Madonna Will Sing Classic Hit ‘Borderline’ With Jimmy Fallon And Barack Obama
Longtime Madonna fans can rejoice — the Queen of Pop is scheduled to perform her first top-ten hit “Borderline” on The Tonight Show, which is hosted by Jimmy Fallon. The other special guest will be President Barack Obama, a man Madonna has endorsed for years. After all, she even celebrated his victory on November 4, 2008, when she played a show at Petco Park in San Diego.
In 2015, Madonna told Us Weekly that the one person she still wants to meet is Barack Obama.
“The person I most want to meet is President Obama. When the heck am I going to meet him? He just needs to invite me to the White House already. He probably thinks I’m too shocking to be there. I’m serious. If I was a little bit more demure … or if I was just married to Jay Z. Hey, if Jay would only take me as his second wife, then I’d score an invitation.”
Even though Madonna was obviously joking about the Jay Z thing (they’re friends), she still angered some people who took her literally. But that doesn’t matter because Madonna’s dreams came true yesterday.
Some people who attended the taping of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon reported that Madonna sang her 1984 hit, “Borderline,” which is a dream come true for longtime Madonna fans. However, not every fan was happy. Fans on different sites, such as Madonnatribe, wanted her to either sing a new song or a “bigger” hit. However, even though “Borderline” only peaked at No. 10, it is actually one of the biggest hits of her career.
As Billboard notes, “Borderline,” along with “Take a Bow,” is Madonna’s longest-running Hot 100 hit, spending 30 weeks on the chart. The reason it didn’t chart higher was because back in the Summer of 1984, many major radio stations — especially in the midwest — didn’t start playing “Borderline” until it peaked. It ended up at No. 35 on the 1984 year-end charts and beat out some songs that actually hit No. 1.
“Borderline” also began what Billboard describes as one of the longest streaks of top-ten hits in music history. After “Borderline,” Madonna scored 16 more top ten hits that lasted until the end of 1989 with “Cherish.” The fourth single from Like a Prayer, “Oh Father,” ended that streak by only peaking at No. 20. Still Madonna scored 21 more top ten hits after that and holds the record for the most top-ten hits out of any musical artist in history.
Despite some fans not recognizing the importance of “Borderline,” other Madonna fans on Twitter are very excited.
I'M SCREAMING at Madonna performing Borderline on Fallon for Obama, that's so cute ? I can't wait to watch @FallonTonight
— fr*nky (@FR4NKY20) June 9, 2016
Let’s hope that Madonna doesn’t encounter the same criticism for singing “Borderline” as she did when she sang “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Purple Rain” at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards last month. As the Inquisitr noted a couple weeks back, Madonna actually received many fantastic reviews right after the performance. Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo said Madonna’s tribute was nothing short of stunning.
“Perhaps it was these artists’ overlapping discographies of overtly lovesexy material that had some detractors worried that Madonna’s show-closing BBMAs tribute would be some sort of shamelessly R-rated spectacle … But instead, Madonna gave a tasteful, gimmick-free, uncharacteristically subdued performance that demonstrated great respect for her old friend’s legacy.”
However, while there were certainly some who legitimately didn’t like the performance on Twitter, many turned the performance into a race issue and condemned both Billboard and Madonna for not letting a black artist honor Prince. Madonna fought back and said that people should feel welcomed to do a Prince tribute no matter what their skin color, gender, or age is. Perhaps Madonna’s performance of “Borderline” tonight won’t be as controversial, especially since she is singing her own classic song.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
