How Madonna turned ‘mourning into music’ and ‘hunkered down’ to write No. 1 album after devastating losses

Madonna turned devastating personal losses into one of the most successful albums of her career. “She was really locked in,” a source close to the music icon told Page Six exclusively about the making of “Confessions II,” as she and Stuart Price — who co-produced ‘Confessions II’ and 2005’s ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’ — “really hunkered down in the studio and wrote the album.” In 2024, the singer’s stepmother, Joan Ciccone, died from “very aggressive cancer,” aged 81. Just weeks later, her brother Christopher Ciccone died of cancer at 63. Madonna (seen here in June 2026) is riding high with her new album, “Confessions II.” Aissaoui Nacer / BACKGRID The singer (seen earlier this month at a show in Queens) has promoted the album at dance clubs in New York and London. Matthew Rettenmund /