--- title: Madonna Shocks 2018 Met Gala With Surprise Performance description: Madonna took attendees of the 2018 Met Gala to church with her very on-brand performances of 'Like a Prayer' and 'Hallelujah.' canonical: https://time.com/5268913/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-08T16:10:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:17.994Z og:title: Madonna Shocks 2018 Met Gala With Surprise Performance og:description: Very immaculate and on-brand og:url: https://time.com/5268913/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf31b14e4a8cf631b/69892fd2096a9490396a258c/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala - Inside og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Madonna Shocks 2018 Met Gala With Surprise Performance twitter:description: Very immaculate and on-brand twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf31b14e4a8cf631b/69892fd2096a9490396a258c/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Let Madonna Take You to Church With Her Crazy Surprise Met Gala Performance > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Madonna's 2018 Met Gala Dress Is Just Like a Prayer [Watch (HLS stream): Madonna's 2018 Met Gala Dress Is Just Like a Prayer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/etI7rPaq.m3u8) (0:30)  _Published 2018-05-08. Leave it to Madonna to really commit to the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination theme of the 2018 Met Gala. The Material Girl, no stranger to a good religious sartorial moment, sported a regal black Jean Paul Gaultier gown._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 8, 2018 4:10 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - MAY 07: Madonna performs during the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG18/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue) NEW YORK, NY - MAY 07: Madonna performs during the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG18/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue) Kevin Mazur/MG18—Getty Images for The Met Museum/  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 8, 2018 4:10 PM UTC If there’s anyone who could really embody the [2018 Met Gala theme, _Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination_](http://time.com/5256466/met-gala-2018-details-theme-date/), it’s [Madonna](http://time.com/5258401/madonna-2018-met-gala-dress/), whose [own obsession with her Catholic upbringing](http://time.com/5263190/catholicism-and-fashion-moments/) has undeniably shaped both the pop culture and fashion landscape. However, Madge, who appeared on the 2018 Met Gala red carpet in a dramatic gothic ensemble by Jean Paul Gaultier and accessorized with a black veil, crown of crosses, and plenty of jeweled rosaries, took the theme to a whole another level when she treated Met Gala attendees to a surprise performance of “Like a Prayer,” the notorious song that’s most closely linked to her religious associations. The Material Girl appeared on the steps of the Met Museum’s Great Hall, incognito in a monk’s cloak and flanked by a choir of singing monks before taking off her hood and performing the song. Later, she gave a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” to close the night, a fitting end to a night that celebrated saints and sinners. Watch Madonna’s performance below. ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5268913/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5268913/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance/"},"headline":"Let Madonna Take You to Church With Her Crazy Surprise Met Gala Performance","datePublished":"2018-05-08T16:10:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:17.994Z","description":"Very on-brand","url":"https://time.com/5268913/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Met Gala 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf31b14e4a8cf631b/69892fd2096a9490396a258c/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf31b14e4a8cf631b/69892fd2096a9490396a258c/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala - Inside","caption":"Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala - Inside","creditText":"Kevin Mazur/MG18—Getty Images for The Met Museum/","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5268913/madonna-2018-met-gala-performance/","name":"Let Madonna Take You to Church With Her Crazy Surprise Met Gala Performance"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Madonna's 2018 Met Gala Dress Is Just Like a Prayer","description":"Leave it to Madonna to really commit to the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination theme of the 2018 Met Gala. 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