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Why Madonna Became the New Face of Grindr

From talking about sex with JFK Jr. to a surprise show in Times Square, the queen of pop is leveraging Grindr’s “gayborhood” to sell her new album. For Grindr users, the advertising for Madonna’s 15th album has been hard to miss. When users opened the app on April 24, Madonna’s voice greeted them with “Hello, it’s mother.” The app’s homepage perpetually has a banner promoting the Grindr-exclusive vinyl of her new album “Confessions on a Dancefloor: Part II,” and she even hosted a roundtable where she talked about the best sex she's ever had. It all culminated in a surprise concert in Times Square Thursday. All this comes as more artists are teaming up with Grindr in an effort to promote their music. Grindr, meanwhile, has been rebranding away from being known as just a "hookup app," and has been selling its users more products and services, including GLP-1s and erectile dysfunction drugs. As for users, it’s clear that the Madonna takeover has started some conversation. X was ablaze upon the release of the exclusive vinyl and the “Confessions With …” interview. And on Reddit, some have been arguing over whether or not the campaign and total immersion of the app is effective or annoying.

Released on 06/05/2026

Transcript

Since April, Madonna's been the new face of Grindr.

The queen of pop has taken over the gay dating app

to promote her new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor:

Part 11.

She had a round table where she discussed her sex life,

including saying that some of the best sex

she's ever had was with JFK Jr.

I'm gonna only name dead people.

She's also gone and exclusive vinyl record

and merch that she's selling through the app.

And it all culminated in a surprise show in Times Square

on Thursday evening where she sang songs from the new album.

Grindr didn't give us exact numbers,

but they said the show cost a lot.

All of this comes as music streaming apps

and increasingly unaffordable concert tickets

have taken a big hit out of artists' revenue streams.

Selling physical albums is still important,

but it's hard to do.

Artists like Hilary Duff, Troye Sivan

and Christina Aguilera have all teamed up

with Grindr recently to promote their music.

Madonna's longtime manager, Guy Oseary, tells Wired

that the collaboration makes perfect sense

because Madonna has been championing the LGBTQ+ community

since our start in the '80s club scene in New York.

And Grindr has increasingly been rebranding

and moving away from being seen as just a hookup app

with its tagline, The global gayborhood in your pocket.

CEO George Arison says when he joined the app in 2022,

they pulled in $195 million in revenue,

and this year, they're on track to do 530.5 million.