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Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone; August 16, 1958) is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance. After performing as a member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her self-titled debut album Madonna in 1983 on Sire Records.
A series of hit singles from her studio albums Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986) gained her global recognition, establishing her as a pop icon for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Her recognition was augmented by the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) which widely became seen as a Madonna vehicle, despite her not playing the lead. Expanding on the use of religious imagery with Like a Prayer (1989), Madonna received positive critical reception for her diverse musical productions, while at the same time receiving criticism from religious conservatives and the Vatican. In 1992, Madonna founded the Maverick corporation, a joint venture between herself and Time Warner. The same year, she expanded the use of sexually explicit material in her work, beginning the release of the studio album Erotica, followed by the publishing of the coffee table book Sex, and starring in the erotic thriller Body of Evidence, all of which received negative responses from conservatives and liberals alike.
In 1996, Madonna played the starring role in the film Evita, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy
. Madonna's seventh studio album Ray of Light (1998) became one of her most critically acclaimed, recognized for its lyrical depth. During the 2000s, Madonna released five studio albums, all of which reached top position on the Billboard 200. Departing from Warner Bros. Records, Madonna signed an unprecedented $120 million dollar contract with Live Nation in 2008.
Madonna is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the U.S., with 63 million RIAA-certified albums; she has sold over 200 million albums worldwide. In 2007, Guinness World Records listed her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2008). Considered to be one of the most influential women in contemporary music, Madonna has been known for continually reinventing both her music and image and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry; she is recognized as an influence among numerous music artists.
Biography1958–1981: Early life and beginningsMadonna was born in Bay City, Michigan at 7:05 AM on August 16, 1958, to Madonna Louise (née Fortin), who was of French Canadian descent, and Silvio Ciccone, who was a first-generation Italian American Chrysler/General Motors design engineer, originating from Pacentro, Abruzzo, Italy. Madonna is the third of six children; her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.
Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills). Her mother died of breast cancer at age 30 on December 1, 1963. Then her father married the family's housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and they had two children; Jennifer and Mario Ciccone. Madonna commented on her father's second marriage: "I didn't accept my stepmother when I was growing up ... In retrospect, I think I was really hard on her." She attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Elementary Schools (the latter is now known as Holy Family Regional School), and after that West Middle School. There she became known for her high GPA - and for her "unusual" behavior, particularly a kind of an underwear fetish: Madonna performed cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangled by her knees from the monkey bars during recess, and thought nothing of tugging her skirt up over her desk during class so that all the boys could see her briefs.
Later, she went to Rochester Adams High School, becoming a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad. Madonna received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan after graduating from high school. She wanted to take ballet lessons and convinced her father to allow her to partake the classes. Her ballet teacher persuaded her to pursue a career in dance, so she left the college at the end of 1977 and relocated to New York City. Madonna had little money at that time and hence lived in squalor, working as a waitress in Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes. Of her move to New York, Madonna said, "It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done." While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour,[title=Madonna Biography ] Madonna became romantically involved with the musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club, in New York. She sang and played drums and guitar for the band and lived in a converted synagogue in Corona, Queens. However, she departed from them and formed another band called Emmy in 1980, with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray.[work=Rolling Stone] She and Bray wrote and produced dance songs that brought her to local attention in the New York dance clubs. DJ and record producer Mark Kamins was impressed by her demo recordings, so he brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.[Taraborrelli, p. 43]
1982–85: Madonna, Like a Virgin and marriage to Sean PennMadonna signed a singles deal with Sire Records, a label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her first release was "Everybody" on April 24, 1982.[last=Holden ] Her debut album, Madonna was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas. At the same time, she became involved with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, living with him for a time in his loft, and visiting Los Angeles over December 82-January 83. She left the artist soon after, over his drug use and late hours, and took up with musician John "Jellybean" Benitez, while developing the album.
Slowly Madonna's look and manner of dress, performances and music videos, became influential among young girls and women. Largely created by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol, Madonna's style of dress; defined by lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the Christian cross, multiple bracelets, and bleached hair, became a female fashion trend in the 1980s. Her follow up album, Like a Virgin (1984), became her first number one album on the Billboard 200. Its commercial performance was buoyed by the success of its title track, "Like a Virgin," which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks.[ The album sold approximately twelve million copies worldwide, eight of them in the United States alone. She performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards, wearing her then-trademark "Boy Toy" belt.][ first = Nate] The performance is considered as one of the iconic moments in the history of MTV,
The next year, Madonna entered mainstream films beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest. Its soundtrack contained her second US number-one single "Crazy for You".[title=Artist Chart History - Madonna] She also appeared in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan, a film which introduced the song "Into the Groove," her first number-one single in the United Kingdom.[work=BBC News] Although not the lead actress for the film, her profile was such that the movie widely became seen (and marketed) as a Madonna vehicle[publisher=Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, University of Michigan]. The film received a nomination for a César Award for Best Foreign Film, and The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby named the film as one of the 10 best films of 1985., with the lead Rosanna Arquette receiving a supporting actress BAFTA for her role. While filming the music video for "Material Girl" Madonna started dating actor Sean Penn and married him on her twenty-seventh birthday that year.[title=Crazy for Madonna's Men ] a model and porn star who starred in her music videos for "Cherish" and "Justify My Love". She also had an eight-month relationship with rapper Vanilla Ice.[title=Madonna's 25 Most Popular Songs]
1992–1996: Maverick, release of Sex, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and EvitaIn 1992, Madonna founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and also music publishing, television, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. The deal was a joint venture with Time Warner as part of $60 million worth of recordings and businesses. The deal gave her a twenty percent royalty, equal at the time to Michael Jackson's.[last= Kirschling] At the same time she released her fifth studio album Erotica. It peaked at number two in the United States.
