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<\/p>\nThe album is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026.<\/p>\n
\t6\/30\/2026\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tMadonna in 1986<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHerb Ritts<\/p>\n
\n\tCasual\u00a0Madonna<\/a>\u00a0fans might be surprised to learn that her biggest\u00a0selling album of all time globally isn\u2019t her acclaimed 1989 blockbuster\u00a0Like\u00a0a\u00a0Prayer, her 1998 magnum opus\u00a0Ray of Light\u00a0or her return-to-form 2006 comeback\u00a0Confessions on\u00a0a Dance\u00a0Floor, but the 1986 LP which\u00a0\u2014\u00a0as shown by its classic Herb Ritts-shot cover\u00a0\u2014 best harnessed her blonde ambition:\u00a0True Blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIndeed, despite hosting three\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits (and a further two\u00a0top five\u00a0hits), spending five weeks atop the Billboard 200<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0being certified platinum seven times over by the RIAA\u00a0in less than a decade,\u00a0the Queen of Pop\u2019s third album seems strangely\u00a0underappreciated\u00a0compared to the rest of her iconic oeuvre.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tTrue Blue\u00a0was also a pivotal record for\u00a0Madonna\u00a0the artiste.\u00a0She delved deeper into her personal life than ever before, driven by her tabloid-friendly marriage to Sean Penn, the Hollywood bad boy\u00a0she\u2019d\u00a0soon star alongside in box-office flop\u00a0Shanghai Surprise.\u00a0And she also assumed more creative control, serving as\u00a0cowriter and coproducer\u00a0on all nine tracks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIt was here where she also forged long-running partnerships with producer Patrick Leonard<\/a> and backing vocalist Donna DeLory<\/a>. \u201cIt was different, and to her credit, she took some chances that I don\u2019t know most people would have,\u201d Leonard explained to USA Today<\/a> in 2021 on how the album cemented Madonna\u2019s place in the pantheon of \u201980s pop greats. \u201cThere were things in there that weren\u2019t normal in pop music at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTo celebrate\u00a0the deceptively huge album\u2019s\u00a040th anniversary\u00a0on Tuesday\u00a0(June 30),\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0ranked\u00a0all nine songs on\u00a0True Blue\u00a0below.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\u201cJimmy Jimmy\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI used to fantasize that we grew up in the same neighborhood and that he moved away and became a big star,\u201d\u00a0Madonna told\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0in 1966 of her\u00a0muse\u00a0for \u201cJimmy\u00a0Jimmy,\u201d\u00a0rebel without a cause James Dean. Although the doo-wop backing vocals\u00a0on\u00a0True Blue\u2019s penultimate number\u00a0provide a touch of\u00a0the Hollywood icon\u2019s\u00a0\u201850s era, this musical tribute is still more children\u2019s party than countercultural classic. Madonna\u2019s vocals surely gave the \u201cMinnie Mouse on helium\u201d detractors further ammunition, while the giddy bubblegum synths sound like\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0overdosed on\u00a0E numbers. And considering Dean\u2019s tragic fate, the \u201cWhy did you go and crash up your new car?\u201d seems a little on\u00a0the\u00a0nose.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cLove Makes the World Go Round\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFans and record label execs alike\u00a0may have\u00a0panicked slightly when Madonna unveiled\u00a0True Blue\u2019s first taster at Live Aid\u00a0in 1985.\u00a0(Yes, just like\u00a0George Michael<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a02012 Olympics closing ceremony<\/a>, the star used a monumental global event where everyone simply wanted the hits to drop an underwhelming new tune.)\u00a0Its pleas for peace are undoubtedly well-meaning, of course, but they still succumb to the triteness that plagued \u201cWe Are the World.\u201d And while the synthesized horns no doubt aimed for street carnival vibes, they sound like\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0been lifted from a daytime game show. Thankfully, there was much better to come.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cWhite Heat\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tLike the proverbial bus, you wait ages for one Madonna song about a silver-screen icon named James and then two come along at once. As its title suggests, \u201cWhite Heat\u201d is\u00a0dedicated to James Cagney, the Oscar winner who\u2019d\u00a0passed away<\/a>\u00a0just three months before\u00a0True Blue\u2019s release. The snatches of dialogue\u00a0from the same-named 1949 film noir (\u201cAnd I was\u00a0gonna\u00a0split fifty-fifty with a copper\/ Maybe they\u2019re\u00a0waitin\u2019 to pin a medal on him\u201d), along with\u00a0the actor\u2019s\u00a0distinctive\u00a0New York\u00a0drawl, are undeniably the most interesting thing about a solid but unspectacular blend of juddering funk basslines and rock-lite guitars.