Like a Prayer (album) fights, one of which led to a 60-day prison term, Madonna and Sean Penn filed for divorce. This incident inspired the song "Till Death Do Us Part". The rest of the songs were written within two weeks; with "Like a Prayer", "Cherish" and "Spanish Eyes" being written the first week. According to Leonard, "we wrote a song a day, and we didn't change them. And oftentimes the vocal that she did was the lead vocal, we didn't even change the lead vocal. That was it. She sang it. It was done". Recording artist Prince played the guitar on three songs
Like a Prayer (album) platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipments of 500,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, "Like a Prayer" debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, on April 1, 1989. It remained on this position for two weeks and a total of 72 weeks on the chart. The album was certified four times platinum on February 1, 1995 for shipments of 1,200,000 copies. In France, the album debuted at number one on the French Albums Chart on April 9, 1989, staying there for two weeks, then descending down the chart, having spent a total of thirty-six weeks