The song was written and composed by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg , and it was released as the album's lead single on October 31, A dance song with two hooks, Madonna sings in a high register while a continuous arrangement of synths are heard along the bassline. The song's lyrics are ambiguous, consisting of hidden innuendos and open to various interpretations.
Upon release, "Like a Virgin" received positive reviews from music critics, who frequently singled out Madonna's vocals. It became her first number-one in the Billboard Hot , and topped the charts in Australia and Canada, while reaching the top ten elsewhere; "Like a Virgin" has sold over six million copies worldwide.
The accompanying music video was directed by Mary Lambert , and showed Madonna sailing down the canals of Venice in a gondola , as well as roaming around a castle wearing a white wedding dress. The video received positive feedback; authors singled out the expression of Venetian vitality, and noted references to Saint Mark. Madonna has included "Like a Virgin" in eight of her concert tours , the most recent being the Celebration Tour of —; the song's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards has been deemed a defining moment in pop culture, as well as one of the best performances in the show's history.
I was saying [ After the demo was recorded, Kelly invited Warner Bros. I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person, and I certainly wasn't a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words; I thought they were clever. They're so geeky, they're cool. I never realized they would become my signature songs, especially the second one.
In mid, Madonna met with Nile Rodgers at New York's Power Station studio to start working on her second studio album; [ 5 ] Rodgers put together an "economical" rhythm section , consisting of himself on guitars, Bernard Edwards from Chic on bass, and Tony Thompson on drums.
