He called it "one of her best songs in a long time". Stern preferred the leaked demo over the final original version. "Rolling Stone"s Caryn Grant wrote that "the album is at its strongest when Madonna shoves everyone to the side and just tells it to us straight. So it's fitting that she wraps up the deluxe edition with the title track [...] Deep down, she does have a rebel heart — and you can't fault her for reminding us that pop music is all the better for it". Of the leaked demo, Daniel Welsh from "The Huffington Post", wrote that "it's taken the best parts of Avicii's sound and blended them with Madonna, rather than giving us an ear-assaulting "Avicii feat. Madonna" number about 'putting your drinks up' and 'getting down on the floor'". "Spin" said it was the singer's "sweetest melody since 'What It Feels Like for a Girl', with her register dropped an octave or two until it resembles the Liz Phair of 2005's (underrated) "Somebody's Miracle"". "Q" magazine called it a "movingly autobiographical title track, where Madonna reflects at length on her career and her motivation. It makes you wonder what she thinks she has to prove in 2015 with a song like 'Bitch I'm Madonna' when she proved it all and we’ve been paying attention for years". In 2018, "Billboard" picked it as the singer's 72nd greatest song, calling it "a sentimental sing-along that looks back on her bumpy road to stardom, adding some shrugged-off self-awareness ("I spent some time as a narcissist...trying to be so provocative/ I said, 'Oh yeah, that was me'") to keep things from getting too schmaltzy". The song was included on the setlist of the Rebel Heart Tour (2015–2016). It closed the show's third segment and featured Madonna, dressed in a gypsy inspired dress created by Alessandro Michele for Gucci, consisting off a shawl, flamenco hat, lace, skirts and jacquard bodysuit, playing the acoustic guitar while the backdrop screens depicted a morph of fan art depicting many images of the singer throughout time. Madonna had previously launched an online contest calling her fans to submit their art for a digital gallery; those chosen winners would have their work displayed as backdrops during the tour.