Like A Prayer

Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, "Like a Prayer" was released on March 3, 1989, as the lead single from Madonna's fourth studio album of the same name. The music video, directed by Mary Lambert, shows Madonna witnessing a white woman being sexually assaulted and killed by white men, with a black man arrested for the crime, while Madonna hides in a church and seeks strength to be a witness; the video features Catholic imagery including stigmata, burning crosses by the Ku Klux Klan, and a dream sequence of kissing a black saint. The Vatican condemned the video, family and religious groups protested its broadcast and boycotted Pepsi products, leading Pepsi to cancel their sponsorship contract with Madonna while allowing her to retain the $5 million fee.