Album · Madonna
True Blue by Madonna
True Blue is an album by Madonna, released in 1986. 4 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 7 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Papa Don't Preach”, on 3 lists and voted number one once.
True Blue, Madonna's third album, came out on Sire on June 30, 1986, and it's the record where she grabbed the wheel. After Like a Virgin she wanted to be taken seriously and to reach a grown-up crowd, so for the first time she had a writing and production hand in every song, splitting the work with Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, her partner from the previous album.
The sound is glossy pop and dance-pop built from synths, strings, guitars and drum machines, with stacked backing vocals that tip a hat to Motown, the girl groups and Latin pop. The songs circle love, romance, marriage and devotion, with her marriage to Sean Penn never far from the surface. "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" all went to number one on the Hot 100, and the album topped the charts in twenty-eight countries on its way past 25 million sold. Critics heard a singer, songwriter and producer growing up in public.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from True Blue on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Papa Don't Preach | 3 | #1 | 1 | 1986–2026 | |
| 2 | Live To Tell | 2 | #30 | – | 1986–2026 | |
| 3 | La Isla Bonita | 1 | #15 | – | 1987 | |
| 4 | True Blue | 1 | #28 | – | 1986 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.