The Virgin Tour
The Virgin Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her first two studio albums, Madonna (1983) and Like a Virgin (1984). Although initially planned for an international audience, the tour was restricted to the United States and Canada. Warner Bros. Records decided to send Madonna on tour after Like a Virgin became a success. After an official announcement on March 15, 1985, Madonna and her team began production plans. She wanted the tour to be a reflection of her own self and collaborated with designer Maripol for the costumes.
Location
Beastie Boys were signed as the opening act, while record producer Patrick Leonard was the music director. The stage was triangular, with walkways and ramps around it, with lighting arrangements hanging about 30 feet above. Four giant screens lined three sides of the stage's outer perimeter. The setlist consisted of songs from her first two records, Madonna and Like a Virgin. Madonna was backed by two male dancers as she moved energetically across the stage. The show ended with her in a wedding dress, performing "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl".
The tour received a mixed reception from critics, but was a commercial success, with many newly-obsessed Madonna fans in attendance. As soon as it was announced, tickets were sold out nearly everywhere. Macy's New York department store created a “Madonna department”, where shoppers could find not only official tour merchandise, but also clothing, jewelry, and accessories to replicate what was considered (at the time) to be the Madonna “style”. The store was flooded with fans, who bought everything from chunky bracelets and bangles, scrunchies and headbands, to pearl necklaces and rings. The store also carried shoes, shirts, denim jackets, large sunglasses, and Madonna’s “signature” accessories: rosary-style necklaces, crucifix earrings, fingerless gloves, and even a replica of her iconic belt, with the metal buckle carved to say “BOY” in all capital letters. On its end, the tour was reported to have grossed over $5 million ($14.16 million in 2023 dollars[1]), with Billboard Boxscore reporting a gross of $3.3 million ($9.35 million in 2023 dollars[1]).
The tour was recorded and released on VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc, as Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour, which received a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With the commencement of the Virgin Tour, a wide-ranging audience—especially young women—thronged to attend, all nearly decked-out in Madonna-inspired outfits. This frenzy surrounding Madonna gave rise to a new term called Madonna wannabe—a reference to her obsessive followers (during the mid-1980s) that would be officially recognized by the Webster's Dictionary in May 1991.
Commercial reception[edit]
As soon as the tour was announced, tickets were sold out almost everywhere.[33] In San Francisco, tour shirts were selling at a clocked rate of one every six seconds. All 17,672 tickets for Madonna's show at New York City's Radio City Music Hall were completely sold out in a record-breaking 34 minutes.[33] Both the shows at Chicago's UIC Pavilion were sold in a single day with a record-breaking 18,000 tickets being sold.[34] In Philadelphia, a record-breaking 31,000 tickets were sold in under four hours.[34] Along with ticket sales, merchandise associated with the tour also sold rapidly. T-shirts, posters and promo-magazines featuring Madonna's image were picked up by the fans, even though most them were overpriced compared to the market value.[35] After its end, the Virgin Tour was reported to have grossed over $5 million ($14.16 million in 2023 dollars[1]), with Billboard Boxscore reporting a gross of $3.3 million ($9.35 million in 2023 dollars[1]).[35]
Adapted from The Virgin Tour program.[50]