Madonna is not happy:
I have no idea what it’s like to be a celebrity of Madonna’s stature, but she sure is touchy. I just read the piece she’s complaining about, and it was a pretty ordinary profile. Yes, it’s titled “Madonna at Sixty,” and yes, the author includes a couple of paragraphs about how Madonna feels at 60—which Madonna turns right around on her: “I think you think about growing old too much. I think you think about age too much. I think you should just stop thinking about it.”
But that’s about it. The rest is pretty normal profile fare, including all the usual detail about stuff like the fabric of Madonna’s curtains. There’s not really very much about Madonna’s age, and there’s plenty about Madonna’s music and her influence. And just about all of it is positive.
I dunno. Maybe I’d feel differently if Vanessa Grigoriadis interviewed me and ended up writing a piece called “A Blogger at Sixty.” Then again, if she treated me with the personal adoration that she treats Madonna, I’d probably forgive her.
POSTSCRIPT: Just for laughs, I googled a few older male musicians. I found loads of “McCartney at 70” stuff, several “Springsteen at 60” pieces, and an absolutely endless pile of “Mick Jagger at ___” profiles.