Madonna Scrapped Controversial Album Title & Cover

The pop superstar had planned to call the project Black Madonna and posed in blackface make-up with white eyes for photographer Steven Klein's cover art, but she quickly realised the whole idea would be too controversial - and scrapped it.

She tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I painted my face black, except for red lips and white eyes. It was a play on words. Have you ever heard of the Black Madonna?

"It has layers of meaning, and, for a minute, I thought it would be a fun title... Then I thought, '25 per cent of the world might get this, probably less, it's not worth it.'"