a status she continues to effortlessly maintain, but perhaps more importantly, one of the aforementioned singles provided her with a moniker that the press latched onto and has never let go. Now and forever, Madonna is…the Material Girl.