Madonna and Lourdes Leon appeared to share a slightly uneasy exchange as they sat down to talk about their latest single.
The mother-and-daughter pairing have teamed up on The Test, a duet exploring their complicated relationship, which has fuelled speculation about tension between them.
Speaking ahead of Madonna’s Club Confessions album launch event in London, held in celebration with official partner Grindr, the pair opened up about what they described as their “tense and emotional relationship.”
The Queen of Pop, 67, was discussing her new album, Confessions II, with Bob The Drag Queen when Lourdes, 29, was brought out, with the two first greeting each other with a handshake before Madonna moved in for a kiss on the cheek.
After the initially stiff greeting appeared to ease, Lourdes told her mother, “hello, you look so pretty,” prompting Madonna to respond: “so do you.”
Lourdes, however, seemed to take issue with the tone of the reply, asking: “why do you sound surprised?” before imitating Madonna’s “so do you” in a flat voice.
Madonna brushed off the moment with a laugh, saying “like mother like daughter,” while Bob appeared to register the awkwardness, reacting simply: “wow!”
Madonna had an awkward handshake with daughter Lourdes during a chilly exchange at a London listening party, where they discussed their “tense and emotional” relationship amid feud speculation
The mother-daughter duo have collaborated on The Test, a duet about their fraught relationship that has sparked claims of a feud (pictured in 2025)
Lourdes then revealed it was her idea to collaborate on their new song, as she mused: ‘I think that between a mother and a daughter and a relationship it’s kind of – there’s a lot of things that are unspoken.
‘There’s a lot of love that’s unspoken but also a lot of tension and emotions that are kind of difficult to put into words because it can be so emotional.
‘A way that I thought would be easier for us to speak about these things would be through art, which is always something me and my mum have connected over that’s really brought us together.’
Madonna then weighed in on the experience of working together, saying: ‘it was very emotional and there were moments when I felt like crying, hugging her.
‘Because as she says we don’t always agree on things but we love creativity and art has always connected us.
‘It was a very magical moment and we both had to be vulnerable.’
When asked to sum up her experience of working with her mother on The Test in one word, Lourdes confessed: ‘healing’.
Following the interview, Madonna then took to the stage with DJ Stuart Price as she performed singles from her new album.
The singer had designed the venue so that guests would have to enter through a giant sculpture of her legs, while drinks on offer were themed to her songs, named Spicy Danceteria, Absolut Holiday Highball and Into? The Groove Grindr Mule.
Guests were also invited to buy merchandise, with Madonna fan Jo revealing she spent £65 purchasing a T-shirt with ‘don’t be a vibe kill’ on the front.
Following the interview, Madonna then took to the stage with DJ Stuart Price as she performed singles from her new album at the event in celebration with official partner Grindr
The singer had designed the venue so that guests would have to enter through a giant sculpture of her legs
Guests were also invited to buy merchandise, with Madonna fan Jo revealing she spent £65 purchasing a T-shirt with ‘don’t be a vibe kill’ on the front
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Drinks on offer were themed to her songs, named Spicy Danceteria, Absolut Holiday Highball and Into? The Groove Grindr Mule
In The Test, Madonna sings candidly to her daughter about how she ‘tried to put you on a pedestal,’ although Lourdes herself ‘didn’t ask for all the flashing lights.’
The Material Girl freely admits she ‘didn’t think of how it could disturb or how it hurt,’ sharing that she wished she ‘knew the pain I caused’ and understood the impact of the fact that ‘my butterfly was always being watched.’
Lourdes then reflects on her upbringing in the shadow of a world-famous mother, whom she characterised as ‘my reason to be, or what I want, or look like, what I wear, all the clothes on my back and what I attract.’
She sings about striking a balance in which she is able to ‘trace the line of what you have sewn’ and still ‘keep my own design, make it a landscape, make it alive.’
Madonna previously admitted her daughter Lourdes Leon was ‘very standoffish’ to work with on their new song, as she finally addressed their rift.
She opened up to Graham Norton on his BBC show Madonna & Graham and said Lourdes ‘held onto a lot of resentment’ with her over the years.
Madonna, who shares Lourdes with her ex Carlos Leon, wrote a song with her daughter for her new album Confessions II.
Despite the tension between the mother and daughter duo, Madonna said writing a song together ‘healed’ their relationship.
In the episode, which aired Friday night, Madonna explained: ‘She approached me, she’s been very revenant to work with me. She doesn’t want to be perceived as my daughter, taking advantage of her privilege.’
Graham asked: ‘How does that feel? Was it like working with a professional or a proud mother?’
‘It was kind of neither’, she said. ‘She’s been very standoffish and working at her own pace, and I respect that deeply. She’s a great songwriter and has a much better voice than I do.
‘But then one day she came to me and said “You know what, I realise I’ve been holding onto something” and maybe it’s a kind of I want to say anger, what’s another word, maybe resentment?
‘At the end of the day, she didn’t ask for this. She had been through her adolescence struggling with those feelings for a long time.
‘So she came to me and said “Let’s write a song together, I think it will be a very healing experience. You say exactly what you want to say and I will say exactly what I want to say”.
‘And I was like “Okay, you’re on, let’s do it, I was so happy”. Her lyrics are beautiful.’
Confessions II, which drops this Friday, is currently Madonna’s best-reviewed disc since 2005’s Confessions On a Dance Floor
While Madonna and Lourdes are now close and often collaborate together, the pair have touched on their issues in past interviews.
In 2021, Lourdes called her mother a ‘control freak’ and admitted that she paid for her own college tuition and first apartment to escape her.
‘We don’t get any handouts in my family. Obviously, I grew up with extreme privilege. There’s no denying that,’ she explained to Interview magazine.
‘But I think my mom saw all these other kids of famous people, and she was like, “My kids are not going to be like this.”
‘Also, I feel like if your parents pay for things, then it gives them leverage over you. My mom is such a control freak, and she has controlled me my whole life. I needed to be completely independent from her as soon as I graduated high school.’
In a 2019 interview with Vogue, Madonna praised her ‘insanely talented’ eldest child but said that she lacked the same drive that had made her a household name.
Since branching out on her own, Lourdes has found work as a model, a celebrity socialite, and as an indie musician.
Confessions II, which drops this Friday, is currently Madonna’s best-reviewed disc since 2005’s Confessions On a Dance Floor.
