Madonna took to social media Friday to celebrate her 66th birthday from Italy, just as her massive 1989 hit “Like a Prayer” has re-entered the U.K. singles charts — more than 35 years after spending three weeks at No. 1.
“Back in Italy….. Happy Birthday to ME,” the Queen of Pop wrote on Instagram Friday morning, alongside 20 age-defying photos shot by her longtime photographer Ricardo Gomes.
Madonna, who was rumored to be planning a lavish birthday dinner for some 500 guests in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, has been in Italy for several days as a guest of designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, according to local media reports.
Video circulating on social media Sunday appears to show the multi-Grammy-winning artist arriving in Portofino, a tourist-favorite fishing village on the Italian Riviera coastline.
Earlier this week Italian officials confirmed the multi-Grammy-winning artist would celebrate her birthday in the country, but denied speculation the party would happen in Pompeii, which was destroyed in A.D. 79 with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Instead, she’ll spend her night with a private tour of the site.
“She loves Pompeii, loves the archaeological park, and can’t wait to come,” Naples Prefect Michele Di Bari told reporters on Tuesday.
The pop diva, who closed her critically acclaimed Celebration World Tour in front of a record-setting 1.6 million fans on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach in May, has even more reasons to celebrate as one of her career-defining hits sees a global resurgence thanks to Marvel’s summer blockbuster “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
“Like a Prayer,” part of the movie’s soundtrack, is once again a Top 100 single in the U.K. The once-controversial song came back at No. 95 for the week ending on Aug. 14 after spending 13 weeks in the Official U.K. Singles Chart starting in March 1989. It currently sits at No. 27.
With News Wire Sources
