Like a Prayer (album) from "Like a Prayer" which incorporated themes such as religion and sexuality. It was a commercial success, reaching the top-ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and the combined European chart. On the "Billboard" Hot 100, "Cherish" became Madonna's 16th consecutive top-five single, setting a record in the history of the chart. Released on October 24, 1989 as the fourth single, "Oh Father" received positive reviews from critics and authors, but commercially was less successful than Madonna's previous singles. In most of the countries where it was released, the song failed to attain top-ten positions,
Like a Prayer (album) Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of three million units. After the advent of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991, the album sold a further 575,000 copies. "Like a Prayer" has sold over 4 million copies in the United States. In Canada, the album debuted at number two on the RPM Albums Chart on May 1, 1989. It remained on that position during four weeks, before dropping to the third position the week of May 29, 1989. The album was present for a total of 37 weeks on the chart, and was certified five times