Like A Prayer: The Story Behind Madonna’s Transcendent Signature Song

Beyond all the drama, what stands out more than 30 years since this single’s first airplay is the dynamite pairing of Madonna’s vulnerable vocals and the controlled power of the Andraé Crouch Choir. Working once more with producer Patrick Leonard, the cut opens the Like A Prayer album, which followed the single into record stores on 21 March.

The chemistry that artist and producer shared on Madonna’s previous album, True Blue, was evident, but this time their creative energy was in peak flow, with Madonna determined to push at the musical boundaries she felt were starting to constrict her. Across five months of recording at studios in New York City and Hollywood, the deterioration of her marriage to actor Sean Penn was being explored in the music she was making, adding pathos and depth to material that was more experimental than anything she had tackled before.

A record as religious experience

Critics were floored by this latest reinvention, and the first major re-evaluation of Madonna as an artist – not just a pop star – was secured by the decade’s end (helped by a dazzling run of singles that followed Like A Prayer, including Cherish, Express Yourself, Dear Jessie and Oh, Father).

Madonna says Like A Prayer is the song she most likes to perform live, and it has appeared in setlists for most of her tours since, including the Madame X shows, which concluded in early 2020. For the 2023-2024 Celebration Tour, Like A Prayer became another highlight, performed in a medley with a cover of the Sam Smith and Kim Petras smash, Unholy, and her own song Act Of Contrition, which had originally closed the Like A Prayer album.

Other artists, such as Darren Hayes, of Savage Garden fame, have covered Like A Prayer, and the song received a dance makeover by Mad’House in 2002, which proved a sizeable European hit. In truth, however, it sits so uniquely among the best Madonna songs that it’s doubtful anyone will better it.

Like A Prayer sits among a remarkable run of Madonna US and UK No.1s. Were listening to a record ever a religious experience – and she’s cleverly played with that symbolism since her 1984 breakthrough – this is Madonna’s most powerful settlement on the matter. If it was some sort of plea to a higher power during troubled personal times, someone up there was certainly listening.

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Original article: 21 March 2022

Updated: 19 October 2023