"Like a Virgin" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna from her second album of the same name. The song was written and composed by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and it was released as the album's lead single on October 31, 1984. A dance song with two hooks, Madonna sings in a high register while a continuous arrangement of synths are heard along the bassline. The song's lyrics are ambiguous, consisting of hidden innuendos and open to various interpretations.
Upon release, "Like a Virgin" received positive reviews from music critics, who frequently singled out Madonna's vocals. It became her first number-one in the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia and Canada, while reaching the top ten elsewhere; "Like a Virgin" has sold over six million copies worldwide. The accompanying music video was directed by Mary Lambert, and showed Madonna sailing down the canals of Venice in a gondola, as well as roaming around a castle wearing a white wedding dress. The video received positive feedback; authors singled out the expression of Venetian vitality, and noted references to Saint Mark.
Madonna has included "Like a Virgin" in six of her concert tours, the most recent being The Rebel Heart tour of 2015–2016; the song's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards has been deemed a defining moment in pop culture, as well as one of the best performances in the show's history. "Like a Virgin" has been covered and parodied by a number of artists, including Elton John and "Weird Al" Yankovic. It has also been sung or referenced in feature films and TV shows such as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Glee (2010), among others. "Like a Virgin" has been recognized as one of Madonna's best songs, as well as the one that turned her into a superstar; "Like a Virgin" has also been credited with encouraging women and female performers from the time to embrace their sexuality.
Background
thumb|upright|[[Tom Kelly (musician)|Tom Kelly (pictured), one of the authors of "Like a Virgin".|alt=A middle-aged man wearing glasses and a dark suit, talks to a microphone.]]
"Like a Virgin" was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly; the former had just begun a new relationship after a long rough period, and came up with the lyrics one day while driving a pickup truck around his father's vineyards in the Coachella Valley.
</blockquote>
Recording and production
thumb|200px|left|New York's [[Power Station (recording studio)|Power Station studio, where "Like a Virgin" was recorded.]]
In mid-1984, Madonna met with Nile Rodgers at New York's Power Station studio to start working on her second studio album; Rodgers put together an "economical" rhythm section, consisting of himself on guitars, Bernard Edwards from Chic on bass, and Tony Thompson on drums. However, he began to have second thoughts after hearing the demo; "I couldn't get it out of my head after I played it, even though I didn't really like it [...] but it grew on me. I really started to like it. [...] But, my first reaction to it was, 'This is really queer'", Rodgers recalled. The producer then "handed [my] apology [to Madonna] and said, 'you know... if it's so catchy that it stayed in my head for four days, it must be something. So let's do it", thus the song was finally recorded. Of the recording process, Billy Steinberg commented:
<blockquote>
When Madonna recorded it, even as our demo faded out, on the fade you could hear Tom saying, "When your heart beats, and you hold me, and you love me..." That was the last thing you heard as our demo faded. [She] must have listened to it very, very carefully because her record ends with the exact same little ad-libs that our demo did. That rarely happens that someone studies your demo so carefully that they use all that stuff. We were sort of flattered how carefully she followed our demo on that. Madonna's vocals range from the tonal nodes of low-tone G<sub>3</sub> to high-tone C<sub>5</sub>. Rikky Rooksby wrote in The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna (2004) that the bassline on the intro is a re-working of the three-note bass motif present in the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (1965), where Chuck Berry provided the chord arrangement. Afterwards, the song was included on the singer's compilations, The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009) and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022), as well as the EP Like a Virgin & Other Big Hits! (1985). Author Thomas J. Ferraro called it "hilariously tongue-in-cheek". In The History of American Pop, Stuart A. Kallen referred to it as "light and catchy, easy to dance to, and just plain fun". From AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine named it, along with "Material Girl", one of the album's "definitive statements" that "overshadow" the rest of the songs; Stewart Mason from the same website, felt it was "pure bubblegum fluff" and the song in which Madonna "sounds most like Marilyn Monroe". Rolling Stones Debby Miller deemed it "terrific", and opined that, despite her "little-girl voice [...] when she chirps, 'You made me feel/Shiny and new/Like a virgin', [...] you know she's after something". The same magazine then said that, "even if the word 'virgin' is the only sexual reference in the lyrics, ['Like a Virgin'] still sounds saturated in lust". From Billboard, Brian Chin praised the singer's "flawlessly phrased, witty" vocals and referred to the song as her "most pop-oriented cut yet". Parades Samuel Murrian singled out "just how clever and skillfully constructed this song is".
