"Like a Virgin" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna from her second album Like a Virgin (1984). The song was written and composed by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and it was released as the album's lead single on October 31, 1984. A dance song with two hooks, Madonna sings in a high register while a continuous arrangement of synths are heard along the bassline. The song's lyrics are ambiguous, consisting of hidden innuendos and open to various interpretations. Upon release, "Like a Virgin" received positive reviews from music critics, who frequently singled out Madonna's vocals. It became her first number-one in the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia and Canada, while reaching the top ten elsewhere; "Like a Virgin" has sold over six million copies worldwide. The accompanying music video was directed by Mary Lambert, and showed Madonna sailing down the canals of Venice in a gondola, as well as roaming around a castle wearing a white wedding dress. The video received positive feedback; authors singled out the expression of Venetian vitality, and noted references to Saint Mark. Madonna has performed "Like a Virgin" in seven of her concert tours, the last being 2015–2016's Rebel Heart Tour; the song's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards has been deemed a defining moment in pop culture, as well as one of the best performances in the show's history. "Like a Virgin" has been covered and parodied by a number of artists, including Elton John and "Weird Al" Yankovic. It's also been sung or referenced in feature films and TV shows such as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Glee (2010), among others. "Like a Virgin" has been recognized as one of Madonna's best songs, as well as the one that turned her into a superstar; "Like a Virgin" has also been credited with encouraging women and female performers from the time to embrace their sexuality. Background "Like a Virgin" was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly; the former had just begun a new relationship after a long rough period, and came up with the lyrics one day while driving a pickup truck around his father's vineyards in the Coachella Valley. Steinberg went on to reveal in an interview for the Los Angeles Times that the song was not written with a female singer in mind; it was inspired by how he coped