Today with David McCullagh
Old pop and new pop- when emerging artists and music legends collide
22 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What iconic performance did Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter deliver at Coachella?
Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there.
Just like I'm used to me, you are a history. Just like a dream, you are what you see. Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there.
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there.
That, of course, is Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter teaming up at last month's Coachella to perform some of the Queen of Pop's classic hits such as Like A Prayer and Vogue.
Following their joint appearance at the festival, Sabrina Carpenter gushed about what a privilege and dream it was to share the stage with pop veteran Madonna, which included a debut performance of their joint new single, Bring Your Love.
It's not the first time we've had a cross-generational musical partnership, but it does make you wonder why two artists would want to form a union like this and why a music icon like Madonna would opt to collaborate with an up-and-comer. To answer those questions and to take us on an old meets new musical journey, I'm joined by RTE broadcaster, Tracey Clifford. Tracey, good morning.
Morning, David. How are you? We did talk about Coachella and that performance earlier in the week because there was a lot of people talking about the phones being held up and people weren't actually watching. But that being said, it was quite the moment, wasn't it?
It's an absolutely iconic moment and Madonna does this a couple of times. She has done this before with Justin Timberlake, with Britney Spears. She's also recently done it again with Peggy Gu with her new album and Stuart Price remix of her albums, right? But one thing that Madonna does very, very well is that it's always a considered collaboration.
So the new album is coming out the end of the summer. She obviously has to market that. She's going to choose possibly the biggest artist, pop artist, who is headlining Coachella, which is Sabrina Carpenter. But she doesn't just choose it because she's the top artist. Sabrina Carpenter, basically, the backstory is, had to flirt with Madonna's management to get this to fruition.
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Chapter 2: Why do emerging artists collaborate with music legends like Madonna?
was paying homage to the true blue aesthetic of Madonna from the 80s. And then obviously that link was formed. So obviously Madonna needs to promote this new album. She chooses Coachella. She chooses Sabrina Carpenter. Flattery got Sabrina Carpenter absolutely everywhere. And then, of course, on stage, she brings Madonna out. Madonna is performing in front of a whole new audience, under 30.
Streaming numbers go up. And then, of course, then... A marketing genius moment happens when a couple of days later, they got a new single out, the two of them together, Bring Your Love. And that song actually catapults Madonna into the Billboard 100. And it's the first time in 10 years that a debut single from Madonna charts.
Wow. OK, let's take a listen to this. Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter, Bring Your Love.
I think it's great. Little dancey vibes Stuart Price produced, obviously. It's obviously Confessions of a Dance Forward 2, which is the second part of an album that was released in 2005. Okay, so they're both getting something out of this. It's mutually beneficial, 100%. Madonna does this brilliantly. She's always done that.
She's always chosen somebody who has cultural reverence across her career. And Sabrina Carpenter is clever at doing this too, because she's also tapped into the country market herself, with Dolly Parton.
Yes, and this is from 2024, Sabrina with Dolly Parton. This is called Please, Please, Please.
I have a fun idea, babe Maybe just stay inside I know you'll crave me some fresh air But the ceiling fan is so nice And we could live so happily If no one knows that you're with me I'm just kidding Really, really, really Please
You've got to love Dolly, don't you? Absolutely. And I mean, Dolly Parton has endorsed Sabrina Carpenter, especially with this song, saying that this song, please, please, please, is this generation's Jolene. And with the story behind it, too.
And I think Sabrina Carpenter is also quite clever to do this because she's tapping into a market that is country music as well by having Dolly as a collaborator here on this. And Dolly's done that with Miley Cyrus and so many other people, too.
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Chapter 3: How did Sabrina Carpenter secure her collaboration with Madonna?
OK, so Dolly is reaching a new generation as well. Exactly. Not that she probably needs us with her career to date. But anyway, so another icon, Elton John, one of the biggest names in music for the last six decades. And he is well known for supporting and backing emerging artists and releasing music with them. And this is a clip of his track with Dua Lipa in 2021. This is Cold Heart.
So again, that's great for both of them.
Absolutely. Once again, mutually beneficial and also brought Elton John a whole new audience and reinvented his streaming numbers because this song was a massive hit for the summer of 2021. It was the Panao remix of Cold Heart. Obviously a song, a classic song of Elton's. Reimagined with Dua Lipa. Now, she at that time had already been a streaming artist of 100 million streams per month.
And at that time, Elton was probably just, oh, a paltry six to 60, you know. But when this song was released, Elton became the first solo artist with UK top 10 hits across six decades. So spanning like 60 years. Cold Heart hit number one in multiple countries.
And then his Spotify monthly listeners exploded from roughly under 15 million pre-release to over 50 million during the song's release too. But he's also, in terms of like, okay, that's like monetary and that's a success. But in terms of just endorsing brand new artists, he's also so great on his radio show.
He has a song called a show that has an hour of music where he endorses the likes of Fontaine's D.C. kneecap. And he's such a huge supporter of, obviously, the new Ivor Novello Award winner, C. Matt. He's been a big supporter of her, too. So he endorses people as well and not just has to collaborate with them.
This next one is interesting, right? So this is Tony Bennett. Yes. OK. And his relationship with Lady Gaga. Let's have a listen to their version of I Get a Kick Out of You.
You obviously don't adore me. I get no kick in a plane. Flying too high with some gal in the sky is my idea of nothing to do. Yet I get a kick out of you.
Now, you wouldn't have put those two together, but it kind of works, doesn't it?
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Chapter 4: What marketing strategies did Madonna use to promote her new album?
Now, their relationship, he brought her out on stage in Coachella 2022. And since then, there's been like a resurgence of Shania Twain popularity. And he said that Shania Twain has always been an icon to him musically and also in the fashion world too.
So that's probably why, you know, Harry Styles has come out there with the leopard print, with the vibes that he likes to portray when he's on stage as well. But I mean, Shania Twain is on tour this year herself as well. She's playing in Thoman Park. Maybe that revival for her is because of Harry Styles bringing her on stage in Coachella in 2022.
So again, we see the synergy. They're both getting something out of it. Exactly. Now, this is a really, really unusual one. So we have 90s country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, father of Miley. That's right. And American rapper Lil Nas X. Now, let's have a quick listen to Old Town Road.
Got no stress, I've been through all that. I'm like a Marlboro man, so I keep going back. Wish I could roll on back.
Now, this is interesting because Lil Nas X had a solo version of Old Town Road and it was removed from the Billboard Country Music charts.
That's right. So this happened in 2018. This became a viral hit. It has country elements, but also trap music elements too. It soared the charts, Billboard, hot country charts. However, Billboard took it off because they said it wasn't country enough. Hmm. which sparked huge debate, outrage. People were calling for, saying that they were gatekeepers of the country music industry.
You know, people were calling them racist. They said there was massive bias going on. And other country stars came out in support of Lil Nas X saying country is a vibe, it's feeling, it's storytelling, etc, etc. And one of those... was Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus' dad, obviously of Achy Breaky Heart fame. He came out and supported Lil Nas X on Twitter.
And then, obviously, a collaboration happened. The song was re-recorded, remixed, and that was the one that became a global hit in 2018, was number one for 18 weeks, not just on the country charts, even though it topped that. It was a massive hit all across the world.
And nobody can argue that Billy Ray Cyrus isn't country. That's true, exactly. Now, we can't do this subject and not talk about Taylor Swift, who has been known to champion emerging artists and even helped Ed Sheeran crack America. Let's take a listen to their 2012 collaboration, Everything Has Changed.
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