"Girl Gone Wild" is a song by American recording artist Madonna from her twelfth studio album, MDNA (2012). She co-wrote the song with Benny Benassi, his cousin Alle Benassi (known together as the Benassi Bros.), and songwriter Jenson Vaughan, while the Benassi Bros. co-produced the track with Madonna. Vaughan had worked on the lyrics before sending them to Madonna, who developed the demo into the final version of "Girl Gone Wild". The song was confirmed by Madonna as the second single from the album and was released on March 2, 2012, by Interscope Records.
Musically, "Girl Gone Wild" is a mid-tempo electropop, dance, Euro disco, electro, Euro house and techno party track with a four-on-the-floor influence. The song opens with a prayer and features EDM elements. After the song was released, Joe Francis, the creator of Girls Gone Wild franchise, threatened to sue Madonna for copyright infringement if she sang the song during her performance at Super Bowl XLVI halftime show. Madonna's representatives stated that she was not aware of either Francis or the lawsuit, and that several songs with the same name had already been released by other artists.
The song received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its composition as a return to dance music for Madonna, but criticized its lyrics and believed it failed as album opener on MDNA. "Girl Gone Wild" reached the top-ten of the charts in Hungary, Israel, Italy, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Spain, along with the Billboard digital charts in Greece. It debuted and peaked at number 38 on US Pop Songs due to radio airplay. It also became Madonna's 42nd number-one hit on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
A black-and-white music video for the song, directed by Mert and Marcus, was released on March 20, 2012. The video features Madonna and a number of male models in different looks, dancing with Ukrainian group Kazaky. It received critical acclaim for the editing and the visuals, while reviewers noted that it took inspiration from Madonna's older videos, such as "Erotica", "Justify My Love", "Human Nature" and "Vogue". "Girl Gone Wild" was performed as the opening song during The MDNA Tour (2012), in a Gothic cathedral setting showing religious iconography, and Madonna and her dancers executing choreography in high-heels.
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