Madonna followed up
"American Life" with the
slightly more commercially friendly
"Hollywood," but the
off-putting nature of the AL single and
video had already done its damage.
"Hollywood" became Madonna's
first single to miss the Hot 100 since
she first stormed on to the chart twenty
years prior with "Holiday."
"Hollywood" did
manage some minimal pop and adult top 40
airplay -- in fact, the Adult Top 40
chart was the only radio chart it
entered, where it peaked in the 30s. The
song could have managed a week or two at
the bottom of the Hot 100 had the single
release been a little more timely -- the
song's scant airplay had already eroded
by the time the single hit stores.
"Hollywood"
follows in the footsteps of
"American Life" by focusing on
disenchantment -- not with American life
in general, but with the often shallow
world of Hollywood. The song's video
plays into this as well as it features
Madonna receiving botox shots, now a
symbol for the superficiality of the
celebrity set. The video also featured
recreations of the photographs of Guy
Bourdin.
As seems to be the case
with all America-related Madonna singles,
"Hollywood" was much more
successful overseas, becoming the 18th
most played song in Europe in 2003.
Guy Bourdin's son
didn't consider the "Hollywood"
video to be homage, but rather stealing,
and sued Madonna for using the images of
his photographer father without
permission. Although Madonna has
frequently appropriated the work of other
artists in her music videos without legal
trouble, in this case she reportedly
settled the lawsuit with a $600,000 pay
out.
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