Madonna is going back to the start. Warner Records announced on Thursday (Sept. 18) that the pop icon is returning to her original label home after nearly two decades away. The best-selling female artist of all time has signed with Warner for what the label called her “highly anticipated, upcoming new dance album.”
Madonna celebrated the return in an Instagram post in which she wrote, “Almost 2 decades later — And it feels like home with Warner Records! Back to music, Back to the Dance Floor, Back to where it all began! COADF – Pt. 2 2026.” The post included a series of pictures of the 67-year-old superstar seated on mattress on the floor in a gauzy light pink nightgown staring at the camera with an old-fashioned typewriter at her feet, striking the kinds of sultry looks that have been her signature for more nearly half a century.
The final slide consisted of a snap of a pair of gold heels and what looked like a black purse with the message “P–sy Power” in rhinestones across the front.
Warner Records was Madonna’s home for the first 25 years of her career, starting in 1981, when she signed with the Seymour Stein-run label subsidiary Sire Records. She released her self-titled debut on the label in 1983, which spawned a series of indelible early dance pop hits, including “Everybody,” “Burning Up,” “Holiday,” “Lucky Star” and “Borderline.”
”From being a struggling artist in New York City to signing a record deal to release just three singles it seemed at the time my world would never be the same again and in fact that couldn’t have been truer,” Madonna said in a statement announcing the deal. “Since the beginning Warner Records has been a real partner with me. I am happy to be reunited and look forward to the future, making music, doing the unexpected while perhaps provoking a few needed conversations.”
The deal will bear immediate fruit with a new album due out in 2026, marking the singer’s first full-length collection of new songs since 2019’s Madame X. According to the release, the untitled new album will find Madonna re-teaming with producer/songwriter Stuart Price for the sequel to her Confessions on a Dance Floor LP, which featured the hits “Hung Up” and “Sorry.”
”We are honored to welcome Madonna back home to Warner Records. Madonna isn’t just an artist — she’s the blueprint, the rule-breaker, the ultimate cultural juggernaut. For decades, she has not only defined the sound of global pop music but also reshaped culture itself with her vision, innovation, and fearless artistry,” said Warner Records co-chairmen Tom Carson and Aaron Bay-Schuck in a statement. “This signing represents a historic, full circle moment, one that brings her back to the label where it all began and reaffirms her unparalleled influence, setting the stage for an exciting new era of creativity and impact.”
She remained on Warner through her record-setting run in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, during which time she released such iconic LPs as Like A Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), Like a Prayer (1989), Erotica (1992), Bedtime Stories (1994), Ray of Light (1998), Music (2000), American Life (2003), the original Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008). She hopped to Interscope Records in 2012 for her MDNA LP.
At press time no release date has been announced for the upcoming album.
In July, Madonna released her long-rumored Veronica Electronica album, a collection of eight rare and unreleased remixes of songs from her beloved 1998 Ray of Light album.