unplugged on Oprah: Michael Bearden speaks

Making her second appearance on Oprah, in May 1998 (13 years ago!), Madonna gave two stunning live performances, the TV debut of Ray of Light and an acoustic version of Little Star – her one and only live performance of the song to date.

Madonna’s Musical Director on Oprah was Michael Bearden. Michael – who has worked with many a music legend, from Stevie Wonder to Michael Jackson – began working with Madonna in 1993, as a keyboard player on her Saturday Night Live appearance and The Girlie Show, and continued to work with her, as Musical Director on the Bedtime Stories and Ray of Light promotional tours. 

When I spoke to Michael, he told me about Madonna’s performance of Little Star:

“Madonna is not a trained musician but, she knows what she likes. She also hates to make mistakes. I would just explain to her that sometimes the best ideas come from mistakes. I would encourage her to just be vulnerable and whatever comes out will come out. Don’t worry about making a mistake. She embraced the concept when we performed on Oprah during her Ray of Light period. We performed two songs on that particular show. We did the first song (Ray of Light) like we always do, full out with the band. We did the second song (Little Star) with just a trio acoustically. Madonna had rarely done this kind of performance on television. It was the first time she did it in the nine years I worked for her. She was a little nervous and in fact, we had to perform the second song twice for the taping. Oprah only allowed it because it was Madonna. She runs a tight ship. I love Oprah! Madonna nailed it the second time, although she was still a little nervous.

She thanked me as she was leaving the show and was very happy about the show. It was the first time in a long time I had seen M so happy about anything having to do with her career. I think Lola (her daughter) had a lot to do with her good mood during that period. I was happy because Mo was pushing herself musically and trying to reach for something new. It was a big change from how we used to do things. We would often rehearse until the song had no life, in my opinion. She was now leaving room for spontaneous possibilities and I liked that approach.”

Click here to watch Madonna’s gorgeous acoustic performance of Little Star (with Michael Bearden on piano) at Madonna-TV.com – the bestest Madonna TV site on the internet!