April 20, 2026 — 11:35am
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The queen of pop has returned to the dance floor. Madonna, the 1980s icon, joined Sabrina Carpenter on stage during the second weekend of Coachella, duetting on some of her most legendary hits including Vogue and Like A Prayer.
But this performance, which sent the Coachella crowd into rapturous applause, marked only the beginning of Madonna’s highly-anticipated comeback after years of half-hearted attempts and bizarre experimentation.
Madonna (left) joined Sabrina Carpenter on-stage at Coachella, confirming that the queen of pop is well and truly back.Coachella TV/YouTube
Last week the 67-year-old announced her 15th studio album, Confessions On A Dance Floor: Part II, which lands on July 3. It’s not only her first solo record in seven years, but it’s also a direct follow-up to one of her most beloved albums to date: 2005’s Confessions On A Dance Floor. That album, co-produced by Stuart Price, introduced the world to bangers including Hung Up, Sorry and Jump – all high-energy club hits that blended ’70s disco with more modern noughties pop.
Confessions II also marks Madonna’s return to Warner Records, the music label she worked with for the first two decades of her career, and Price, who helped produce some of the songs that came to define Madge as the queen of pop.
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” she said in a statement after announcing the new album. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years – they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect with your wounds, with your fragility.
“To rave is an art,” she continued. “It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people.”
It’s this sentiment that has fans feverishly hoping Confessions II will mark the singer’s official return to her earlier hypnotic, club DJ sound – something her followers have missed over the past decade.
Since her chart-topping Confessions album in 2005 and Hard Candy in 2008, Madonna has released three studio albums. The first two, MDNA (2012) and Rebel Heart (2015), she dismissed as albums she made “reluctantly”. The third, Madame X, failed to wow broad audiences, instead confusing some listeners with its experimental blending of Portuguese fado, rap and reggaeton.
Beyond her music, the singer was the subject of some controversy in 2024 when two of her fans attempted to sue her for what they claimed was a history of starting her shows hours late. The lawsuit was later dropped.
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Ahead of her Coachella performance on Friday night (Saturday AEST), Madonna offered fans a taste of Confessions II, releasing her single I Feel So Free. It appeared to confirm speculation of Madonna’s sonic homecoming, offering a well-crafted track that, according to a Guardian reviewer, conjured the “hypnotic atmosphere of a locked-in small hours dance floor”.
Instead of attempting to catch up to the contemporary pop of singers such as Carpenter and Taylor Swift, Madge appears to be reclaiming her original house sound, something she arguably hasn’t successfully done on a large scale since 2005.
“From being a struggling artist in New York City to signing a record deal to release just three singles, it seemed at the time my world would never be the same again, and in fact that couldn’t have been truer,” the singer said in a statement just days before announcing her upcoming album.
“I … look forward to the future, making music, doing the unexpected while, perhaps, provoking a few needed conversations.”
The first stop on Madonna’s hedonistic pop comeback tour? Coachella.Coachella TV/YouTube
Madonna has so far released 14 studio albums, including the 1984 smash record Like A Virgin and the 1998 fan favourite Ray of Light. She has played with many aesthetics over her decades-long career, including vintage Hollywood glamour, club kid edge and disco sleek. But it was her consistent pop hedonism that arguably earned her the “queen of pop” title.
The singer hasn’t performed a full set at Coachella since 2006; however, she returned as a guest performer during Drake’s gig in 2015. This triggered some backlash after she unexpectedly kissed the rapper during a rendition of Human Nature.
Beyond her upcoming album, Madge will also appear in the second season of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s series The Studio, a satirical take on Hollywood and the film industry. The show has become a who’s-who of the entertainment industry, further proving Madonna’s ongoing cultural impact.
Confessions On A Dance Floor: Part II will be released globally on July 3.
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Nell Geraets is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners