How "Live to Tell" and "Papa Don’t Preach" Turned Madonna into a Serious Artist in 1986

Talent, Vision and Ambition. Madonna had them all. It’s nearly impossible for an artists to be the biggest thing since sliced bread this early in their career and then pull a serious artistic statement at the height of their fame while continuing their peak. Well Madonna did this in 1986. After blowing up as the material girl with her multiplatinum blockbuster Like A Virgin album, she was preparing to release her follow up, True Blue which had various potential pop hits on it from the catchy title track, to Open Your Heart and La Isla Bonita all sexy love songs that would easily play to the masses. Instead Madonna went against all conventional record executive wisdom and released Live To Tell, a heart wrenching ballad about abuse as the first single and Papa Don’t Preach about teenage pregnancy as the follow up. Live to tell is a pop masterpiece that overnight elevated Madonna from pop idol to serious artist.

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