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Madonna released more hits than just about anyone but not all of them are vocally challenging. Despite this, her co-writer said one of her hits proves the Material Girl has the best singing voice ever. He also revealed what he thinks of people who don’t see her as a real artist.

Madonna’s songwriter said 1 hit proved she could singer better than these rock stars

Though he is not a household name, Patrick Leonard is one of the most important songwriters in pop history. He worked with Madonna on many of her best songs from the 1980s and 1990s, including “Like a Prayer,” “La Isla Bonita,” “Live to Tell,” “Cherish,” and “Frozen.” During a 2017 interview with Boy Culture, the songwriter said he was upset by critics who felt Madonna was not a real artist, whatever that means.

“There’s people with a more controlled voice — the word ‘better’ is not fair, because how can you have a better voice than the voice that sang ‘Like a Prayer?'” he said. “You just go through the list of singer-songwriters through the years — Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, none of these people were ‘singers.’ But these are the ones that the most art came from.”

Obviously, Young, Dylan, and Cohen were singers in the sense that they sang for a living. However, they are rarely considered fantastically talented vocalists. They are mostly revered for their songwriting abilities. None of them ever sounded as beautiful as Madonna does during the intro of “Like a Prayer.”

Patrick Leonard discussed how he measures the value of a hit

Leonard reflected on the Queen of Pop’s talent as a lyricist. “I think her lyrics were taken for granted all those years ago; you look at the individual lines and this is what people need to think about now, those statements she made all those years ago,” he said. “I’m certain she’s still doing it.”

Leonard opined that the test of time proved Madonna’s talent. “My knee-jerk is to defend her always, but when I have the demos where she sang a song, having written it 15 minutes before, and it was a No. 1 record and remains valid 30 years later, who’s gonna tell me that’s not a real artist?” he said.

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“Like a Prayer” became a big hit. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and it stayed on the chart for 17 weeks. Depending on how you look at it, the song managed to become a hit in spite of its controversial video or partly because of it. The tune appeared on the album of the same name. Like a Prayer reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for six weeks, lasting on the chart for an impressive 77 weeks in total.

Like a Prayer produced three more top 10 hits: “Express Yourself,” which reached No. 2, “Cherish,” which also reached No. 2, and “Keep It Together,” which reached No. 8. The ballad “Oh Father” also climbed to No. 20. Perhaps that song was a little too personal — and its music video too disturbing — for it to reach a wide audience. However, it remains one of the most revealing singles of Madonna’s career.

Whether or not Madonna has the best singing voice ever, “Like a Prayer” proves that her vocals are a gift.

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