Madonna proves she’s the ultimate LGBTQ+ ally as she teases Sam Smith collab: ‘Gay scream!’
Madonna and Sam Smith are flipping off the haters on ‘Vulgar’. (Twitter/@samsmith)
Madonna and Sam Smith are teasing what could be the collaboration of the century, and it’s just another chapter in Madonna’s long history of supporting LGBTQ+ people.
On Wednesday (24 May), the Queen of Pop and non-binary singer Sam Smith posted a six-second video clip on their Instagram pages, teasing an upcoming project seemingly entitled “S and M”.
The voiceover in the short clip simply says “Sam and Madonna”, and neither artist followed the video up with a caption. Eagle-eyed fans spotted billboards cropping up in Manchester yesterday ahead of Smith’s concert in the city, leading many fans to believe Madonna would be making an appearance at the show.
Smith poured fuel on that particular fire by sharing a post on their Instagram story, teasing a surprise song at the end of their setlist at the Manchester show. However, in a concerning turn of events, Smith was forced to cancel the show in the city just four songs into their set, due to a vocal cord injury.
They have since cancelled upcoming shows on their Gloria tour in Glasgow and Birmingham – both of which have already been rescheduled once due to illness.
Smith’s worldwide Gloria tour has been scandalising bigots since its opening night last month, thanks to Smith daring to wear a corset and nipple tassels.
The “Unholy” singer – who has made a name for themself in recent months by continually, joyously, upsetting miserable right-wingers – also performed a smoky cover of Madonna’s ‘90s hit “Human Nature”, leading to fan speculation that their upcoming collaboration will be a reworked version of the song.
While not an awful lot is known about what the pair have been up to, fans are already obsessed.
Whatever the collaboration ends up being, it’s not a huge surprise to see Madonna and Sam Smith working together. For one, Madge stood up for Smith and trans pop star Kim Petras after the pair faced abuse and trolling for their “satanic” performance at the Grammy Awards earlier this year.
“Are you ready for a little controversy?,” she told the crowd at the ceremony, while introducing the pair for their performance of groundbreaking single “Unholy”.
“Here’s what I’ve learned after four decades in music. If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problematic, provocative or dangerous, you are definitely on to something.”
Madonna has faced endless trolling throughout her career for the crime of showing skin and expressing her sexuality, so it’s no wonder she has gravitated to Sam Smith, who has faced flack for doing the same.
Plus, her relationship with the queer singer is just another example of her lifelong affinity with the LGBTQ+ community.
From using the release of her 1989 album Like A Prayer to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS by including a pamphlet of facts on the disease in the album sleeve, to bringing RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bob The Drag Queen with her on her upcoming Celebration tour, Madonna has always been a friend of the LGBTQ+ community.
In March, the “Hung Up” star announced that she would be adding another date to the Celebration Tour in Nashville, Tennessee, with a portion of the proceeds going to trans rights organisations, in protest against the state’s vile anti-drag and anti-trans legislation.
Earlier this year, Tennessee became the first US state to outlaw drag performances in public, and gender-affirming care for minors is banned in the state.
The Celebration tour begins in July.
