"The Immaculate Collection" is the first greatest hits album by American singer Madonna, released on November 13, 1990, by Sire Records. The album features fifteen of her hit singles recorded throughout the 1980s, along with two new tracks, "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me." All the previously released material was reworked using QSound audio technology, making the album the first ever to use this technology. Madonna worked with Lenny Kravitz and Shep Pettibone on the new material. The title of the album is a pun on the Immaculate Conception, a Marian dogma of the Catholic Church.
The release of the album was accompanied by a same-titled home video release, an EP called The Holiday Collection, and a box set titled The Royal Box. "Justify My Love" was the lead single, and its music video, which featured overtly sexual imagery, became controversial and was banned by MTV. However, the video was released on VHS and became the best-selling video single of all time. The song also became Madonna's ninth number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Rescue Me," debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest debut on the chart since the Beatles' "Let It Be" (1970), and later peaked at number nine.
The Immaculate Collection received universal acclaim from critics, who hailed it as a defining retrospective of 1980s music. The album peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and reached number one in countries like Argentina, Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It was certified elevenfold platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it Madonna's second diamond-certified album in the United States. The album has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist and one of the best-selling albums of all time. It has appeared on numerous all-time critic lists, including one by Blender, which named it the greatest American album of all time.
By the end of the 1980s, Madonna had become the most successful female singles artist in history, with the most number-one and top-ten hit songs by a woman in both the United States and the United Kingdom. According to J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of Madonna: An Intimate Biography, a greatest hits album had been long expected and was seen as a "proud landmark" of Madonna’s career. After completing the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, Madonna began preparing the project, aiming for a release by the Christmas season. In October 1990, Billboard confirmed that she was working on new material with Shep Pettibone and Lenny Kravitz.
The Immaculate Collection includes fifteen previously released singles, from "Holiday" (1983) to "Vogue" (1990). All of them were reworked using QSound, a new technology that provides a three-dimensional sound effect on standard stereo systems. This made it the first album to utilize QSound. Some of the songs were edited to shorten their overall length, and minor alterations were made. For example, "Material Girl" features a new outro in place of the original fade-out. Pettibone also remixed tracks like "Into the Groove," "Like a Prayer," and "Express Yourself," which featured new production elements. Pettibone explained that most of the songs were kept in their original form, but he added QSound effects to create a more immersive listening experience.
Two new songs were recorded for the album to generate public interest: "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me." "Justify My Love" is a trip-hop song with Madonna's spoken-word vocals over a sparse, grinding hip hop groove. The song was initially written by Ingrid Chavez, who was having an affair with Lenny Kravitz at the time. After their relationship ended, Kravitz took a master copy of the song to Virgin Records, which eventually led to its release by Madonna. Chavez later sued Kravitz in 1992 and received a co-writing credit after an out-of-court settlement. "Rescue Me" is a dance-pop and gospel-house track written and produced by Madonna and Pettibone. The song deals with themes of emotional turmoil in relationships and features spoken-word verses similar to those on "Justify My Love." A Dolby Atmos mix of The Immaculate Collection was released in May 2023 via Apple Music.
The album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve without featuring Madonna's image on the cover. Instead, the inner sleeves featured a short-haired, brunette Madonna alongside the lyrics to the two new tracks. The black-and-white images in the booklet, shot by photographer Herb Ritts, had previously appeared in the June 1990 issue of Interview magazine. Madonna continued to reference Catholicism in the album’s booklet, dedicating it to "The Pope, my divine inspiration." Many assumed this referred to Pope John Paul II, but it was actually a reference to her brother, Christopher Ciccone, who had toured with Madonna during the Blond Ambition World Tour and whose nickname was "The Pope." The album’s title was a pun on the Immaculate Conception, and its colors of blue and gold resonated with traditional representations of the Virgin Mary.
The album was originally going to be titled Ultra Madonna, but the name was changed because it was too similar to the name of a new artist, Ultra Naté. In Japan, the album was marketed with the title Ultra Madonna: Greatest Hits.
The Immaculate Collection was released on November 13, 1990, by Sire Records. A home video, also titled The Immaculate Collection, was released alongside it, featuring thirteen music videos, including the live performance of "Vogue" from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. A box set called The Royal Box was issued on December 4, 1990, containing the album, the VHS, a poster, and postcards. An EP called The Holiday Collection was released in Europe with the same design as The Immaculate Collection and included the full-length version of "Holiday," as well as three hits—"True Blue," "Who's That Girl," and "Causing a Commotion"—that were omitted from the album.
"Justify My Love" was released as the lead single on November 6, 1990. The song became Madonna's ninth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted in the top ten in many other countries. The music video, known for its sexually explicit content, was banned by MTV but was released on VHS, where it became the highest-selling video single of all time. Liz Smith of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune noted that the controversy surrounding the video only helped generate more interest in the album.
"Rescue Me" started receiving radio airplay before being released as a single, and debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the highest debut since the Beatles' "Let It Be" in 1970. The song eventually peaked at number nine on the chart and reached number three on the European Hot 100 Singles chart.
Additionally, "Crazy for You" was re-released as a single in the UK, where it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. "Holiday" was also re-released in the UK on May 27, 1991, and reached number five on the chart.
