Who’s that Girl

Single

Single: Who’s That Girl
Project: Who’s That Girl soundtrack
Single release: June 1987
Soundtrack release: July 1987
Written by: Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Produced by: Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Label: Sire / Warner Bros.

Released as a single in June 1987, ahead of the Who’s That Girl soundtrack album in July, Who’s That Girl extended Madonna’s film-era pop identity with a bright, Latin-flavoured dance track. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, the song was created for the film originally titled Slammer, before Madonna’s track helped give the project its final name. Light, rhythmic and instantly recognisable, it sits close to the atmosphere of La Isla Bonita, but with a more playful, cinematic sense of character and disguise.

Who’s That Girl works as both title song and character sketch, capturing Madonna’s late-1980s fascination with persona, performance and reinvention. It may be lighter than the emotional drama of Live to Tell or the narrative punch of Papa Don’t Preach, but its charm lies in its breezy confidence and sense of movement. As a single, it kept Madonna’s imperial run intact while tying her music, film image and global pop presence into one neat, sunlit package.