Burning Up - Live Performances and Covers

Live Performances and Covers

Before its release, Madonna promoted the single by performing at different clubs around New York. Madonna was a professional performer by that time and was assisted by dancers Erika Belle and Bags Rilez to promote it. After promoting in New York in numerous nightclubs and pubs, she traveled to London to promote it in clubs like Heaven, Camden Palace, Beatroot Club as well as The Haçienda in Manchester. However, those performances were not well received by the British audience. The song was performed on The Virgin Tour in 1985 but was omitted from the Live – The Virgin Tour VHS released by Warner Home Video. The performance ended with the music of "Like a Virgin" starting.Jon Pareles from The New York Times felt that Madonna posed like Marilyn Monroe during the performance of the song. Mikel Longoria from The Dallas Morning News called the performance as "crisp and energetic".

Madonna included the song on the set-list of her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour in the military segment. She was dressed in military garments and played electric guitar for the performance. As she sang the song, the backdrops displayed scenes of war and sex which were scrambled to appear as if they have been shot with a camcorder. Kelefa Sanneh from The New York Times described the performance and the video backdrops as being reminiscent of the prisons in Abu Ghraib. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine commented that "it was a hoot to see her strap on an electric guitar and sing classics like 'Burning Up'."

During Madonna's induction at the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "Burning Up" was performed by the punk rock band The Stooges, along with "Ray of Light". In 2010, Jonathan Groff covered the song for American television show Glee. His version was included in the extended play titled Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna, and it was also released as a bonus track to the iTunes Store. Singer Britney Spears covered "Burning Up" in 2011 during select shows, for her Femme Fatale Tour. The performance featured her straddling a giant, glittering guitar, ten feet high and twice as long. However, Barry Walters from Rolling Stone felt that the cover she sung on the tour, "lacked Madge's authority." studio recording of the cover, described by Sarah Maloy of Billboard as "glammed-up without a hint of the '80s to be found", leaked on June 10, 2011. Lovewave duo Magic Wands premiered a cover of "Burning Up" April 5, 2012 on the blog RCRD LBL.