However, after a flurry of unexpected album content leaks, Madonna released Rebel Heart for pre-order on the iTunes Store on December 20, 2014, with six songs made available immediately for download.

It reached number one in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, and Switzerland.

[9] On the French radio station NRJ, she explained that Rebel Heart could be both autobiographical and fictional, since she mixed both her own experiences with imaginary narratives while writing the songs.

"[G]enuine statements of personal and careerist reflection [are] scattered among the posturing of 'Bitch I'm Madonna' and 'Unapologetic Bitch'" according to Slant Magazine's Sam C. Mac as well as her "obsessive self-regard".

[30] Madonna explained to Jon Pareles of The New York Times that, although she has never looked back at her past endeavors, reminiscing about it felt right for Rebel Heart.

[34] Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald found the album continued Madonna's "increasingly interesting, innovative approach" by combining contemporary musical styles with her previous tastes.

While MDNA was marred by its cold mechanized vocals and clichéd songwriting, Rebel Heart portrays Madonna's musical abilities and as a lyricist "who ponders sin along with romance and fame.

[26][39] According to Dean Piper of The Daily Telegraph, the song has "some classic Madonna traits: religious references, a gospel choir, '90s piano beats and a whirling bass".

[40][42] Produced by Madonna with Falk, Avicii, DJ Dahi, and Blood Diamonds, "Devil Pray" starts with gentle guitar sounds which build up to an electropop production, accompanied by a house beat.

[9][26] Written with Jason Evigan, Evan Bogart, and Sean Douglas, it is a power ballad song, which Madonna sings in "piercing" and "warm" vocals like those of Karen Carpenter; the production is comparable to her 1986 single, "Live to Tell".

[26] "Hold Tight" consists of an "arresting" chorus and a drum beat sound, described by Sam C. Mac of Slant Magazine as: "innocuous, lyrically platitudinous pop that briefly works itself up into something exciting when it threatens to become a gospelized stomp.

[42] Madonna's hushed, vibrato-tinged vocals, and confessional lyrics on "Joan of Arc", are enhanced by a new beat instrumentation that utilizes strings and acoustic guitars in the bridge.

[49][50] The deluxe version of Rebel Heart continues with the track "Best Night", an '80s electro composition reminiscent of Sade's songs with drums and Indian flute instrumentation.

Amy Pettifer of The Quietus noted, "'Rebel Heart' quietly [acknowledges Madonna's] part in building the scene and popularizing stylistics that are the foundation of current trends.

"[49] The super deluxe version presents tracks like "Graffiti Heart", where Madonna drew inspiration from artists, such as her former boyfriend Jean-Michel Basquiat and friend Keith Haring, evoking the power of art in gaining freedom.

[9] Referring to the Sony Pictures hack, she was critical of the Internet and explained that the incident led to her securing her laptop and hard drives, and disabling the Wi-Fi.

[80] The cover art, featuring Madonna's face inter-crossed with black wires, became popular on social media resulting in numerous memes being created on Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter.

Fans wound black wires across their faces imitating the cover, and created memes using the images of celebrities, including Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Jim Carrey, and Marlon Brando.

[84] Rebel Heart became the singer's fourth studio album to bear the Parental Advisory label after Erotica (1992), American Life (2003) and MDNA, due to the profanity and sexual references in tracks such as "Holy Water".

[88] The singer performed "Living for Love" wearing a one-piece, matador red outfit, surrounded by male dancers dressed as minotaurs similar to the song's music video.

[111] On March 29, 2015, Madonna performed "Ghosttown" at the 2nd iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, where singer Taylor Swift joined her on stage playing guitar.

[123] The video's main theme was "an apocalyptic situation mimicking the end of the world", showing the singer and Howard as the sole survivors in a destroyed city.

[151] The Daily Telegraph writer Neil McCormick, Andy Gill of The Independent, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, and Lauren Murphy of The Irish Times each gave the album 4 out of 5 stars.

"[50] Writing for The Quietus, Amy Pettifer praised the album, describing it as: "a darker return to the club culture roots [for Madonna], and it seems—on some level—to face up to the missteps of her more recent releases.

[155] Writing for The Boston Globe, James Reed opined that the album was a, "welcome detour in the artist's recent discography... her most satisfying effort in a decade and nimbly connects the dots between Madonna's various eras and guises.

[54] Levy wrote that the album was "subtle" compared to "current standards", adding that: "These songs unfold slowly, building through foreplay-like intros before hooks are displayed over a shifting series of textures".

Despite naming it "closer to the Madonna that earned her Queen of Pop title", Shrewsbury concluded that Rebel Heart "still has a lot of flaws [...] [it] struggles to keep cohesion and a creative direction".

[193] Rebel Heart also debuted at number one on record charts in: Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, as well as in the top ten in the rest of Europe.

[206] Similarly, in its year end review, Spin magazine listed the album at number 21 as Andrew Unterberger noted that: "For most artists who spent whole decades defining the mainstream, titling an album Rebel Heart would seem misguided at best, but for Madonna, it's truer now than ever: A fifty-something refusing to bend to public demands about how she should age gracefully... is as big an act of defiance as you can stage in contemporary pop music.

"[207] AllMusic called Rebel Heart one of their Favorite Pop Albums of 2015, describing it as: "Bold, messy, and life-affirming record that finds Madonna simultaneously looking forward and back.