The staff of Cash box opined that, "though the hooks are not as interesting as on her previous singles, Madonna's voice is in full force". While Yahoo!'s Nicole Hogsett said it was a "flirtatious, innocent-sounding (yet not innocent at all) [...] undeniably fun discussion of love", The Guardian called it "saucy". Amy Davidson from Digital Spy praised its "instantly memorable" lyrics, and said it had "one of the best basslines in pop". For The Arizona Republic, Ed Masley wrote that, "['Like a Virgin'] features young Madonna at her chirpiest" and, when compared to other singles such as "Justify My Love" (1990), it "does feel pretty virginal". Stereogums Tom Breihan pointed out that "Rodgers' production and the Chic members' playing is sharp and in-the-pocket [...] [Madonna] projects personality all over it. But she also sounds tinny and small", ultimately concluding that it was a "pretty good" song. The Backlot's Louis Virtel opined it's the Madonna song that has "aged [the] worst and most" since its release. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine dismissed "Like a Virgin" as a novelty. One week later, the single entered the Dance/Disco Club Play chart at number 26. On December 15, following the release of the Like a Virgin album, the song reached the Dance chart's first position, giving Madonna her second number one there after the "Holiday"/"Lucky Star" release from October 1983. Additionally, it was the sixth Dance Club number one produced by Nile Rodgers. After six weeks on the chart, "Like a Virgin" reached the Hot 100's top spot on December 22, tying Prince's "When Doves Cry" as the fastest-rising number one single of the year. With this feat, Madonna became the year's fourth female artist to top the Hot 100, following Deniece Williams, Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner; "Like a Virgin" was the second number one by an act from Sire Records―the other being "Pop Muzik" (1979) by M.
On January 10, 1985, the song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping a million copies across the United States. it spent a total of six consecutive weeks at number one. it reached the top spot on January 19, 1985, and was ranked 35 on the magazine's 1985 year-end chart. In Australia, "Like a Virgin" became Madonna's first number one song on the Kent Music Report chart; in New Zealand, it entered the charts on December 9, 1984, and peaked at number two, remaining on that spot for two weeks.
Music video
Background and synopsis
thumb|left|Scene from the music video, showing Madonna riding on a [[gondola in Venice|alt=Screenshot of the "Like a Virgin" music video, showing Madonna riding on a gondola; she's wearing a black dress, blue stockings and a number of necklaces around her neck.]]
The music video for "Like a Virgin" was directed by Mary Lambert, who had previously worked with Madonna on "Borderline"; it was filmed on location in Venice and New York at a cost of $150,000, "way more than we'd ever spent on a video" according to Warner Bros. creative director Jeff Ayeroff. Shooting in Venice was Lambert's idea, as "[Madonna] singing in a gondola was the most outrageous thing I could think of". The visual interspersed footage of the singer as "a knowing virgin", dressed in a white wedding dress, with scenes of her "strutting" throughout Venice in a "sluttish getup". Also present are a male lion wandering through the streets, and a man in a lion's mask. she also recalled that, at one point, she was "leaning against this pillar with [the lion's] head in my crotch [...] I thought he was going to take a bite out of me".
It begins with Madonna getting off a boat at the Brooklyn Bridge. The setting then moves to Venice, where a "flirtatious" Madonna watches the lion walk through the streets; she then walks to the beat of the music. a "fairytale castle" dressed in a "virginal" white wedding gown. These scenes are interspersed with shots of Madonna dancing suggestively on a gondola.
"Like a Virgin" was added to MTV on the week of November 10, 1984. In 1986, the song's performance from the Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour release was published as a video and nominated for Best Choreography at the MTV Video Music Awards. Five years later, the performance from the Madonna: Truth or Dare documentary was also released as music video and received nominations for Best Female Video and Best Choreography at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. The official video can be found on Madonna's video compilations The Immaculate Collection (1990), and Celebration: The Video Collection (2009).
Reception and analysis
The video was generally well received by critics. For The Independent, Ben Kelly pointed out that, "her ambition is on full display [in the video]. As the camera cuts between her eyes and those of a lion, it's hard to tell who looks hungrier"; he named it one of Madonna's ten best music videos. "Like a Virgin" was considered the singer's eighth best video by Idolators Mike Neid, who referred to it as a "timeless release". Louis Virtel placed it in the 27th position of The Backlot's ranking of the singer's music videos. Ferraro called it "funny, funky and bright".
