Madonna returns to the dancefloor — and Warner Records — for new album
To release her first LP since 2019, the pop icon has reunited with Warner Records, the label that served as her home for the first 25 years of her career
By Jon Blistein
Madonna will return in 2026 with a new dance album, Rolling Stone can exclusively reveal — and she’s reuniting with the label that helped make her a superstar, Warner Records.
The new album, as Madonna has previously teased, is expected to be a follow-up to her 2005 album, Confessions on a Dancefloor. In late 2024, she revealed she was back in the studio with Stuart Price, who produced much of the original album, and earlier this year, she said that a Confessions 2 sequel was in the works.
The new album, when it arrives, will mark Madonna’s first since 2019’s Madame X. She’s yet to share any other details about the record, such as an exact release date or title.
Just as notable as the new album is the fact that Madonna will be releasing it on Warner Records, where she spent the first 25 years of her career.
“From being a struggling artist in New York City to signing a record deal to release just three singles it seemed at the time my world would never be the same again and in fact that couldn’t have been truer,” Madonna said in a statement. “Since the beginning Warner Records has been a real partner with me. I am happy to be reunited and look forward to the future, making music, doing the unexpected while perhaps provoking a few needed conversations.”
Madonna signed her first label deal in 1982 with Sire Records, a Warner subsidiary. While under the major label’s umbrella, she released some of the biggest albums of her career — including 1985’s Like a Virgin, 1989’s Like a Prayer, and 1998’s Ray of Light — and started an imprint of her own, Maverick.
Madonna’s deal with Warner ended with 2008’s Hard Candy, after which she signed a 360 deal with Live Nation that included a three-album deal with Interscope (a Universal Music Group subsidiary). Interscope has released Madonna’s most recent LPs, 2012’s MDNA, 2015’s Rebel Heart, and 2019’s Madame X.
In 2020, Madonna left Interscope, and the following year she announced the first part of her plan to return to Warner Records. Most notably, the deal ensured that Madonna’s catalog would all exist in one place, with the deal allowing her to bring her three Interscope albums to Warner in 2025.
While no mention of new music was made at the time, it was revealed that Madonna’s Warner return would involve a massive reissue campaign. In 2022 — coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the start of her recording career — she released a massive compilation, Finally Enough Love, featuring remixes of her 50 Number One singles. Just this past July, she released Veronica Electronica, a Ray of Light remix album that had been shelved 27 years ago.
Warner Records co-chairmen Tom Corson and Aaron Bay-Schuck said they were “honored to welcome Madonna back home” to the label, adding, “Madonna isn’t just an artist — she’s the blueprint, the rule-breaker, the ultimate cultural juggernaut. For decades, she has not only defined the sound of global pop music but also reshaped culture itself with her vision, innovation, and fearless artistry. This signing represents a historic, full-circle moment, one that brings her back to the label where it all began and reaffirms her unparalleled influence, setting the stage for an exciting new era of creativity and impact.”