A recording of late Death mastermind and frontman Chuck Schuldiner covering a Madonna classic has been unearthed for the first time – check it out below.
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Yesterday, the official Death page on Instagram – run by Schuldiner’s nephew Chris Steele – shared a video of a CD playing on a car’s stereo system. On the CD was a never-before-heard cover of Schuldiner’s instrumental cover of Madonna’s 1998 single ‘Frozen’.
The track was played in full in the clip below, and doesn’t feature the Death frontman’s signature gutturals but instead sees him ripping through Madonna’s vocal lines through his guitar and a drum machine.
Steele wrote on social media: “Found this today going through some things. Chuck recorded this in the early stages of his battle with cancer, I remember it well. Chuck sitting in his bedroom with his [B.C. Rich] stealth [guitar] and a drum machine. I’m not sure how many people outside of the family and a few friends have heart this but it’s all yours. Chuck’s version of Madonna’s 1998 single ‘Frozen’”.
Listen to the cover below.
The recording marks one of the rare material that has surfaced from Death’s archives since Chuck’s passing from brain cancer in 2001. He was diagnosed with the illness in 1999. 1998 marked Death’s final album, ‘The Sound Of Perseverance’, which coincided with Madonna releasing ‘Frozen’.
Schuldiner is often credited as the Father of Death Metal, with his band Death serving as pioneers of the genre, releasing their acclaimed debut album ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ in 1987.
Schuldiner was also a member of bands Voodoocult and Control Denied, the latter of whom released their debut album ‘The Fragile Art Of Existence’ in late 1999, marking Chuck’s final official release. While Schuldiner had completed work on Control Denied’s second album in 2000, the album was never released.
As for Madonna, earlier this year she announced her return to Warner Records with a new dance album, ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor Part 2’, scheduled for 2026. It comes almost two decades after the pop icon departed the label, with which she was signed for the first 25 years of her career.
She also recently announced the release of a special ‘Bedtime Stories’ 30th anniversary EP with early demos and rarities. The EP will be released on November 28 (pre-order here) while the original ‘Bedtime Stories’ will also be released on limited-edition silver vinyl.