Author Margaret Plant noted the expression of Venetian vitality in the video, writing that "old sacrosanct Venice was propelled into a pop world of high-energy gyration, and endless circulation". Tom Bromley wrote that the lion represented Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice; Plant also noted references to Saint Mark, adding that Madonna appeared to "stretch the boundaries of tolerance in the video", since Saint Mark represented a time in Venice when acts such as homosexuality and fornication were a capital offense.
Live performances
1984 MTV Video Music Awards
On September 14, 1984, Madonna opened the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards ceremony with "Like a Virgin"; she initially wanted to perform with a full-grown Bengal tiger, but this idea was quickly nixed. During the number, she slithered and writhed across the floor, with her dress going up and her underpants showing. The singer explained that this was not intentional, as one of her shoes had come off at the beginning and she simply had tried to reach for it; "I thought, 'Well, I'll just pretend I meant to do this,' and I dove on the floor and I rolled around", she later recalled.
For Courtney E. Smith, "although Cyndi Lauper took home the Moon Man for Best female video, [Madonna] made 1984 all about the 'Blonde ambition' [...] The act she put on that night convinced a lot of us that we shouldn't just buy in to her image, but that we wanted to [...] run out and buy a copy of her second album". Similarly, Tom Breihan pointed out that many of the performers and presenters were already established figures: Rod Stewart, Huey Lewis And The News, and David Bowie among others, yet, "all anyone remembers is Madonna singing 'Like A Virgin' in public for the very first time". with the singer's bridal look considered one of her most memorable and iconic.
Other performances
thumb|left|Madonna singing a remixed "Like a Virgin" during 2015―2016's [[Rebel Heart Tour.|alt=A blonde woman standing in front of purple lights and dressed in black sings to a microphone.]]
On May 16, 1984, Madonna performed "Like a Virgin" at artist Keith Haring's birthday party, which took place on New York's Paradise Garage; she wore a leather jacket personally painted by the artist, and sang on a brass bed covered with frilly material and strewn with white roses. It was also sung on promotional television appearances throughout late 1984 and early 1985. Furthermore, "Like a Virgin" has been included on eight of Madonna's concert tours: Virgin (1985), Who's That Girl (1987), Blond Ambition (1990), the Girlie Show (1993), Confessions (2006), MDNA (2012), Rebel Heart (2015―2016), and Celebration (2023―2024). On the first one, Madonna once again wore a white wedding dress and asked the audience if they wanted to marry her; she would then thrust her hips at their affirmative response, and sang a few lines from "Billie Jean". On his review of one of the San Diego concerts, Robert Hilburn felt the singer was "at her best when working off an idea or concept", citing the song's performance as an example. The performance was included in the VHS release Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour, recorded in Detroit, Michigan. For 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour, the song was performed in a medley with "Material Girl" and "Dress You Up"; Madonna changed her clothes in an onstage telephone booth and emerged wearing a dress covered in toys, trinkets and other plastic paraphernalia. Halfway through, she bent over to revel a pair of lace panties, which she then threw into the crowd, and sang a fragment of "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)". Towards the end, she was joined by a young male dancer who acted as a bridegroom. The number was deemed one of the concert's strongest by the Washington Posts Richard Harrington. She wore a gold metallic corset with conical cups, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, and sang on top of a red velvet bed flanked by two male dancers, also in conical brassieres. As the artist sang, she humped the bed and pretended to masturbate, while the dancers caressed her body and stroked their own brassieres. Greg Kot from the Chicago Tribune singled out the performance for being "both seductive and hilarious", while Richard Harrington said it was the concert's "only clear miscalculation, probably meant to shock, but [was] only distressing". Three different performances can be found in Blond Ambition Japan Tour 90, taped in Yokohama, Blond Ambition World Tour Live, taped in Nice, and in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. In Toronto, Canada, police threatened to arrest Madonna on obscenity charges, if she didn't alter the performance's masturbation sequence; the show went unaltered, and the singer later issued a statement saying she was willing to be arrested to protect her freedom to "express myself as an artist". The incident was referenced and can be seen in Madonna: Truth or Dare. Guilbert highlighted the singer's "funny" accent during the number.
