Like a Virgin

Like a Virgin (1984, see 1984 in music) was a hit album and song by Madonna. The album was #1 on Billboard Music Chart's pop albums chart and #10 on the hip hop/R&B charts.

"Like a Virgin" (the song) was Madonna's biggest hit prior to "Vogue" and her biggest hit of the 1980s. It was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, and remained the #1 hit single on the Billboard pop singles charts (US) for six straight weeks. "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl", both from this album, are two of Madonna's most enduring and well-known songs.

Madonna has reinvented the song by singing it with different arrangements on her Blond Ambition tour and The Girlie Show . Madonna wears a wedding gown in the music video, which was directed by Mary Lambert.

The song was the subject of a famous exegesis in the opening scene of Quentin Tarantino's film, Reservoir Dogs. It was also the subject of a parody by "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Like a Surgeon", and was performed by Jim Broadbent in the film Moulin Rouge! (2001) as a comic piece. A version of it, not a parody, was done by the folk singer John Wesley Harding on the album . A rare version of the song was a duet recorded by Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor (the Nine Inch Nails frontman).

"Like A Virgin" was honored by Rolling Stone and MTV in 2000 as the #4 song on their list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs".

Track listing

1. "Material Girl" (Brown, Rans) - 4:01
2. "Angel" (Bray, Madonna) - 3:55
3. "Like a Virgin" (Kelly, Steinberg) - 3:39
4. "Over and Over" (Bray, Madonna) - 4:12
5. "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (Gregory) - 4:50
6. "Into the Groove {From the Film Desperately Seeking Susan}" (Bray, Madonna) - 4:43
7. "Dress You Up" (LaRusso, Stanziale) - 4:01
8. "Shoo-Bee-Doo" (Madonna) - 5:17
9. "Pretender" (Madonna) - 4:30
10. "Stay" (Bray, Madonna) - 4:06

Personnel

• Madonna - vocals, background vocals
• Bernard Edwards - bass
• Brenda King - background vocals
• Curtis King
• Lenny Pickett - saxophone
• Nile Rodgers - guitar, synclavier
• Robert Sabino - synthesizer
• Frank Simms - background vocals
• George Simms - background vocals
• Tony Thompson - drums

Production

• Producers: Madonna, Stephen Bray, Nile Rodgers
• Engineer: Jason Corsaro
• Production manager: Budd Tunick
• Drum programming: Jimmy Bralower
• Art direction: Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff
• Design: Jeffrey Kent Ayer, Jeri McManus
• Photography: Steven Meisel

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles - Billboard (North America)