A month after Madonna introduced her Celebration Tour to an in depth with a record-smashing efficiency in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, two of her most beloved collaborators proceed to honor her legacy ― together with their very own musical journey ― onstage.
On Friday, Niki Haris and Donna De Lory will return to New York’s Inexperienced Room 42 for an encore engagement of their live performance, “Niki + Donna: Songs and Stories.” Whereas their particular person careers have encompassed jazz, New Age, and different musical genres, Haris and De Lory endeared themselves to legions of followers within the Eighties and ’90s once they offered Madonna’s backing vocals on data and tour and have been featured within the seminal 1991 documentary, “Truth or Dare.”
The 2 ladies returned to the studio for the primary time in 2016 to document a young model of Madonna’s “Rain,” adopted a yr later by a five-song EP, “Two Friends.” Not surprisingly, “Rain” was a spotlight of the New York engagement in January, as seen within the under video.
Watch Niki Haris and Donna De Lory carry out “Rain.”
“I imagine this music’s lyrics are indicative of the numerous years we now have been collectively, alternating between sunshine and stormy,” Haris informed HuffPost in an electronic mail. “We continue to weather it all, knowing that the sun shines when we focus on our love and the music we share. That’s what we stand for.”
She went on to notice: “We feel blessed every time we sing that and remind people to stand for those words … rain down love whenever, and wherever, you can!”
Haris and De Lory’s latest reveals have included different Madonna hits, such because the 1986 basic “Open Your Heart” and “Nothing Really Matters,” off 1998′s “Ray of Light” album. They’ve additionally featured songs by Bonnie Raitt and Frank Sinatra, amongst different artists.
“I know fans would love to see us sing with Madonna again, but I think what we have to give as artists is more powerful with our own collaboration,” De Lory mentioned, noting that she and Haris have mentioned the potential of a second EP. “When we sing together, it unifies us in a place of mutual recognition and respect.”
Haris and De Lory first met throughout auditions for Madonna’s Who’s That Woman Tour in 1987, and went on to seem within the now-iconic music video for “Vogue” three years later. Haris continued to work with Madonna till the 2001 Drowned World Tour, whereas DeLory remained part of the pop star’s touring entourage till 2006.
Given Madonna’s stature as a world icon, it’s no shock that unsubstantiated rumors of behind-the-scenes drama have lengthy continued. Haris and DeLory, nevertheless, appeared jubilant once they have been invited to attend one in all their former employer’s performances at New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard earlier this yr.
Kevin.Mazur by way of Getty Photographs
“Singing jazz, I don’t regularly get to hear much of the music I performed with Madonna, [so] it was another affirmation of the years we poured into each other and the great fun we had along the way,” Haris mentioned. “It filled my heart with joy to see people loving us up when we came into the stadium and knowing they still celebrate our connection.”
Added De Lory: “It was so exciting to be there in the audience with the fans with Niki by my side, and I turned to her at one point and said, ‘This may be the only time that you and I are together watching Madonna’s show.’ So it was a very
special moment.”
