So, Madge is going through some stuff. Her son with Guy Ritchie doesn’t want to live with her anymore — although, the newspapers make it sound like it’s because Madonna tries to lay down the law with him and Guy is more loosey-goosey, and if you had told me when I was seven that this would be the case I never would have believed you; also, if true, I applaud Madonna for making rules, at least? — and so the custody dispute there is getting ugly. She’s been putting up sad Instagrams about it.

And now there are rumors she did a concert drunk or high, and last night, she was two hours late going on in Brisbane. Whatever is toppling her right now, I hope she’s able to conquer it and climb back atop the mountain. Because however anyone feels about the Madonna of 2016, in her heyday she was a seminal influence on pop music and performance.

And so: What is YOUR iconic Madonna moment? Mine was walking into my sister’s bedroom when I was six or seven, and seeing posters on her wall of Madonna in her “Like A Virgin” getup. I remember also discovering that she had a whole other ALBUM before that one — it was like a gift! — and then lamenting that “Crazy For You” and “Get Into The Groove” were not on any of her records at all. (Thank GOD for her greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection, which I devoured.) I went as Madonna for Halloween TWICE in school, and I distinctly remember asking my mother for a “loose perm” because I had straight hair then and I wanted her shaggy-chic curls. Smartly, my mother refused, and I only later learned that I don’t think perms COME in the “loose” form. It’s just perm or no perm. My mother was excellent at deflecting my hair whims, by the way. She was also diplomatically correct about never letting me get real bangs.

Anyway. Madonna was A Big Stonking Deal to me, long before I ever even understood half of what she was doing. She just leaked a kind of cool I knew would always be foreign to me. Did you ever love Madonna? And if so, when? And will she always be your lucky star, or are you on the borderline? Are you forever having to justify your love? Or is it the case that love don’t live here anymore?

[Photo: Fame/Flynet]