Could Madonna be reaching into her archives to finalize her Madame X setlist? On Thursday (July 18), Madonna fans were buzzing when she shared a clip of a rehearsal of a hit single she’s never performed live before: the Madonna/Shep Pettibone penned “Rescue Me.”, which capped off The Immaculate Collection album
In the “Rescue Me” clip, Madonna is joined by the all-female Orquestra de Batukadeiras, which hails from Portugal.
Peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1991, “Rescue Me” one of two new tracks that was recorded for her first greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection, which was released the previous year. “Rescue Me” is one of Madonna’s three top 10 Hot 100 hits (out of a total of 38) that she has not performed live as of yet.
Billboard chatted about this with Madonna last year backstage at the Billboard Awards. During the chat, Billboard directly requested that Madonna consider playing one of three tunes on the Madame X Tour. (The other top 10’s she has not sung live are the also Pettibone co-penned “This Used to Be My Playground,” a No. 1 hit from 1992; and “I’ll Remember,” which spent four weeks at No. 2 in 1994.) Watch the exchange in the interview, below, starting at the 6:10 mark.
Madonna told Billboard at the time; “I’ll tell you why [they haven’t been performed]: Because they’re very laidback dreamy songs,” she said, as her shows have been historically high energy raucous events filled with many of her classic dance tracks.
She went on to say “‘Rescue Me’’s kinda dope! I’ve actually… I’ll consider that one. Your love has given me hope, OK? To quote the song.” (Listen to the original version of the tune, below.)
The Madame X Tour is slated to play 81 dates in theaters in 10 cities in the United States and Europe. The tour wraps up on March 4, 2020 in Paris at the Le Grand Rex.
