Madonna and Fairuz, a confrontation that never happened. (Credit: AFP/Illustration Jaimee Lee Haddad/L'OLJ)
Trapped in a New York recording studio, the queen of pop paced restlessly in her booth. Behind the glass separating her from agents and a handful of journalists invited to witness the making of her new album, Madonna fumed. It was June 8, 1992. The 34-year-old singer was preparing for a stage comeback as the U.S. presidential race between George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton played out in a divided country.“She wanted to create an event — again and again,” said Julie Morani, a former Entertainment Tonight reporter who was present that day, speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour. “She knew that, no matter what was happening in politics or after the Gulf War, people would be talking about her. And she was right.”But something was missing. “She needed elements that would match her history of provocation,” Morani added — a firsthand witness to what...
Trapped in a New York recording studio, the queen of pop paced restlessly in her booth. Behind the glass separating her from agents and a handful of journalists invited to witness the making of her new album, Madonna fumed. It was June 8, 1992. The 34-year-old singer was preparing for a stage comeback as the U.S. presidential race between George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton played out in a divided country.“She wanted to create an event — again and again,” said Julie Morani, a former Entertainment Tonight reporter who was present that day, speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour. “She knew that, no matter what was happening in politics or after the Gulf War, people would be talking about her. And she was right.”But something was missing. “She needed elements that would match her history of provocation,” Morani added — a firsthand...