The Blessed Madonna

Avenger of Comiskey Park and Patron Saint of Abandoned Daughters Marea Stamper, aka The Blessed Madonna, made and sold an album before throwing it away to create a “moonshot” record about love, loss, ecstasy, death, and resurrection on the dancefloor.

Bullied out of high school, she found refuge throwing illegal raves in rural Kentucky, hustling mixtapes, and working at a Chicago dance label. Her “We Still Believe” parties grew into a smartbar residency. In 2013, she became the first woman in the club’s thirty-year history to helm its curation. From there, her reputation exploded: fluent, emotional sets from disco to techno took her from Panorama Bar and thirteen straight sold-out “We Still Believe” nights in London to the biggest festival stages like Coachella and Sónar.

When the pandemic put a stop to touring, she moved to the studio, co-creating Dua Lipa’s Club Future Nostalgia, appearing in Studio 2054, and giving voice to collective grief with “Marea (we’ve lost dancing).” Written in intense London sessions, her new album and songs like “Serotonin Moonbeams” stand alongside deep, ongoing work for queer, feminist, racial justice, and international refugee causes.