Several songs on Erotica address AIDS and homophobia directly, mourning the loss of a loved one or decrying societal prejudice.
Madonna had lost way too many friends and collaborators to the disease. The one-two punch of Sex and Erotica proved too much for the puritanical media, which missed the underlying message of sexual acceptance inspired by the devastation wrought on the gay community by AIDS. In the guise of alter ego Mistress Dita, she sang about love and sex over house party beats produced by remix master Shep Pettibone. Her next studio album, 1992’s Erotica, also embraced her salacious side. She released the steel-cover photo book Sex, which featured nude images of her and a rotating cast of partners both famous and unknown. Madonna started her new chapter by creating Maverick, a multimedia company with divisions dedicated to music, TV/film and book publishing. and 30 million worldwide, making it her top-selling release. The album sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. Madonna capped off her historic 80s run with the 1990 release of The Immaculate Collection, a greatest hits compilation that spanned her first four albums plus various contributions to movie soundtracks.
