In 1984, Madonna went No. 1 for the very first time. Thirty-five years later, “Like a Virgin”
co-writers BILLY STEINBERG and TOM KELLY recount the song’s genesis. BY SARAH RODMAN
He Made It Through
the Wilderness
“It was based on something that
was happening in my personal life,”
says Billy Steinberg, 69, of a rela-
tionship that had put him through
the emotional wringer. He’d been
had, and was sad and blue. But, as
is sometimes the case, a new love
came along at just the right time
and reinvigorated him. When Tom
Kelly, 70, read Steinberg ’s lyrics,
he immediately understood his
songwriting partner and friend’s
heartfelt intentions. “I was moved
by it, especially the first few lines,
and I tried to write a ballad,” says
Kelly. “But that didn’t work.”
Adds Steinberg, “Every time it got
to the chorus, where it said, ‘Like
a Virgin,’ the ballad sounded ridic-
ulous. And when I perform the song
as a ballad [now in my own shows],
when I get to the chorus, there’s
always snickers from the crowd
because it contrasts so utterly with
Madonna’s image and with her
famous up-tempo sexy version.”
Didn’t Know How Lost
They Were
The pair puzzled through it, trying
to figure out the best mood, but
remained stymied. “I had tried to
pick it up and write it maybe three
or four times, which was unusual,
because we usually worked pretty
quickly,” says Kelly, who was using
what was then a newfangled syn-
thesizer. “And this one, we kept
putting back on the shelf. But then
out of just silly frustration, I started
singing with that bass line, and
it came out in a few minutes.”
Immaculate
Music
Conception
EDITED BY → ALEX SUSKIND @ALEXJSUSKIND
