DJ Spook

In late-1989, after the album Like a Prayer had spawned three U.S. hits – the title track, “Express Yourself” and “Cherish” – and a top-five European single in “Dear Jessie” – its fourth US single, “Oh Father”, stalled at number twenty in the charts. Perhaps to ensure that the last single release of “Keep It Together” would fare better on the charts, Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone decided to compose a new song to be placed on the flipside of “Keep It Together” and quickly produced “Vogue”. The song was partly inspired by a dance performed in New York clubs, on the underground gay scene of the same name in which dancers used a series of complex hand gestures and body poses and movements to imitate their favourite Hollywood stars (see the list of the names of the Hollywood stars below), as well as the cover models on the magazine Vogue.

Madonna brought the hitherto underground “vogueing” culture into the mainstream with the release of her song. After presenting the song to Warner Bros. executives, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be wasted on a B-side and that it should be released as a single. Although the song itself had nothing to do with Madonna’s then-upcoming movie Dick Tracy, it was included on the album I’m Breathless, which contained songs from and inspired by the film.

In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. “Vogue” was allocated the #14 spot. The song is featured in The Devil Wears Prada during a scene with Anne Hathaway.