In April 2003, while promoting her ninth studio album American Life, Madonna did an impromptu acoustic rendition of "Like a Virgin" at New York's Tower Records. That same year, a medley of "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" ―from American Life― was performed by Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera during the MTV Video Music Awards. It began with Spears, dressed in a white wedding gown, emerging from a giant wedding cake ―a reference to Madonna's 1984 performance―, singing the song's first verse; then, a dark-haired Aguilera, also in bridal gear, began to sing the chorus. Madonna took the stage dressed as groom with black top hat and tuxedo, and began singing "Hollywood". The three women danced together across the stage, before ending the performance with two open mouth kisses. Sal Cinquemani opined that "[Madonna] rarely shares the stage with other stars, and for it to be Britney and Christina [...] was nothing short of surreal"; according to Glamours Christopher Rosa, it was an "important moment in our nation's history", that "spawned an entire generation of gay men". On the Confessions Tour, Madonna, dressed in a "dominatrix equestrian" outfit, sang "Like a Virgin" on top of a black saddle as the backdrops flashed X-ray radiographies of the injuries she suffered on a horse-riding accident. The number was positively received by Liz Smith for the Baltimore Sun, who named it one of the concert's best.
thumb|left|The "Like a Virgin"/"Billie Jean" video interlude of [[the Celebration Tour, depicting Madonna and Michael Jackson's silhouettes.|alt=Silhouettes of a man and a woman are shown on a white screen.]]
On the Rome stop of 2008's Sticky & Sweet Tour, Madonna dedicated "Like a Virgin" to Pope Benedict XVI; she also did a capella renditions of the track on the Vancouver, Okland, and Buenos Aires concerts per the crowd's request; one of these performances was included on the Sticky & Sweet Tour live album release (2010). For the MDNA Tour of 2012, Madonna reworked "Like a Virgin" into a "gothic waltz", which she sang in bra and panties, backed by a piano player wearing a top hat. Halfway through, a male dancer put a corset around her waist and tightened the strings until she couldn't sing anymore. For The Kansas City Star, Timothy Finn compared the rendition to the work of Leonard Cohen; The performance of the song at the November 19–20, 2012 shows in Miami, at the American Airlines Arena, were recorded and released in the singer's fourth live album, MDNA World Tour (2013). A remix of the song with a "pulsing industrial beat" was created by French producer Denis Zabee, and performed by the singer on her Rebel Heart Tour (2015―2016); Madonna danced alone on the stage, doing moves similar to Michael Jackson's and, at one point, opened her blouse to show off her lingerie and cleavage. The number was positively received by Alex Needham from The Guardian, who pointed out that Madonna sang the track "with all the allure and aggression with which she infused it when it was first released". The New York Daily News Jim Farber felt the singer danced "with a freedom and innocence that made her, at 57, seem once again new". The song's performance at the March 19–20, 2016 shows in Sydney's Allphones Arena was recorded and released on Madonna's fifth live album, Rebel Heart Tour (2017).
On the Celebration Tour, "Like a Virgin" was mashed up with "Billie Jean" and used as an interlude. The number, which depicted silhouettes of Madonna and Jackson dancing with each other, was criticized by the Washington Blades Kevin Naff: "[It] screamed 'He's the King of Pop and I'm the Queen' — it felt thirsty and superfluous". Nick Levine from NME also dismissed the performance, deeming it "misguided in light of Jackson's sullied reputation" and "the only dud visual in an otherwise stunning show". That same year, "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded "Like a Surgeon", a parody of the song, for his album Dare to Be Stupid; an acquaintance of Madonna, who happened to be friends with Yankovic's manager, suggested the idea, noting that it would not take long for Yankovic to satirize the song. The track received positive reviews, with AllMusic's Eugene Chadbourne deeming it "perhaps his best parody ever". "Like a Surgeon" peaked at number 47 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six years later, Scottish band Teenage Fanclub included a rendition of "Like a Virgin" on The King (1991), their second studio album.
In 2002, French–Dutch group Mad'House did a Eurodance take on the song, that was included on their album Absolutely Mad. "The Madonna Trilogy", a mashup of "Like a Virgin", "Lucky Star" and "Burning Up", was recorded by The Meat Purveyors. in 2006, the South Korean movie Like A Virgin featured a trans teen who is inspired by Madonna and who performs the eponymous song in the final scene. At the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, Katy Perry performed "Like a Virgin" alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. Doda included "Like a Virgin" in the 2009 re-edition of her album Diamond Bitch. Elton John sang the track at the 2010 Rock for the Rainforest concert. 2NE1 recorded the song for their album Collection (2012); that same year, JoJo sang it at a Harvard-Westlake School charity held at LACMA, and Peruvian singer Wendy Sulca recorded a spanglish version. In 2014, Cristina Scuccia, a nun who won that year's The Voice of Italy season, released a ballad rendition of the song as her debut single; Madonna herself praised Scuccia. Romanian singer Alexandra Stan recorded a version the song with a new orchestration done by Chris Trace in late January 2017; In 2019, Big & Rich did a rendition of the song with an altered melody; that same year, Mötley Crüe covered the song for the soundtrack of The Dirt.
