Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ original demos leaked in attempt to thwart auction
Songwriter Patrick Leonard has taken drastic steps to thwart the unauthorised sale of the tracks.
By Will Stroude
A series of original demos from Madonna’s 1989 album Like a Prayer have been leaked online in an attempt to thwart their sale at auction.
Songwriter Patrick Leonard, who worked with the Queen of Pop on her acclaimed fourth record, uploaded the original demo versions of tracks ‘Like a Prayer’, ‘Cherish’ and the previously unreleased ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ to YouTube last week.
It comes after Madonna’s former art adviser Darlene Lutz decided to put the original casettes up for sale in an unauthorised auction of personal items which also includes Madonna’s break-up letter from rapper Tupac Shakur and a hairbrush with strands of the her hair still in it.
Madonna filed an emergency court order in 2017 to prevent the sale of the items, but a judge ruled earlier this month the auction could go ahead, the BBC reports.
Leonard has now uploaded the demos online in an attempt to devalue their sale, meaning fans have the opportunity to hear them in full for the first time.
As well as uploading a version of ‘Like a Prayer’ from the day it was written, Leonard shared a demo of ‘Cherish’, writing: “I hope these posts stop the sale of that cassette at auction.
“Not cool at all that someone would sell it. Not theirs to sell.”
The third upload was of previously unreleased track ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’, which was written during sessions for Like a Prayer but was eventually dropped form the final tracklist.