Madonna pays emotional tribute to William Orbit: “You were my Ray of Light”

“I had an epiphany when I met you and started working with you,” Madonna wrote. “I realized that music did not have to fit into categories or genres. So we created our own. You pressed a magic button inside of me and I fell into a galaxy of unrealized dreams. Your music gave me a magic carpet to fly on and I visited many places. Sad and Joyful. I sang in ways I’d never sung before.”

She continued: “In many ways you were my Ray of Light, as was my daughter Lola who was born around this time. I was starting a new chapter, I was choosing another road to walk down, and you were right by my side with your crooked teeth and your genius way of hearing music. The studio was often church like and I would sit in silence, waiting for your ideas to explode out of your keyboard or your guitar and then I would run with them.”

“I miss those days. Only you could inspire me to write a song like ‘Drowned World’ or ‘Swim’. You were so otherworldly. So singular. The years passed and I moved on to make music with other people, but I have never forgotten you or the magical time we spent together. Goodbye Billy Bubbles. I was so lucky to have known you and fallen down the rabbit hole with you.”

The Ray of Light album redefined Madonna’s sonic identity, moving her into electronica-inflected territory that shaped a generation of pop artists. It also won four Grammys and remains one of the defining records of the late 1990s. Orbit’s fingerprints are all over its glassy synth textures and hypnotic grooves. Watch the tribute post via Madonna on Instagram and explore more Madonna coverage.