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cWhere\u2019s the Party\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDon\u2019t want to grow old too fast\/ Don\u2019t want to let the system get me down\/ I\u2019ve got to find a way to make the good times last,\u201d\u00a0Madonna sings on\u00a0True Blue\u2019s finest non-single,\u00a0\u201cWhere\u2019s the Party,\u201d\u00a0a joyous TGIF anthem\u00a0that\u00a0sums up her DGAF ethos better than any of the album\u2019s hits. Refusing to cave into the pressures of the pop treadmill and the media whirlwind that had only intensified since getting together with Penn, Madge instead leads a hedonistic rally cry \u2013 she practically yells the title \u2013 which shows she\u2019s simply going to dance her cares away.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cTrue Blue\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tMadonna has since reneged<\/a> on the unashamed romanticism of this marital love letter (\u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was talking about when I wrote it,\u201d she said during a 2015 concert), which perhaps comes with little surprise considering she first filed for divorce just over a year after \u201cTrue Blue\u201d dropped. Nevertheless, \u201cTrue Blue\u201d \u2013 named after one of Penn\u2019s favorite sayings \u2013 perfectly encapsulates the euphoria of an all-consuming romance. The typically composed star sounds positively smitten as she lets down all defenses (\u201cThose tear drops, they won\u2019t fall again\/ I\u2019m so excited \u2019cause you\u2019re my best friend\u201d) on a wonderfully kitsch throwback to the hairbrush-in-the-mirror girl group ditties of the \u201860s.\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cLa Isla Bonita\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tDescribed by Madonna\u00a0as a tribute to the \u201cmystery and beauty of Latin American people,\u201d\u00a0according to\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/a>,\u00a0True Blue\u2019s fifth single was the first time\u00a0she\u00a0showcased\u00a0her love of the culture on record. Sure, its references may be cliched \u2013 there\u2019s flamenco guitars, bongos\u00a0and castanets, not to mention lyrical nods to sambas and siestas and a couple of basic Spanish phrases translated by her Hispanic housekeeper\u00a0\u2014 but Madge still sells her idyllic vision of a mysterious island named San Pedro with warmth and respect. Interestingly, in one of those sliding-doors moments,\u00a0Patrick Leonard\u00a0has said that\u00a0\u201cLa Isla Bonita\u201d was\u00a0first offered<\/a>\u00a0to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson<\/a>, rather than the Queen.<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>. <\/p>\n \t\u201cOpen Your Heart\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOpen Your Heart\u201d was initially conceived<\/a> as a rock n\u2019 roll number for the woman who famously beat Madonna to the best new artist Grammy, Cyndi Lauper<\/a>. Once again, though, Ms. Ciccone made the song her own, rewriting its lyrics and spinning its sound into a sparkly but muscular progression of her post-disco beginnings. The tale of unrequited love \u2013 which introduced longtime backing vocalist De Lory into the fold \u2013 deservedly became the album\u2019s third No. 1 and Madonna\u2019s career fifth, a tally that helped her tie with Whitney Houston as the most successful female<\/a> chart-topper of the decade.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cLive to Tell\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tFar more memorable than the Penn crime drama it was recorded for (At Close Range), this unexpected torch song should have silenced anyone who doubted \u201880s Madonna\u2019s abilities as a vocalist. While she lacked the powerhouse,\u00a0octave-spanning tones of her bigger-voiced peers, \u201cLive to Tell\u201d proved she could match \u2013 and even surpass \u2013 them in conveying genuine emotion. Admittedly,\u00a0it\u2018s not difficult to understand\u00a0why her\u00a0label bosses\u00a0may have been reluctant\u00a0to launch\u00a0True Blue, an otherwise effervescent pop record, with a deeply foreboding seven-minute ballad that hinted at childhood trauma. But as usual, Madonna\u2019s creative instincts proved spot-on, its dramatic electric piano, fluttering synths and heart-rending melodies kickstarting the album\u2019s trilogy of\u00a0No. 1s.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\u201cPapa Don\u2019t Preach\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n \n\tThe story of a young girl defying her father\u2019s orders by keeping her unborn baby,\u00a0True Blue\u2019s crowning glory was accused of both glamorizing teenage pregnancy and wading into the debate on abortion. As with \u201cLike a Prayer\u201d several years later, the controversy threatened to overshadow the song. But by combining her masterful storytelling with an array of earworm hooks, not to mention a\u00a0Vivaldian\u00a0flurry of strings\u00a0which\u00a0initially suggested\u00a0she\u2019d\u00a0gone all classical, its sound proved to be equally compelling. Resulting in a second Grammy nomination, a fourth\u00a0career\u00a0No. 1\u00a0and \u2013\u00a0arguably\u00a0most\u00a0significantly \u2013 a future brat-rock cover by Kelly\u00a0Osbourne,\u00a0this was mid-\u201980s Madonna at her fearless best.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tListen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n \t<\/a><\/p>\n Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tThe Daily\t\t<\/p>\n A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry<\/p>\n \t\tBy providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and our Privacy Policy<\/a>.![\"Billboard](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-billboard-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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