Apparently, threatening to blow up the White House is no way to sell music.
Madonna, who did just that at the Women’s March last winter, the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, released a new album last week — a live recording from her “Rebel Heart” tour — and sold just 3,848 CDs and album downloads, according to numbers obtained by Showbiz 411.
That’s a miserable number for just about anyone, but especially for the 60-year-old “pop princess,” who once sold millions of albums to listeners worldwide. If the trend continues, this could be Madonna’s first certified flop.
Of course, it’s not to say that Madonna isn’t still a money-maker. Her Rebel Heart tour grossed the singer $169.8 million worldwide, and drew more than a million people. The album in question is a recording made of her performance at Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia, which drew thousands.
But that also doesn’t mean that Madonna is the kind of commercial success she once was. Drawing audiences, awash in ’80s and ’90s nostalgia to major arenas is different than selling music, and Madonna is clearly having trouble with the latter. The album that inspired the tour, Rebel Heart, sold only 238,000 copies — better than the live album, but still pretty miserable for even a washed-up superstar.
Bad news, since she’s supposed to release a new album later this year, as well as a movie, Loved.
As for Madonna herself, well, she may not care what Americans think, or how many albums they buy — at least for now. Since Trump’s election, she’s been living in Portugal to escape America’s oppressive government.