“Unholy” singer Sam Smith stirs up controversy with pop royalty Madonna on their new bold anthem “Vulgar.” In February 2023, Madonna introduced an arresting Grammy Awards show performance by Sam Smith and Kim Petras. “Are you ready for some controversy?” she asked, before making a heartfelt speech. “If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problematic, provocative or dangerous,” she said, “you are definitely onto something.” The day after, with their fifth GRAMMY Award in hand, Sam headed into a Los Angeles studio with Madonna to record a fierce, unapologetic duet: “Vulgar.”
“Vulgar” fearlessly honors every word of Madonna’s speech. It’s the celebratory meeting of hooks, wild minds and aesthetics bolstered by an Eastern string break, earth-shattering bass and self-referencing. “You know you’re beautiful when they call you vulgar,” licks Sam. “I do what I wanna, I go when I gotta. I’m sexy, I’m free and I feel vulgar.” It is a two-and-a-half minute slap-back to repression and a demand for respect.
“Boy, get down on your knees ’cause I am Madonna. If you fuck with Sam tonight, you’re fucking with me.”
Madonna (Lyric excerpt from on “Vulgar”)
Sam took the negative media reaction his new material and image (since “Unholy”) as ammunition to retaliate against ball-busting naysayers like Piers Morgan who also had unpleasant words for Madonna.
“Vulgar” is the shiny new toy in Madonna’s discography, but her collaboration with The Weeknd’s “Popular” for HBO’s The Idol secured her long-awaited Billboard Hot 100 comeback. The same fate met contemporary Kylie Minogue as her TikTok-viral single, “Padam Padam,” quantifies in streams and memes daily.
❤️ @Madonna pic.twitter.com/VFHOkeHw9w
— SAM SMITH (@samsmith) February 10, 2023
Sam’s third studio album, Gloria, has sold over 40 million albums sold worldwide and they will launch the North American leg of GLORIA The Tour on July 25. Madonna will kick off her highly-anticipated global Celebration Tour in July.
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