She's still producing music and she looks fabulous. Sure, she's late for concerts, interviews, and has problems with her son, but we must admit, Madonna is still a powerhouse when it comes to music and pop culture.
Entitled "Madonna's Spring Awakening," Harper's Bazaar writer Roxane Gay sits down with the icon to talk about among other things election-night prayers, aging, and bad wine.
Before we preview some of Gay's questions, here is a behind the scenes look at Madonna's cover shoot.
Madonna has no patience for bad wine. I learned this while sitting in a well-appointed living room at her New York City home, with Nina Simone playing softly in the background. I must tell you, Madonna's house smells amazing—something delicious, maybe roasted chicken, was cooking in a kitchen elsewhere in the manse, and there was a gentle fragrance in the air, jasmine, perhaps. While I waited for Madonna, her day-to-day manager, her publicist, and I chatted while reclining on gorgeous cream-colored furniture set upon the largest rug I'd ever seen, on top of immaculate black wood floors. On the wall behind me was a black-and-white photograph of a woman perched on the edge of a mussed bed, scantily clad, sucking on a gun, it's Helmut Newton's "Girl with Gun" photograph. Of course. – harpersbazaar.com
Once Madonna arrived (yes, she was late to her own interview in her own house), Gay asked her several questions like:
- As an artist, whether it's in film or music or writing, do you think your work is political?
- It's been almost two weeks since the election. How did you feel in the wake of Donald Trump being elected president of the United States? Were you surprised?
- How do you stay motivated after accomplishing so much?
- What beyond art gives you that kind of drive to keep doing what you do?
- Do you still feel the same rush when you accomplish some new milestone? Or does it become commonplace?
- What are you reading right now?
- I have one last question: What do you like most about the art that you make?
For more of the interview and Madonna's answers, head over to harpersbazaar.com
Has Madonna lost her touch?
Is she as good as ever?
Will it be just her, Cher, and the cockroaches at the end of the earth?
h/t: Photos: Luigi & Iango
Text: harpersbazaar.com and Roxane Gay