Happy Birthday, Madonna: Growing Up With the Queen of Pop

As a Millennial gay man and a big fan of Madonna, I grew up in the ’80s, but my first real memory of listening to one of her songs was “Vogue” in 1990.

Radio stations were so sloppy back in the day. My first modular stereo was given to me when I was nine, and with the purchase of the stereo, you received a CD and a cassette as a gift. The cassette was Madonna’s 1994 album Bedtime Stories.

It changed my world of listening to music, and I never looked back.

I started saving money to purchase her music in any format I could get. Coming from that generation that went from analog to digital, recording her songs from radio stations onto cassette tapes was a major task. And I bet the new generations couldn’t do it!

Discovering websites in the late ’90s—and later discovering YouTube during my college days—felt almost Stone Age compared with how we consume music today.

But my real obsession with Madonna began when I purchased her 1992 album Erotica. It was like she put a spell on me.

It helped and nurtured my gay awakening. The melodies, synths, whispered almost-ASMR voices and beats became stuck in my head for decades.

The Immaculate Collection, released in December 1990, helped introduce me to her earlier work. Then there was The Girlie Show from 1993. I had never seen anything like it before. It traumatized me—in the best possible ways.

Musically. Visually. Eyegasm. Eargasm. Every one of my senses flourished in ways that are still almost impossible for me to describe.

And that’s how I began my studies of Madonna: her life, her music, her lifestyle, her transformations.

Then came Evita. I remember practically crying because I couldn’t go to my local theater and thought I was going to miss the movie.

And then 1998 arrived.

Ray of Light became the first Madonna album I purchased on cassette with my own saved money. I was learning English, and that album genuinely put me into a trance.

When you discovered an artist back then and wanted to study her work and life, you didn’t have Instagram, TikTok or endless YouTube interviews. You had the media. You had magazines. You had the press.

So, obviously, I collected Madonna.

I cut out her pictures from my local newspapers. I remember that during the late ’90s, around her birthday on August 16, the entertainment section of my local newspaper published a Madonna special. I kept everything I could find.

My relationship with her music was probably one inch away from obsession. I sang every tune, every lyric. Her countless transformations inspired me so much.

And when you really study Madonna’s work, you discover that it isn’t only about Madonna.

Through her, you start discovering other artists, singers, producers and performers. She helped me discover Björk, Kylie Minogue, Robyn, Massive Attack and so many other sounds.

When you follow Madonna, you witness so many layers of music, fashion, art, photography, dance, sexuality and pop culture. Every layer you uncover becomes another fascinating world.

And Then I Finally Saw Madonna

One of the most otherworldly and indescribable experiences of my life happened in 2008, when I witnessed Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour in Mexico City.

It froze me.

Then, in 2012, she returned to Mexico City with The MDNA Tour, and once again, she was incredible. Every time Madonna came to Mexico, she executed every single part of the show like a machine.

In 2015, there was absolutely no way I was going to miss the Rebel Heart Tour. Obviously, we went.

Then came another first.

My first experience seeing Madonna in the United States happened in 2024 with The Celebration Tour at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

It was incredible—and this time, I got to share the experience with my husband.

That made it even more special.

Madonna at 68

I couldn’t even tell you what my least favorite Madonna song is.

At this point, like her, I’m simply enjoying the moment.

With Confessions II, I’m celebrating every moment of Madonna because she is alive in the same timeline as me. And I’m here to experience it.

That means something to me.

Enjoying this era while being in New York City has been another incredible moment. Seeing Madonna’s ads suddenly popping up around Times Square felt otherworldly again. After all these decades, she can still give me that feeling.

From recording songs from the radio onto cassette tapes to seeing her take over giant digital screens in Times Square—that’s a lifetime.

My lifetime.

And Madonna’s music has somehow been there throughout it.

What’s her next move?

I don’t know.

Will I be here to experience it?

YES.

I’ll be here as long as she is, too.

Happy 68th birthday, Madonna.

Thank you for the music, the transformations, the provocation, the memories, the inspiration—and for putting that spell on a nine-year-old kid with a modular stereo and a Bedtime Stories cassette.

I never looked back.