IT is the gig on every star’s bucket list, and it looks like 2027 will be the year Madonna finally plays Glastonbury.
confirmed she has a huge show lined up in the UK next summer during her TV special with Graham Norton on BBC One last night.
Madonna on the Graham Norton TV special Credit: Ricardo Gomes
Madge chats with Graham and producer Stuart Price Credit: BBC
And all signs point to it being at Worthy Farm. Smirking, said: “I think I will do promo tours for a while and then, in the summertime, something bigger . . . ”
Graham replied: “That sounds really exciting, I think I know what you’re talking about . . . Is it in this country?”, to which Madge teased: “It could be . . . Why do you have to know everything?”
The Like A Virgin singer was heavily tipped to headline in 2024, having kicked off her Celebration Tour in London the previous year, when festival organiser was in the crowd.
But after wrapping the 81-date trek in May that year, rather than hitting the Pyramid Stage, Madge went into the studio with longtime collaborator Stuart Price to make new album , out Friday.
She said: “Finally, when the tour ended, for the last year it’s just been one big soundcheck. We have been playing in the studio. Hence Confessions II.”
Stuart, who masterminded Madonna’s 2005 album Confessions On A Dance Floor, also appeared in the BBC special and said: “She is a great storyteller. She is very poetic in the way that she writes. The studio just becomes a space to tell the stories.”
Madonna added: “I can’t just make dance music about nothing. So that was really important. We love to chat about everything: about the downfall of civilisation, about parenting, about fashion.”
One of the most emotional songs on Confessions II, called Fragile, is about , who died in 2024 after a cancer diagnosis.
The song is so personal, she admitted she’s yet to play it for her frail 95-year-old father, Silvio.
Asked if he had heard it, Madonna said: “No. I am going to see him soon and he will. I don’t want to push him over the edge.”
And while she may be the Material Girl through and through, family is still at the heart of everything the mum-of-six does.
She has even written a tune with eldest daughter .
Madge said: “She has been very reluctant to work with me.
“She doesn’t want to be perceived as my daughter taking advantage of her privilege.
“She has been very standoffish and working at her own pace and I respect that deeply. She is a great songwriter. She has a much better voice than I do.
“But then one day she came to me and she said, ‘I realise I have been holding on to something’. I want to say maybe resentment.
The singer hugs Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella Credit: instagram/sabrinacarpenter
Kylie Minogue did a cameo as a bartender in the Graham Norton TV special and Madonna admitted she used to be jealous of the Aussie pop star Credit: Ricardo Gomes
“At the end of the day, she didn’t ask for this.
“She had been through her adolescence struggling with those feelings. She said, ‘Let’s write a song together. I think it will be a very healing process’. Her lyrics are beautiful. We sound good together.”
With Confessions II, Madonna is tipped to clock her 13th UK No1 album.
But she insisted: “I don’t have any expectations. I have been doing this for a long time. You know, hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”
Speaking about the first Confessions record, she continued: “It was mind-blowing as we didn’t have any idea how brilliant it was. No, I am just kidding. But it was a huge success. It took me by surprise.
“I’m excited for people to hear the whole album because it’s a whole story. It’s a whole journey.”
Confessions II’s lead single, Bring Your Love, features , and Madonna took matters into her own hands to make it happen.
She said: “I sent her a DM on Instagram. Sometimes, you DM people and you are like, ‘They are never going to believe that it’s me . . .’. I just said, ‘I am making a new record and I would love to collaborate with you . . . ’. It ended up being Bring Your Love, it worked perfectly.”
Confessions II already features 16 songs, but a deluxe edition is on the horizon Credit: AP Confessions
CONFESSIONS II already features 16 songs, but a deluxe edition is on the horizon.
Madonna said: “A lot of tracks didn’t make the album, but I think they are going to find their way out into the world.”
Of the 16 songs, Hot Sauce has already been teased by Absolut Vodka on an “Icon Edition” of the album.
KYLIE MINOGUE did a cameo as a bartender in the Graham Norton TV special and Madonna admitted she used to be jealous of the Aussie pop star.
Madge, who has been married to actor Sean Penn and director Guy Ritchie, said: “I’ve been a huge fan. I think my ex-husband at the time had a crush on her and I was, like, ‘I will never be as beautiful as Kylie’.”
MADONNA is likely to perform Read My Lips (Fifa Version) during the World Cup half-time final show on July 19.
The song dropped yesterday on Apple Music in time for the gig.
Madonna said of the show: “I am a big football fan and they never had a half-time show. I have been bugging my manager about it.”
But disaster struck after the 20-year-old outfit wore to sing with in April vanished backstage.
Despite putting out a reward, the boots are still missing.
Visibly annoyed, Madonna said: “It’s very naughty. Somebody found them and helped themselves.”
Madge revealed this week that she is now living in London full-time, although she hasn’t always loved the city.
Recalling a stint here in the mid-Nineties, she said: “I just found it so dreary. It was always grey, always raining. I didn’t have a friend. Everything closed at 6pm. Nothing was open on Sundays and the food wasn’t very good. It’s really changed.”
Meeting gallerist Lorcan O’Neill and late architect and designer David Collins changed her perception of the capital.
She explained: “They made me fall in love with London.
“They took me out all the time, they introduced me to people. They brought me to galleries, museums and cocktail parties. Then I was like, ‘London is fun’.”
Surprisingly, has also fallen in love with the seaside town of Margate, Kent, where we revealed she visited her artist pal in January.
Confirming our tale, she told Graham Norton: “I discovered Margate for the first time. That is a fun place. Lots of artists.”
Make sure you try the log flume next time, Madge.
WOODY COOK will open for Rizzle Kicks in Brighton tomorrow as part of Everywhere At Once festival.
The event is a nationwide celebration of grassroots live music, with more than 2,000 artists playing in over 400 music venues across the UK.
Becky Hil;, Tonie Tempah, Toddla T, Jodie Harsh and Inspiral Carpets are also among those on the line-up.
As Woody takes to the stage at venue Patterns, will be five minutes away at venue The Pipeline.
To find out what’s on, see everywherefest.com.
GRACIE’S GOT PAUL ON TRACK
Gracie Abrams roped in her actor boyfriend Paul Mescal while working on her new album Credit: Getty
roped in her actor boyfriend while working on her new album.
She revealed that he co-wrote one of the tracks, Imaginary Friend.
The couple, who have been dating for two years but are notoriously private about their relationship, didn’t fear opening up on the song.
Gracie told the Popcast podcast: “I don’t like the feeling of hiding. I also love privacy where it feels like the right thing.
“It was so fun to write together – but that wasn’t some groundbreaking event for us.
“We have a very creative home with friends who are so good at what they do and everyone feels happy to share that with one another.
“If you know how happy your experience of making something was, or how much you learned about yourself or your partner, or whatever the thing is, no amount of hate or trolling or whatever could take that away.”
She added of their relationship: “That is a part of my life that brings me so much peace and joy.
“I’m not going to pretend that’s not true, but I also think it’s not like an open-door policy.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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