Over 70 items of Madonna memorabilia are currently up for auction, including costumes, demo cassette tapes and, most famously, a handwritten apology letter from Tupac Shakur that was sent to Madge a year before his death. The auction, hosted by Madonna’s former art advisor Darlene Lutz and the auction house Gotta Have Rock & Roll, comes despite a two–year battle with Madonna herself, who told a judge that her celebrity “does not obviate my right to maintain my privacy.” Madonna’s injunction was overturned by an appeals court last month.
Now, in an effort to deter fans from bidding, Madonna’s co-writer and co-producer Patrick Leonard has shared several demo tracks, “recorded the day they were written,” from her 1989 album Like a Prayer. Stereogum reports that the original demos of “Cherish” and “Like a Prayer,” as well as the unreleased track “Angels With Dirty Faces,” were all uploaded to Youtube on July 22nd.
“I hope these posts stop the sale of that cassette at auction,” Leonard wrote in the video description for “Cherish.” “Not cool at all that someone would sell it. Not theirs to sell.”
Madonna is currently promoting her new album Madame X. She recently released the music video for her batuque-inspired track “Batuka.”