On these forums, she is praised like the second Jesus. Her impact and respect are described as if they are common sense. Yet, in real life, I rarely hear about Madonna except on Gay bingo Sundays. One of the few times I have seen the public talk about her is when they did a street interview about legacy artists and a lady said she was embarrassing and destroying her legacy by trying to keep up with the young girls.

Have you guys heard people talk about Madonna in real life? What are the general opinions about her?

why do people think she won't be remembered as anything other than a legend? NEXT

Well, this is what they see of her nowadays

You reputation is -85 for a reason

I was in the park talking to one of my friends and suddenly he said "You know, I know this might be random but I have to say it. I love Madonna, she's my favorite singer". A woman who was close by came to us and said "Sorry to interrupt but I heard you both talking about Madonna and I have to say I agree. She's such an inspirational woman. And I can't believe she's still so relevant even with young people! I'm a school teacher and I heard my students talk about which music they listen to. Over half of them said Madonna was their favorite singer, both boys and girls. It's amazing how her impact translates so well to younger generations". Both my friend and I nodded in agreement

I think recently people have eased up on her because the Celebration tour and Copacabana did wonders for her image (people actually remembered why she is a legend). The hate and discourse during and after Madame X was honestly unbearable.

3 minutes ago, Toxic Love said:

I was in the park talking to one of my friends and suddenly he said "You know, I know this might be random but I have to say it. I love Madonna, she's my favorite singer". A woman who was close by came to us and said "Sorry to interrupt but I heard you both talking about Madonna and I have to say I agree. She's such an inspirational woman. And I can't believe she's still so relevant even with young people! I'm a school teacher and I heard my students talk about which music they listen to. Over half of them said Madonna was their favorite singer, both boys and girls. It's amazing how her impact translates so well to younger generations". Both my friend and I nodded in agreement

I had the opposite experience. We were at my friends house drinking. We were auto playing Ariana's songs on youtube and somehow ***** I am Madonna came on. I still vividly remember everyone was covering their eyes and moaning words like oh my god, Madonna, you're too old to be doing that. It was an eye opening experience to see what non forums gays really think about her.

You should've asked this on Reddit. ATRL is quite literally Madonna's target audience so you won't get an unbiased answer.

It depends on the country. It looks like people in the US hate her, especially her generation, whereas she's universally acclaimed in Europe, especially here in Italy.

queen of pop

16 minutes ago, Solaria said:

I think recently people have eased up on her because the Celebration tour and Copacabana did wonders for her image (people actually remembered why she is a legend). The hate and discourse during and after Madame X was honestly unbearable.

This is true, she always had up and downs, however her cringe moments will not survive but her contribution to pop will always be remembered and she'll always be the queen of pop

ATRL gays didn't give her the queen of pop label and they can't take it away either.

As no-one here is capable of giving an unbiased answered, I asked ChatGPT to give an overview of public opinions:

What many people like about her
- Legendary status and influence in pop music.
- Legacy of iconic songs and groundbreaking performances.
- Loyalty from long-time fans and deep connection to her catalogue.
- Recognition for cultural impact beyond just music.

What divides opinion
- Her recent performances, vocals, and touring decisions.
- Her public persona and social media behavior.
- Age-related commentary and debates (some positive, some critical).
- How she interacts with fans — some appreciate her distance, others miss more direct engagement.

Criticisms often referenced
- Perceived decline in live performances or vocal strength.
- Some people feel she's overly provocative for the sake of attention.
- Her communication style on social media is sometimes seen as confusing or off-putting.

Summary

Overall, public opinion about Madonna is complex and nuanced:

- She remains widely recognized and discussed globally.
- Many admire her talent, influence, and longevity.
- Others — including both casual observers and some fans — are critical of elements of her recent career or public presence.
- Conversations about her often carry strong feelings, both positive and negative.

I think nowadays she's universally recognized as an icon, maybe less unanimously in the US, but otherwise worldwide most people would agree she's a legend. There was a time tho not so long ago she was clearly more divisive

2 hours ago, DaphneGuinness said:

You should've asked this on Reddit. ATRL is quite literally Madonna's target audience so you won't get an unbiased answer.

r u sure? We have a cult group here which is literally typing right now.

I think the GP is worshipping her, like all sane gay and woman with self-respect would.

2 minutes ago, stevyy said:

r u sure? We have a cult group here which is literally typing right now.

I think the GP is worshipping her, like all sane gay and woman with self-respect would.

She's a little problematic for being unanimously beloved like Dolly Parton for example but the GP still obviously thinks of her as a legend.

That she's washed up and embarrassing. When she inevitably dies, yes, they gonna remember she's a legend. But she's been seen as an embarrassment for a very long time.

I don't think people think about her that much, even younger audience that rediscovered older acts don't care that much for her. Artists like Kate Bush, Joni, PJ Harvey and Bjork are more admired. For example, the vinyl crowd don't care about Madonna or neither does the streaming crowd. They care more about songwriters/musicians that made their craft and pushed genre boundaries.

You'd think that some of her old hit would reach a new audience, but most of her act wasn't much about the music but the theatre elements around it.

I remember in the 00s a lot of my parents' generation spoke pretty highly of her. Nowadays there's a lot of eye rolling at her antics. I think she'll be well thought of retrospectively, once the dust has settled

She was one of the coolest stars in the planet and aging has pulled a number on her and now she acts like a teenager, she still thinks she shocks people but on the contrary people roll their eyes at her. She's the biggest female artist in Turkey and no one will ever come close but many people also think she should act more mature because her social media posts are cringe.