In 1985, Max Baer Jr. approached Kelly and Steinberg with a proposal to turn the song into a film, just as he had done with Ode to Billy Joe (1976), and even began negotiations with them. However, the ABC threatened to sue after hearing of the negotiations; lawyers claimed the songwriters had already agreed to sell the rights to the network for a television film. Baer subsequently sued ABC for interfering with his prospective economic advantage, and was awarded $2 million by a court, who agreed that the network had wrongly interfered with the producer's plans. when Madonna met Tarantino at a party after the film's release, she gave him an autographed copy of her album Erotica, signing, "Quentin: it's about love, not dick". In Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! (2001), "Like a Virgin" was turned into a "delightful comic number" performed by Jim Broadbent. A sing-along of the track was performed by the titular character (Renée Zellweger) and a group of prostitutes at a Thailand jail in the 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; four years later, in "The Becoming", the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of American medical drama Grey's Anatomy, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) hums the song while she removes the hearts of 50 cadavers. It was namechecked in the Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" (2009) with the lyric "I believe in you/Like a virgin you're Madonna". In "The Power of Madonna" (2010), fifteenth episode of American television series Glee, "Like a Virgin" was sung by three couples played by Jonathan Groff, Jayma Mays, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, and Naya Rivera; the performance was praised by Entertainment Weeklys Tim Stack, who hailed it as "one of the more ambitious numbers of the night".
Legacy
Recognition
"Like a Virgin" has been recognized as one of Madonna's best songs, as well as the one that turned her into a superstar. Samuel Murrian named it the singer's ninth greatest song, that marked "the moment she went from being a big star to being an icon". It was also named her third best by Gay Star News Joe Morgan. PopMatterss Enio Chola added that, "when ['Like a Virgin'] hit, [Madonna's] status was elevated to that of pop culture icon. [...] [it's] the song that defined for us who Madonna was (at the time) and would be turning into (in the near future)". Sal Cinquemani named it "iconic", as well as "the first—if not the—signature song of her career".
Entertainment Weeklys Chuck Arnold named it the second best song of Madonna's catalogue, as well as one of the best songs from the 1980s decade; Writing for Consequence, Allison Franks and Michael Roffman said it would always remain a "cultural artifact of the 1980s". Mike Wass from Idolator named it "one of the most iconic pop songs of all time". Matthew Jacobs added that it was the singer's most famous song, as well as a "staple at wedding receptions, on the airwaves and on lists of controversial moments in popular culture". "Like a Virgin" is one of the songs that "have come to define our times, influenced trends and triggered change in politics and culture", discussed in the 2003 documentary Impact: Songs That Changed The World.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="margin:auto"
|+ Accolades for "Like a Virgin"
! scope="col" | Work
! scope="col" | Accolade
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" | Cosmopolitan
| 50 Songs from the '80s That Are, Like, Totally Bitchin'
| 26
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" | Elle
| The 55 Best '80s Songs
| 14
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| The 100 Greatest Pop Songs Since 1963
| 4
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" | Rolling Stone
| 100 Best Singles from 1984
| 67
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2" | VH1
| 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s
| 8
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
| 100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years
| 10
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
|}
Cultural impact
thumb|upright|The wedding dress worn by Madonna during the performance of "Like a Virgin" at the [[1984 MTV Video Music Awards; according to Yahoo! Music's Chris Willman, this dress "captivated a nation".|alt=A wedding dress displayed on a mannequin.]]
