Madonna‘s “Like a Prayer” hit No. 1 on the charts 37 years ago today!
On April 22, 1989, the song became Madonna’s seventh No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for three consecutive weeks and cementing its place as one of her most iconic tracks.
In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked “Like a Prayer” at No. 55 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
“Only Madonna could combine love, religion, and oral sex into a six-minute gospel-pop powerhouse,” the outlet wrote in its review. “To her, ‘Like a Prayer’ is ‘the song of a passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life.’”
The song remains widely remembered for its controversial music video, which depicts Madonna witnessing a white woman being sexually assaulted and killed by a group of white men.
When a Black man is arrested for the crime, Madonna hides in a church for safety, seeking strength to come forward as a witness. The video invokes Catholic imagery such as the stigmata, shows the burning of crosses, and includes a dream sequence where Madonna kisses a Black saint.
As a result of the video, Madonna lost her sponsorship contract with Pepsi, which had planned to use “Like a Prayer” in a commercial.
She was also condemned by the Vatican, and Pope John Paul II encouraged a boycott of her music in Italy over the video’s “blasphemous” imagery.
“In Catholicism you are born a sinner and you are a sinner all of your life,” Madonna said in 1989, per Rolling Stone. “No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you all the time.”
RELATED: Madonna Will Tour Again Following Coachella Performance with Sabrina Carpenter
37 years later, “Like a Prayer” is still a mainstream hit. So much so, Sabrina Carpenter brought Madonna out during weekend 2 of her 2026 Coachella set to perform the song as a duet.
Along with “Like a Prayer,” the duo sang 1990’s “Vogue” and a song that appeared to be from Madonna’s upcomingConfessions IIalbum, a sequel to 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor.
“So, 20 years ago today, I performed at Coachella. I was in the dance tent, and it was the first time I performed Confessions on a Dance Floor part one in America,” Madonna said on stage. “It was such a thrill, and it’s a thrill to be back. It’s a full circle moment, you know? [It’s] very meaningful for me.”
The viral guest appearance marked Madonna’s first performance at Coachella since 2015, when she came on during Drake’s headlining set.
Confessions II will be released on July 3, 2026.
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