Madonna reveals that she’s a big fan of Taylor Swift, talks about her leaked album and how an ancient spiritual wisdom, Kabbalah, has helped her.
She told Australia’s ‘Today’ show: “It’s good to have princesses [of pop]. It means there’s lots of pretty dresses around. I like Taylor Swift. I think she writes some really catchy pop songs. I can’t get them out of my head.”
And Taylor was of course shocked by the pop superstar’s compliment, writing on her Tumblr page: “Thanks now I’m dead.”
It is also a coincidence that both Taylor and Madonna have experienced hacking violations recently, leading to the leak of Madonna’s upcoming album, Rebel Heart.
She says: “To have your work taken before you’re finished and put out into the world for people to hear and judge and experience… I can’t begin to tell you how betrayed I felt.”
Earlier this month, a 39-year-old Israeli has been arrested in Tel Aviv by the Lahav 433 crime-fighting agency for “breaking into” Madonna’s computer, after which she expressed her relief on Facebook, writing: “I am profoundly grateful to the FBI, the Israeli Police investigators and anyone else who helped lead to the arrest of this hacker. I deeply appreciate my fans who have provided us with pertinent information and continue to do so regarding leaks of my music. Like any citizen, I have the right to privacy.
This invasion into my life — creatively, professionally, and personally remains a deeply devastating and hurtful experience, as it must be for all artists who are victims of this type of crime.”
Although devastated, Madonna tells of her secret dependence on the Kabbalah ever since she started studying it many years ago.
The 56-year-old star began learning about the school of thought shortly before the 1996 birth of her daughter Lourdes and whilst she admits that she “doesn’t understand” everything connected with it, she is glad the discipline has provided her with some guidance throughout her career.
She said: “I started studying Kabbalah when I was pregnant with my daughter, so I guess they’re connected. It made me become more conscious of my choices, my decisions, what I wanted to say, how it affected people, stuff like that. I feel like it made me become a more responsible person. I mean there are aspects of Kabbalah that I still don’t understand. But I would have to devote my life to studying it all the time and then I wouldn’t be the person that I am. But I certainly have relied on it and it has informed me as a mother, as an artist, in many ways. [It] pushed me in the direction of asking more questions. Thou doth not protest too much.”
Madonna, who was born to a Catholic family, has previously admitted that her 1989 song ‘Like A Prayer’ stemmed from the uneasiness she feels about being punished for doing something wrong, she believes it is important to reference “our institutions”.
Speaking about the single’s catholic references, she added to MOJO magazine: “The Catholic church needs to have a stick poked at it, for God sakes. Doesn’t it? On the other hand, I love going to a beautiful Catholic church and hearing the mass in Latin and smelling the incense and the whole pomp and circumstance and drama of it all.
It’s beautiful, it’s hypocrisy. But we have to poke at our institutions. If you can’t poke at institutions, then you might as well just live in a fascist state – Which is what we’re living in now. Yay! Woo!”
Madonna’s brave comment may bring her trouble in future, but until then, she’s dealing with the album leak and dancing to Taylor Swift. Good luck M.
