Being the most successful female recording artist of all time may have its perks, but this week has seen Madonna learn that immortality isn’t one of them.
For, according to reports published today, she has seen her brand new single ‘Living For Love‘ booted from BBC Radio 1‘s playlist…because she’s too old.
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The number is pulled from the singer’s latest studio album ‘Rebel Heart‘ and was performed live at the 57th annual Grammy awards, recently named as one of the night’s highest pulling performances on a ratings front.
Alas, reports now claim that BBC Radio 1 aren’t interested in giving the jam airplay because Madonna is too old for its teen audience.
The track is the first single from the mother of four’s new album, Rebel Heart. The station last night said the single had been omitted from playlists on the basis of ‘audience relevance’ and ‘musical merit’.A Radio 1 insider said: ‘At the end of the day it’s all about relevance. It’s natural that as an artist gets older their audience goes elsewhere and Radio 1 has to reflect that.
‘The station has a duty to meet the needs of younger listeners. I don’t think the audience is losing sleep that it is not playing Madonna in the same way that it used to.’
The snub represents a remarkable fall from grace for the star who notched up 13 UK No 1s between 1985 and 2008. She finds herself alongside Sir Cliff Richard, Take That, Kate Bush and Robbie Williams on a long list of artists who struggle to get new material played on the station.
Madonna’s single is being played on Radio 2, which caters for an audience aged over 35. By contrast, Sir Paul McCartney’s new single will be played by Radio 1 even though the former Beatle is 72. This is because the track is a collaboration with rapper Kanye West, 37, and pop mega-star Rihanna, 26.
A Radio 1 spokesman said: ‘Tracks are chosen on musical merit, and while around 40 per cent of the country’s 15 to 29-year-olds tune into Radio 1 each week, an artist’s age is never a factor.’