Madonna sparks furious backlash after making Aretha Franklin tribute all about herself
Social media erupted in response to Madonna‘s tribute to Aretha Franklin at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards on Monday night, after she was accused of ‘making the entire speech about herself’.
The 60-year-old singer took to the stage to honour the Respect singer, who tragically passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer last week aged 76, however many criticised Madonna for the content.
In the 10-minute address, Madonna recalled her early days as an aspiring singer and dancer, including one audition where she performed Franklin’s iconic (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. Despite the heartfelt address, she angered fans after she was accused of focusing on herself rather than the ‘Queen Of Soul’.
The legend: Social media erupted in response to Madonna ‘s tribute to Aretha Franklin at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards on Monday night, after she was accused of ‘making the entire speech about herself’
Angry viewers felt Madonna spent more time talking about herself than Aretha, with Twitter swarmed with messages from fans who were unhappy with the tribute’s content.
Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, penned: ‘They just whited Aretha and she ain’t even cold yet…I hope she sends a thunderbolt to strike this blasphemy down… Whiteness has NO SHAME…
‘Whoever at the #VMAs let Madonna get on stage and give a tribute to @ArethaFranklin or whatever that was really should be out of a job right about…now.’
The singer’s speech focused widely on anecdotes from her own life – to the point that the audience clapped and cheered during one of the rare moments that the Think songstress’ name was mentioned.
Shock: The 60-year-old singer took to the stage to honour the Respect singer, who tragically passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer last week aged 76, however many criticised the legendary singer for the content
The big reveal: The singer’s speech focused widely on anecdotes from her own life – to the point that the audience clapped and cheered during one of the rare moments that the Think songstress’ name was mentioned (the late star pictured in 1993)
Eccentric: Many viewers were disgruntled at the choice of Madonna to issue the tribute to the star
Madonna told stories about her own career highlights and low-lights, only returning to Aretha when she mentioned that she auditioned to one of her songs on her way to becoming a star in her own right.
She told the crowd: ‘Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life. I left Detroit when I was 18. Thirty-five dollars in my pocket. My dream was to make it as a professional dancer. After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to auditions for musical theater…
‘I had no training or dreams of ever becoming a singer but I went for it. I got cut and rejected from every audition — not tall enough, not blend-in enough, not 12-octave range enough, not pretty enough. Not enough…
‘And then one day a French disco sensation was looking for backup singers and dancers for his world tour. I thought, ‘Why not? The worst that can happen is I can go back to getting robbed, held at gunpoint and being mistaken for a prostitute in my third floor walkup that was also a crackhouse.’ That’s right, I’m a Rebel Heart.’
(The ‘French disco sensation’ whom she auditioned to tour is likely Born To Be Alive singer Patrick Hernandez, who invited the young star on his 1979 world tour.)
Mad: Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, penned: ‘They just whited Aretha and she ain’t even cold yet…I hope she sends a thunderbolt to strike this blasphemy down… Whiteness has NO SHAME’
Damn: Radio and television personality Scottie Beam also didn’t hold back when it came to expressing her thoughts on Madge’s tribute
‘Disrespect’: Viewers took to social media to criticise the rambling speech, saying it was self-indulgent and did not focus enough on Franklin
Madonna went on: ‘So I showed up for the audition and two very large French record producers sat in the empty theater, daring me to be amazing. The dance audition went well. Then they asked me if I had sheet music and a song prepared. I panicked. I had overlooked this important part of the audition process…
‘I had to think fast, my next meal was on the line. Fortunately one of my favorite albums was Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin. I blurted out ‘You Make Me Feel’… silence. ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.’ Two French guys nodded at me. I said, ‘You know, by Aretha Franklin.”
She continued: ‘They looked over at the pianist, he shook his head. ‘I don’t need sheet music,’ I said, ‘I know every word. I know the song by heart, I will sing it a cappella.’ I could see that they did not take me seriously — and why should they?
‘Some skinny a** white girl is going to come up here and belt out a song by one of the greatest soul singers that ever lived? And a cappella … I said, ‘B*tch, I’m Madonna.’ No, I didn’t, I didn’t say that. ‘Cause I wasn’t Madonna yet. I don’t know who I was. I don’t know what I said, I don’t know what came over me.’
Upsetting: She eventually concluded: ‘So you’re probably all wondering why I’m telling you this story. There’s a connection, because none of this would’ve happened – could’ve happened – without our lady of soul’
Happy days: Madonna later lauded Camila Cabello with the Video Of The Year Award, for her video of Havana with ft. Young Thug
‘I don’t know I said. I don’t know what came over me. I walked to the edge of the pitch black stage, and started singing. When I was finished and drenched in nerve sweat. You know what that is, right nerve sweat? They said, “We will call you one day, maybe soon.” Weeks went by and no phone call.’
‘Finally, the phone rang, it was one of the producers, saying. “We don’t think you are right for this job.” I’m like, “Motherf****r, why are you calling me?” He replied, “We think you have great potential.
‘You are rough around the edges, but there is good rawness. We want to bring you to Paris and make you a star. Well, we will put you in a studio, with the great Giorgio Moroder.” And I had no idea who that was, and I wanted to live in Paris and I wanted to eat some food.’
‘So, that was the beginning of my journey as a singer. I left for Paris, but I came back a few months later. Because I had not earned the life I was living. It felt wrong. They were good people, but wanted to write my own songs and be a musician, not a puppet. I needed to go home and learn to play guitar, and that’s exactly what I did. And the rest is history.’
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