Like a Prayer (song) the artwork for the 12" version, painted by her brother, Christopher Ciccone. It shows the letters MLVC, standing for Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, with a prominent letter P for Penn, detached from the group. Following the release of "Like a Prayer" on March 3, 1989, it received widespread acclaim from critics, journalists and academics. Taraborrelli commented that the track "deserved every bit of the curiosity it generated. While being devilishly danceable, the song also shows Madonna's uncanny ability to inspire strong, conflicting emotions during the course of a single song, leaving the listener scratching his head for answers—and craving for
Like a Prayer (album) on it. On July, 1989, it was certified Platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipments of 300,000 copies, and once again on 2001, for shipments of 600,000 copies. In the Netherlands, "Like a Prayer" entered the MegaCharts at number four during the week of April 4, 1990. It eventually reached the top position, staying a total of thirty-two weeks on the chart. In Germany, "Like a Prayer" topped the Media Control albums chart for one month, and was later certified there times gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for having shipped over 750,000 copies. The album