| Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | November 28, 2025 (2025-11-28) | |||
| Recorded | 1993–1994 | |||
| Length | 27:04 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| Madonna chronology | ||||
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Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter is an extended play by American singer-songwriterMadonna, released on November 28, 2025, throughWarner Records. The release commemorates the 30th anniversary of her sixth studio album,Bedtime Stories (1994). The EP "trace[s] the evolution ofBedtime Stories' lush,R&B-influenced sound".[1]
During the early 1990s, sex and sexuality became a common theme in Madonna's work. By 1994, there was a considerable critical and public backlash due to the sexual explicitness of her various projects.[2] That same year she began working on her sixth studio album with fequent collaborator,Shep Pettibone. Pettibone was responsible for her number-oneBillboard Hot 100 hits, "Vogue" in 1990, and "This Used to Be My Playground" in 1992. Madonna felt that the songs they were producing were too reminiscent of their previous effortErotica (1992) and decided to go in a different direction. She reached out toR&B andhip-hop producersBabyface,Dallas Austin, andDave Hall.[3] She also began dabbling in the world ofelectronica with producerNellee Hooper. A considerable number of demos were produced, one of which, "I'd Rather Be Your Lover", originally featured her then boyfriend, rapperTupac Shakur.[4] The resulting album,Bedtime Stories (1994), became a critical and commercial success. Due to her being cast inthe 1996 film adaptation of the musicalEvita, Madonna was unable to promote the album with a tour. She would later include the previously unreleased song, "Your Honesty", which she penned and co-produced with Dallas Austin during theBedtime Stories sessions, on the EPRemixed & Revisited (2003).[5]
In 2020, in the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemic,Bedtime Stories hit the top of theiTunes album charts. Critics noted its cultural resurgence. Madonna thanked fans for purchasing it on social media and included the hashtag "#stayhome musical companion".[6] In 2021, it was announced that Madonna had signed a career-spanning partnership deal withWarner Records. The deal included her entire back catalog: 17 studio albums, plus singles, soundtrack recordings, live albums, and compilations. Madonna, it was revealed, would be personally curating expansive deluxe editions of many of her landmark studio albums, as well as introduce unique releases for special events starting in 2022.[7] In October 2024, Madonna teased aBedtime Stories-related project on her officialFacebook page. A photo with the words "Something's comin' over", along with the caption: "Happy 30th Anniversary,Bedtime Stories! Yes, 'we've got a secret'.... Check back soon to find out and in the meantime, play the album out loud", with a link to stream the album, were posted.[8]
On February 17, 2025, Madonna teased the re-release ofBedtime Stories, through herInstagram account, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its release.[9] On October 9, 2025, she announced a November 28, 2025 release date for theBedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter EP, along with reissues of the original studio album. The collection includes early demos, alternate versions, and rarities that trace the evolution of studio album's sound. A collectible silver LP of the original studio album (part of The Silver Collection), a two-disc CD (studio album and EP), as well as a 12" black vinyl EP ofBedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter, with exclusivepostcards and poster, will also be released. Frequent collaboratorStuart Price was responsible for the editing and mixing of the original content. "Right on Time", a track written during the original studio sessions with producer Dallas Austin, was released as a single on digital platforms.[10][11]
The EP includes the song "Love Won't Wait", which was abandoned and not used on theBedtime Stories album. Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone later gave it to formerTake That singerGary Barlow.[12] The songs "Let Down Your Guard", co-written with Dallas Austin, originally aB-side song to single "Secret",[13] as well as "Freedom", which was released in 1997 on a charity album titled,Carnival! The Rainforest Foundation, will also be included on the set.[14]
The artwork features previously unseen images from a 1994 photoshoot by Italian fashion and portrait photographerPaolo Roversi. Roversi's photos were used for the 1995 "Bedtime Story" single. Madonna had originally wanted to use photos for the 1994 studio album's packaging but her record label vetoed the idea. "They were going to be pictures for my album cover...but the people at the record company were all too freaked out; they thought the pictures were too blurry, they weren’t going to read well – whatever,” Madonna toldAperture in 1999. A photoshoot with photographerPatrick Demarchelier was conducted and used for the album packaging instead.[15]
On October 9, 2025, Madonna released "Right on Time" as the lead promotional single for the campaign. It charted at 62 on theUK Singles Downloads Chart and 66 on the UK Singles Sales Chart.[16] TheHowie Tee remix of "Human Nature" shortly followed on October 24, 2025.[17] "Love Won't Wait" was released on November 21, 2025, hitting the top of theiTunes charts in many countries.[18] It charted at 44 on theUK Singles Downloads Chart and 47 on the UK Singles Sales Chart.[19]
In the United Kingdom,Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter debuted and peaked at number 95 on the UK Albums Chart Top 100 on December 5, 2025, becoming Madonna's 31st release to enter that chart;[20] additionally, the EP debuted at number 12 on the UK Albums Sales Chart; and debuted in the Top 10 at number 2 on the UK Albums Downloads Chart; and at number 9 on the UK Vinyl Albums Chart.[21]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Slant Magazine |   [22] |
| Classic Pop |  [23] |
Sal Cinquemani fromSlant Magazine described EP as "faithful to the spirit of the original album's sound and surprisingly cohesive, limited to itsR&B-leaning remixes and outtakes". However, he criticized the omission of some songs recorded forBedtime Stories, concluding that "the story of one of her most underrated, nakedly revealing albums still has some loose ends".[22]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Survival" (Quiet Storm Demo Remix) |
|
| 3:03 |
| 2. | "Secret" (Allstar New Single Mix) |
|
| 3:09 |
| 3. | "Right on Time" (Original Demo Edit) |
|
| 2:37 |
| 4. | "Don't Stop" (Original Demo Edit) |
|
| 3:19 |
| 5. | "Freedom" (Short Mix) |
|
| 3:08 |
| 6. | "Human Nature" (Howie Tee New Clean Edit) |
| 3:19 | |
| 7. | "Let Down Your Guard" (Rough Single Mix) |
|
| 3:35 |
| 8. | "Love Won't Wait" (Original Demo Edit) |
|
| 4:54 |
| Total length: | 27:04 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Secret" (Drum Mix) |
|
| 5:12 |
Notes
Credits adapted from the album'sliner notes.
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] | 20 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] | 34 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] | 80 |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU)[28] | 7 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[29] | 102 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[30] | 9 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] | 42 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[32] | 141 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] | 37 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] | 12 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[35] | 95 |
| Studio albums | |
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| Live albums | |
| Compilation albums | |
| Limited releases | |
| Video releases | |
| Concerts and tours | |
| Films directed | |
| Documentaries | |
| Television | |
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| Companies and brands | |
| Works about Madonna |
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| Public image | |
| Related articles | |
