Sam Smith & Madonna Share 'Vulgar' Collaboration

After teasing their collaboration through billboards placed in Manchester and social media campaigns, Sam Smith and Madonna have revealed their highly-awaited collaboration, Vulgar.

Vulgar isn’t sexually explicit like some would expect from the pair, but its language certainly is, with Madonna ad-libbing the following lines over an Eastern music-inspired beat and strings: “Do you know how to spell my name?/ B I T C H/ Go fuck yourself/ You heard me, bitch.”

With hard-hitting electronic elements, Vulgar embodies its name, tying in with an almost spoken-word mantra of the two artists banding together as one united front. A hype song in every sense of the word, Vulgar will definitely become a fan favourite in both artists' live sets - now, fans await the live debut. 

You can check out the video below. 

Sam Smith and Madonna went into the studio to record Vulgar just one day after the Like A Prayer singer introduced Smith and Kim Petras for their performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

“Are you ready for some controversy?” she announced before making a heartfelt speech. “If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problematic, provocative or dangerous,” she said, “You are definitely onto something.”

Earlier that night, Smith and Petras won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Unholy.

On Instagram, Madonna wrote, “I wanted to give the last award which was Album of the Year, but I thought it was more important that I present the first trans-woman performing at the Grammys— a History making moment!! And on top of that, she won a Grammy!!”

Speculation about their potential musical partnership swirled in late May when Smith teased hours before a UK show, “Manchester – we’ve got a special surprise for you this evening. Unholy won’t be the last song”. Sadly, the surprise wasn’t revealed as Smith cancelled the concert four songs into the night due to issues with their voice.

Another social media post suggested some kind of collaboration with Madonna, with the pair repeating their names in a short video and a billboard that states “S&M” found in Manchester.