Madonna criticised for posing nude at 56

Madonna featured on the cover of Interview magazine.

She's never been one to shy away from a candid interview or photo shoot.

And Madonna has stayed true to form with her latest chat and revealing set of editorial images in Interview magazine.

The 56-year-old pop icon has yet again crossed boundaries in the issue, with one of the more risqué shots fully showing her bare breasts.

The striking images, taken for the publication by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, show the singer contorting her body into various positions in boudoir-style underwear, basques and other sexually suggestive garments by Alexander McQueen.

Fellow songstress Annie Lennox has questioned Madonna's motivation for doing the risqué shoot.

Although Annie, 59, has no issue with women wanting to show off their bodies, she isn't sure about the message Madonna is trying to make other than to shock.

Speaking on Loose Women, she said: "I did get things off occasionally but not to that extent. I don't think it's down to me (to judge Madonna)...

"I think already the verdict is probably out, would you not agree on that one? I think the question is, 'What is Madonna telling us? Anybody know?'"

Panelist Janet Street Porter interjected, by saying: "I think it's attention seeking."

Speaking to interviewer David Blaine for Interview's 'Art issue', the outspoken star discussed her views on drug use, admitting that it's often a spiritual thing for people.

"It's about how people take drugs to connect to God or to a higher level of consciousness," she said.

"I keep saying, 'Plugging into the matrix.' If you get high, you can do that, which is why a lot of people drop acid or do drugs, because they want to get closer to God.

Madonna on the cover of Interview magazine.

"But there's going to be a short circuit, and that's the illusion of drugs, because they give you the illusion of getting closer to God, but ultimately they kill you."

She added that she herself had dabbled over the years: "I mean, I tried everything once, but as soon as I was high, I spent my time drinking tons of water to get it out of my system.

"As soon as I was high, I was obsessed with flushing it out of me. I was like, 'Okay, I'm done now'."

Madonna also told her famous interviewer about her deep connections to the concept of mortality.

"I became very obsessed with death, and the idea that you never know when death will arrive, so one has to do as much as possible all the time to get the most out of life," she admitted.

Her honest admissions coincide with the high-end photo shoot, which portray Madonna as a provocative woman, at one with her body and sexuality.

And it's not the first time she's proudly displayed her figure: the Like A Virgin hitmaker has allowed herself to be photographed topless - and even in the nude - before.

Madonna famously posed for several nude photos for Herman Kulkens back in 1977 at the age of 18, and the images later were at the centre of a legal battle in 1985 when both Penthouse and Playboy attempted to print them

She also posed naked for three photographers between 1978 and 1980.

- Daily Mail