Her provocative imagery continued with the erotic thrillers Body of Evidence and Dangerous Game. The first film contained scenes of S&M and bondage hence was poorly received by critics. Dangerous Game was released straight-to-video in North America but received some good reviews for Madonna's performance. The New York Times described that "She submits impressively to the emotions raging furiously around her." Madonna embarked on The Girlie Show World Tour at the end of 1993. It featured her dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix, surrounded by topless dancers. The show faced negative reaction in Puerto Rico when she rubbed its flag between her legs on stage. Orthodox Jews protested against her first ever show in Israel.
in the past 10 years she has sold over 80 million albums..and slept with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry," Madonna
subsequently repeatedly used four-letter words and asked Letterman to smell a pair of her underwear she handed him. The release of Truth or Dare, Sex book, Erotica, Body of Evidence and the appearance on Letterman - all of them made critics question Madonna as a sexual renegade. She faced strong negative publicity with critics and fans commenting that "she had gone too far" and that her career was to be over.
Madonna tried to tone down this provocative image by releasing the single "I'll Remember", which she recorded for Alek Keshishian's film With Honors. She made a tame appearance with Letterman at an awards show, as well as appearing on the Jay Leno show. However, the public still did not accept her. It was then that she realized her music career needed some dramatic changes in order to sustain herself in the long run. With her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories Madonna tried to soften her image and reconnect with the general public once more. The album produced four singles— "Secret", "Take a Bow" which spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100,[title=allmusic ((( Madonna > Overview )))] At the same time she became romantically involved with fitness trainer Carlos Leon. Continuing to tone down her image, Madonna released Something to Remember, a collection of her ballads, in May 1995. It featured her cover of the Marvin Gaye song "I Want You" and the top ten hit song "You'll See".[title=allmusic ((( Something to Remember > Overview )))][title=Fashion Timeline - Madonna] She portrayed the
1997–2002: Ray of Light, Music, second marriage and Drowned World Tour
After Lourdes' birth Madonna became involved in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah. Her seventh studio album Ray of Light reflected this change in her perception and image. The album debuted at number two in the United States.[title=allmusic ((( Ray of Light > Overview )))] The album produced two US top five singles: "Frozen", which reached number two and "Ray of Light", which reached five.[first=Paul] Madonna followed the success of Ray of Light with the single "Beautiful Stranger", recorded for the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's soundtrack. It reached number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
Madonna starred in the movie The Next Best Thing in 2000. She contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack, "Time Stood Still" and the international hit "American Pie", a cover version of the 1970s Don McLean single. Madonna's eighth studio album, Music, was released in 2000 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. It produced three singles; "Music", which became Madonna's twelfth number one US single as well as "Don't Tell Me" and "What It Feels Like for a Girl". The latter's music video depicted Madonna committing murders and accidents with cars and was banned by MTV and VH1 from airing. The same year Madonna became involved in a relationship with Guy Ritchie, whom she had met in 1999 through mutual friends Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler. On August 11, 2000, she gave birth to their son, Rocco. Later that year, Madonna and Ritchie married in Scotland.
Her fifth concert tour titled the Drowned World Tour, her first since 1993, started in May 2001.[title=allmusic ((( GHV2 > Overview )))] Madonna also starred in the film Swept Away directed by her husband Guy Ritchie. It was released in 2002. The film was a commercial and critical failure and released straight-to-video in the United Kingdom. Later that year, she released the title song "Die Another Day" to the twentieth James Bond film, in which she had a cameo role. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated both for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Song.
2003–06: American Life, Confessions on a Dance Floor and adoption case
Madonna collaborated with fashion photographer Steven Klein in 2003 on an exhibition installation named X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS. It included photography from a photoshoot in W Magazine and seven video segments. The installation ran from March to May, in New York's Deitch Projects gallery. It then traveled the world in an edited form. Madonna released her ninth studio album called American Life. It was themed on the American society and received mixed reviews. The title song peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100.
The next year in March, Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company, Time Warner, claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, Warner filed a countersuit, alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own.[last= ] The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev were purchased. The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract.[ Later that year, Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention World Tour in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It became the highest-grossing tour of 2004, earning $125 million. She made a documentary about the tour named ''I'm Going to Tell You a Secret. That same year, Rolling Stone'' ranked her number thirty-six on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". During the 2004 presidential election, Madonna endorsed Wesley Clark's Democratic nomination.][title=Madonna Urges Others to Support Clark]
She participated in the televised concert "Tsunami Aid" and performed a cover version of the John Lennon song "Imagine". The concert, which took place on January 2005, raised money for the tsunami victims in Asia. The same year, Madonna performed at the Live 8 benefit concert in London in July, supporting the aims of Britain's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty. Her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor was released in November and has sold more than eight million copies. The album debuted at number one in all major music markets and won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Following the mixed reviews of her previous studio album, Confessions received positive reviews with critics claiming it as a return to commercial prominence for her. However, Israeli rabbis condemned the song "Isaac" from the album because they believed it was a tribute to Rabbi Isaac Luria and claimed that Jewish law forbid commercializing a rabbi's name. Madonna claimed that she had named it after an Israeli singer and said, "The album isn't even out, so how could Jewish scholars in Israel know what my song is about?" The first single from the album, "Hung Up" went on to reach number-one in a record breaking forty-five countries. "Sorry", the second single became Madonna's twelfth number one in the United Kingdom.
By mid-2006, fashion clothing line H&M had signed Madonna to become their worldwide model. The next year, the clothing line M by Madonna was launched internationally.
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