59 minutes ago, Pinkbutterflies said:

On these forums, she is praised like the second Jesus. Her impact and respect are described as if they are common sense. Yet, in real life, I rarely hear about Madonna except on Gay bingo Sundays. One of the few times I have seen the public talk about her is when they did a street interview about legacy artists and a lady said she was embarrassing and destroying her legacy by trying to keep up with the young girls.

Have you guys heard people talk about Madonna in real life? What are the general opinions about her?

One person "rarely" hearing anyone discuss her at Bingo does not mean anyone else in the global population of 8B does not. The world does not revolve around you.

As for ATRL, I think we're all aware the majority of members are pro Gaga / anti Madonna, so this narrative she's praised like the second coming here is a complete fabrication. Her fans cannot even enjoy a positive thread about her without a tidal wave of shady comments and negative threads popping up soon after.

Outside of ATRL, Madonna's work ethic, philanthropy, activism, and everything she's done for music is mostly respected. The only thing she isn't respected for is her relationships with young men, dressing "inappropriately", and refusal to conform to society's expectations. To me, her resilience and refusal to back down is highly commendable. The Woman clearly has nerves of steel to simply not gaf what anyone thinks. She is never going to be labelled and put in a box, so the dregs of society are wasting their time.

In here, I keep seeing comments like "she can't sing, "can't act", "she doesn't have any classics", "she's overrated", "ancient", "irrelevant and forgotten", so why do her threads keep attracting the same people time and time again? All this nonsense about young people not caring is also a myth, considering we saw plenty in the audiences for her last tour, and Thief of Hearts is currently viral on Tik tok. The math just isn't adding up.

42 minutes ago, ugo said:

I don't think people think about her that much, even younger audience that rediscovered older acts don't care that much for her. Artists like Kate Bush, Joni, PJ Harvey and Bjork are more admired. For example, the vinyl crowd don't care about Madonna or neither does the streaming crowd. They care more about songwriters/musicians that made their craft and pushed genre boundaries.

You'd think that some of her old hit would reach a new audience, but most of her act wasn't much about the music but the theatre elements around it.

What an interesting way of telling us you know nothing about Madonna.

She is a songwriter and musician, and has undoubtably made her craft and pushed genre boundaries. It's literally documented in the history books (and even if you're too lazy to read, you can watch YT).

We know it's a lot to ask, but try thinking logically without letting your bias get in the way.

and since your whole world revolves around streams, how come Joni Mitchell only has 3m monthly listeners and her most streamed song is 200m?

PJ Harvey has even less. lol and Kate Bush didn't have many listeners at all until Stranger Things propelled her to 60m. Her numbers are currently 23m, so the GP clearly didn't think much of her work at all, and Bjork (as much as I like her) only has 7m. Meanwhile Madonna has 42m, so if no one cares about Madonna, I wonder what that tells us about the acts you mention.

Edited February 8Feb 8 by 2000_Volts

4 hours ago, Pinkbutterflies said:

I had the opposite experience. We were at my friends house drinking. We were auto playing Ariana's songs on youtube and somehow ***** I am Madonna came on. I still vividly remember everyone was covering their eyes and moaning words like oh my god, Madonna, you're too old to be doing that. It was an eye opening experience to see what non forums gays really think about her.

We all know this never happened.

33 minutes ago, 2000_Volts said:

GSo I take it that's an admission to attending.

Now that's out of the way, one person "rarely" hearing anyone discuss her at Bingo does not mean 8Billion people all over the world does not. The world does not revolve around you.

As for ATRL, I think we're all aware the majority of members are pro Gaga / anti Madonna, so this narrative she's praised like the second coming here is a complete fabrication. Her fans cannot even enjoy a positive thread about her without a tidal wave of shady comments and negative threads popping up soon after.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Madonna's work ethic, philanthropy, activism, and everything she's done for music is mostly respected. The only thing she isn't respected for is her relationships with young men, dressing "inappropriately", and refusal to conform to society's expectations. To me, her resilience and refusal to back down is highly commendable. The Woman clearly has nerves of steel to simply not gaf what anyone thinks. She is never going to be labelled and put in a box, so the dregs of society are wasting their time.

In here, I keep seeing comments like "she can't sing, "can't act", "she doesn't have any classics", "she's overrated", "ancient", "irrelevant and forgotten", so why do her threads keep attracting the same people time and time again? All this nonsense about young people not caring is also a myth, considering we saw plenty in the audiences for her last tour, and Thief of Hearts is currently viral on Tik tok. The math just isn't adding up.

What an interesting way of telling us you know nothing about Madonna.

She is a songwriter and musician, and has undoubtably made her craft and pushed genre boundaries. It's literally documented in the history books (and even if you're too lazy to read, you can watch YT).

We know it's a lot to ask, but try thinking logically without letting your bias get in the way.

and since your whole world revolves around streams, how come Joni Mitchell only has 3m monthly listeners and her most streamed song is 200m?

PJ Harvey has even less. lol and Kate Bush didn't have many listeners at all until Stranger Things propelled her to 60m. Her numbers are currently 23m, so the GP clearly didn't think much of her work at all, and Bjork (as much as I like her) only has 7m. Meanwhile Madonna has 42m, so if no one cares about Madonna, I wonder what that tells us about the acts you mention.

Not reading all that

2 minutes ago, ugo said:

Not reading all that

What a surprise!

Any answer other than "A legend" would be incorrect.