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Madonna & Sam Smith preview “Vulgar” new track for your Pride Month playlist

Madonna and Sam Smith
Madonna and Sam Smith Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Screenshot

Madonna and Sam Smith are kicking off Pride Month with a new track to add to our Pride playlists.

Last week, the duo teased their collaboration with a brief Instagram clip featuring each artist singing—or maybe more like sprechgesanging—their name, along with a simple black-and-white “S x M” graphic, sending fans into a frenzy of anticipation.

Now, the pop stars have revealed more details about their new single, including its title and release date.

On Wednesday, Smith and Madonna each took to social media to announce that “Vulgar” will be released on June 9, just as Pride Month is really beginning to heat up.

On her official Instagram, Madonna posted what appears to be the single’s cover image, featuring its title and singers’ initials “S&M” superimposed over side-by-side black-and-white pics of each of their corseted waists. The photo of Smith’s waist appears to be from their divisive February photoshoot for Perfect magazine.

Smith, meanwhile, posted a longer version of the clip released last week, featuring what is presumably a snippet of the new song’s eastern-influenced strings and bouncy beat.

Smith previously spurred speculation about a collaboration with Madonna ahead of the Manchester stop on their current “Gloria” tour. Last week, fans spotted digital billboards around the U.K. city featuring the “S&M” graphic alongside Smith’s anchor logo. The singer further fueled expectations that Madonna would appear with him at the show with a May 24 tweet.

“Manchester, we’ve got a surprise for you this evening,” they wrote. “‘Unholy’ won’t be the last song…”

Unfortunately, Smith cut their show at the AO Arena short, reportedly walking offstage after only four songs. In a statement, Smith later said that they had been fighting off a virus in recent weeks. “Today in soundcheck I felt fine and was so excited to give Manchester an amazing show tonight, with a special surprise at the end,” they said.

They went on to explain that during the third song of their Manchester set, they noticed something wrong with their voice. When it didn’t improve during the fourth song, they left the stage.

“I came off stage and have tried everything to get my voice back in gear but it won’t. I am honestly heartbroken I couldn’t finish the show tonight for you all.”

Smith later rescheduled additional dates in Glasgow and Birmingham, citing a vocal chord injury.

“Doctors have advised due to a vocal cord injury, Sam must have complete vocal rest,” a spokesperson for the singer said last week. “Sam is heartbroken to have had to cancel these shows but they have been told by doctors that if they keep singing, they will do permanent damage to their voice. If they take some rest they will be able to perform again.”

Smith’s last collaboration with a pop diva made history in more ways than one. “Unholy,” which featured Kim Petras, became the first song by nonbinary and trans artists to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and was also the first song by either artist to reach the top of the chart. In February, Smith and Petras achieved another milestone, becoming the first trans and nonbinary artists to win the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

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