On an article celebrating the Like a Virgin album's 35th anniversary, John Murph noted that "white conservatives" made "a nationwide fuss" following the single's release. Family organizations criticized it, as they believed it promoted sex outside marriage and "undermined" family values, while others sought to ban it along with the music video. Despite not being included on its "Filthy Fifteen" list, it has been argued that "Like a Virgin" is one of the songs that led to the creation of the Parents Music Resource Center in 1985. Benjamin Brand and David J. Rothenberg wrote in Music and Culture in the Middle Ages and Beyond: Liturgy, Sources, Symbolism (2016), that the song's lyrics, specifically the word "virgin", "seemed to violate a respected - if not revered - state in 1984, both in the physiological and Christological sense of the word". Carol Clerk noted that the song attracted an "unprecedented level of attention from social groups", something uncommon for a female singer; the author believed the public listened "superficially" to the lyrics, thus believed that they detailed or called on an "innocent's sexual initiation". She concluded by saying that, while one section of the population was outraged, others were taking joy at the "very notion of a virginal Madonna". The singer herself said she was surprised at the public's reaction; "everyone interpreted it as 'I don't want to be a virgin anymore. Fuck my brains out!'. That's not what I sang at all. 'Like a Virgin' was always absolutely ambiguous", she explained. Madonna became the "last word in attitude and fashion. The epitome of cool". According to Chuck Arnold, "Like a Virgin" paved the way for female artists to "unapologetically explore the sexual wilderness", adding that "no one had to act like a virgin anymore" following its release. On the same vein, Thomas Harrison wrote that the "sexually charged" imagery of the song and its video, encouraged other female performers to embrace their own sexuality. For HuffPost, Caroline Sullivan pointed out that before Madonna, no other female singer had ever "shoehorned the subject virginity into a pop song so bluntly, or made it clear that no matter what you were - virgin or sexually experienced - it was absolutely fine". A similar opinion was shared by Jude Rogers from The Guardian, who claimed that until Madonna emerged, "the V-word" wasn't used by female singers "unless they were singing Christmas carols". Outs Nathan Smith gave a detailed analysis:
<blockquote>
From a contextual perspective, another appeal of 'Like A Virgin' was the way it reconstituted sex in mainstream music within discourses of religion and innocence. In a decade plagued by mass hysteria because of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the way sex (for both heterosexual and homosexual couples) was characterized by illness, viral exchanges, and the threat of 'contamination'. Madonna's song moved away from discussing the seemingly abject nature of sex, in an epoch so preoccupied by the dangers of sex and illness. 'Like A Virgin' told women that they could be in charge of their erotic agendas, could, should, and would enjoy their sexual escapades, and did not even have to be virgins to do so. (Maybe just act a little virginal?)
</blockquote>
Track listings and formats
- US 7-inch single (1984) and Digital remastered single (2024)
- "Like a Virgin" – 3:38
- "Stay" – 4:04
- US and Canadian 12-inch maxi single
- "Like a Virgin" (extended dance remix) – 6:04
- "Stay" – 4:04
- German and UK CD maxi single (1995)
- "Like a Virgin" (extended dance remix) – 6:04
- "Stay" – 4:04
Personnel
Personnel are adapted from the album and the 12-inch single liner notes.
- Madonna – vocals
- Rob Sabino – synthesizers, synth bass
- Nile Rodgers – guitars
- Bernard Edwards – bass
- Tony Thompson – drums
Production credits
- Tom Kelly – songwriter
- Billy Steinberg – songwriter
- Nile Rodgers – producer
- Jellybean Benitez – 12-inch remixer
- Larry Williams – photography (12-inch cover art)
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (1984–1985)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report)
| 1
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Ecuador (UPI)
| 3
|-
! scope="row"| Europe (European Top 100 Singles)
| 1
|-
! scope="row"| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 5
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Iceland (RÚV)
| align="center"|7
|-
!scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi)
| 16
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)
| 19
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| UK Disco (Music Week)
| 1
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"|US Hot Black Singles
| 9
|-
! scope="row"| US Cash Box Top 100 Singles
| 1
|-
!scope="row"|US Radio & Records CHR & Pop Charts
|1
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (2021)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| Bolivia (Monitor Latino)
| 9
|}
Year end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (1984)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report)
| 63
|-
! scope="row"| Netherlands (Single Top 100)
| 82
|-
! scope="row"| UK Singles (Gallup/Music Week)
| 18
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (1985)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report)
| 25
|-
! scope="row"| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)
| 54
|-
! scope="row"| Brazil (Brazilian Radio Airplay)
| 7
|-
! scope="row"| Canada Top Singles (RPM)
| 35
|-
! scope="row"| Europe (European Top 100 Singles)
| 10
|-
! scope="row"| France (SNEP)
| 47
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand (RIANZ)
| 11
|-
! scope="row"| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
| 72
|-
! scope="row"| Norway Winter Period (VG-lista)
| 20
|-
! scope="row"| South Africa (Springbok)
| 19
|-
! scope="row"| UK Singles (Gallup/Music Week)
| 57
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100
| 2
|-
! scope="row"| US Dance/Disco Club Play (Billboard)
| 3
|-
! scope="row"| US Cash Box Top 100 Singles
| 29
|-
! scope="row"| West Germany (Media Control)
| 40
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+
|-
!scope="col"| Chart (1980–1989)
!scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report)
| 121
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100 (Women)
| 38
|}