Music is the eighth studio album by American singer Madonna, released on September 18, 2000, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records. Following the success of her previous album Ray of Light in 1998, the music scene was being dominated by a younger generation of singers like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, prompting Madonna to look for a distinctive sound within this market. Her collaborations with Mirwais Ahmadzaï and William Orbit resulted in a more experimental direction for the album. Music incorporates many different genres into its overall dance-pop and electronica vibe, taking influences from funk, house, rock, country and folk. Elaborating a western theme for the album, Madonna reinvented her image as a cowgirl.
The album was recorded at a number of studios, including the Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London (pictured).
A cowgirl hat and pink shades, two of the various promotional items produced to support the album's release.
Madonna and her dancers perform second single "Don't Tell Me" dressed as cowboys on one of the concerts of 2001's Drowned World Tour.
Released as lead single, title track "Music" became Madonna's 12th number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the image, the artist sings the track on 2015-2016's Rebel Heart Tour.
Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released in early 1998 by Maverick Records. A major stylistic and aesthetic departure from her previous work, Bedtime Stories, Ray of Light is an electronica and techno-pop record which incorporates multiple genres, including ambient, trip hop, psychedelic music and Middle Eastern music, while also seeing Madonna singing with greater breadth and a fuller tone. Mystical themes are also strongly present in both the music and lyrics, as a result of Madonna embracing Kabbalah, her study of Hinduism and Buddhism, and her daily practice of Ashtanga yoga.
Madonna wearing a red string, performing the album's opening track, "Drowned World/Substitute for Love", on the 2006 Confessions Tour
Madonna performing promotional single "Sky Fits Heaven", during the Drowned World Tour in 2001
Madonna performing the album's lead single "Frozen" on the Re-Invention World Tour in 2004.
Madonna performing "Ray of Light" during the 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour. The song won an MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.