Madonna says recording with Lourdes Leon was a healing experience

Madonna says co-writing a song with her daughter Lourdes Leon was a very healing experience after Lola approached her to repair their relationship. The pair wrote The Test for Confessions II, and Madonna told Interview magazine the studio session helped mend ties amid a period of family trauma and grief.

The pop icon, 67, opened up as she promotes Confessions II, the long-awaited sequel to her 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor. Speaking with Interview magazine editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg, Madonna said Lourdes Leon, 29, surprised her by suggesting they collaborate on the new record.

Key Takeaways

• Lourdes Leon asked Madonna to co-write a song as a way to heal their relationship.
• The track, The Test, appears on Confessions II, due July 3, 2026.
• Madonna described the studio session as a very healing experience between mother and daughter.
• The collaboration unfolded during a period of family trauma, including deaths in Madonna's family.
• Madonna did not detail the specific rift but linked the song to broader personal grief.

What happened between Madonna and Lourdes Leon?

Madonna hinted at past tension with her eldest daughter while discussing Confessions II. She told Interview that Lola approached her about writing a song together as a way to heal their relationship, calling it a really important moment that solidified the idea that now is the time to make this record.

Page Six reported that Madonna made cryptic comments about family trauma rather than spelling out what went wrong. The outlet noted Lourdes had previously described Madonna as a control freak in a 2021 Interview conversation, saying she needed to be completely independent after high school.

Why did Madonna call the session a healing experience?

During a Q&A promoting the Confessions II short film, Madonna confirmed Lourdes is a co-writer on The Test, a song toward the end of the album. She described the track as beautiful and said they wrote it in the studio at the same time.

It was sort of a healing moment between us, Madonna said, according to reports citing her remarks. She added that she is really proud of Lourdes and called her immensely talented. People.com reported that Madonna was surprised when her daughter proposed the collaboration.

How does family trauma shape Confessions II?

Madonna told Interview she had a lot of stuff going on personally while making the album. Her stepmother had died, her brother Christopher Ciccone was very ill and later died, and she had what she described as a traumatic relationship with her stepmother throughout childhood.

It's hard for me to write a song about nothing. I have to tell a story, she said. So I wrote about a lot of family trauma, and then we started making dance music. She linked those losses to Lourdes Leon approaching her, framing the moment as one of several symbolic events that pushed the project forward. For more breaking alerts, see our Fintech & Crypto Alerts coverage.

Confessions II arrives July 3, 2026, as Madonna's fifteenth studio album. The Belfast Telegraph and People.com both reported on Madonna's comments about the healing collaboration with Lourdes Leon.