Madonna, the singing diva that has been ruling the music scene more than two decades now is truly the "Queen of Pop" as dubbed by media. An American singer-songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer and actress is also known as "one of the greatest pop acts of all time". With her blithe and magnetic persona she has been able to stir the whole music industry on those dainty fingers of her. Since her debut as a solo artist in 1983, she has successfully delivered chartbusting albums and rocking songs. In fact, starting this millennium, almost after twenty years her debut, she produced four consecutive hit albums being Music (2000) American Life (2003) Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008). This charismatic lady besides spreading her magic over whole world has also enraptured the attention of movie goers and is the recipient of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone on born August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan to Madonna Louise who was of French-Canadian descent and Silvio "Tony" P. Ciccone who was a first-generation Italian-American working as Chrysler/General Motors design engineer. She was the third among her six siblings. Her mother died of breast cancer when Madonna was 5 years old. Her father later remarried their housemaid, and had two children, Jennifer and Mario. She did her schooling from St. Frederick's Elementary School, St. Andrew's Elementary School (present day Holy Family Regional) and West Middle School and Rochester Adams High School where she was famous for her straight- A streak with a contrasting interest in cheerleading. Madonna received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan after graduating from high school.
But destiny had something else in mind for her. Upon persuasion by a teacher that Madonna should try her luck in New York, she shifted base. She had to struggle a lot initially, working in dance troupes, taking small jobs. It was there only that she met musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club in New York
With the success of this rock band, she went on to form band Emmy in 1980 with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray. That brought her local attention in New York dance clubs. In fact, Disc jockey and record producer Mark Kamins who got impressed by her demo recordings brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein by this only.
Career in Music
Madonna debuted with hit single “Everybody" in 1982, after signing a deal with Sire Records, a new wave label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her debut album, Madonna, a collection of dance songs, was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas, who had also produced for several R&B singers including Stephanie Mills. But she wasn’t satisfied with the finished product and sought the help of her then boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez, who remixed the album for her adding one more song, to it. The album became an instant hit.
On the flip side, Madonna’s wardrobe was becoming a style statement being copied by young girls worldwide. Her next album, Like a Virgin, topped the Billboard charts with the single of the same name becoming number one everywhere.
1985 saw her entering mainstream movies with appearances in movies like Vision Quest and Desperately Seeking Susan both of which included hit numbers from her previous albums such as "Crazy for You”, "Into the Groove” respectively. The year also brought her the chance of her very first concert tour in the U.S. titled The Virgin Tour, with The Beastie Boys. Madonna's studio album Like a Virgin (1984) was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the Definitive 200 Albums of All Time. She was also engulfed in a controversy regarding Penthouse and Playboy publishing her nude photos taken in 1970s.
True blue, Madonna’s 1986 released album contained "Live to Tell” (featured in movie, At Close Range), “Open Your Heart”. Incidentally, this album also credited her with the bill of producer and her creativity through art direction and cinematography. Madonna starred in Who's That Girl, and contributed four songs to its soundtrack, including the film's title track. She later divulged on the Who's That Girl World Tour, which was the highest grossing concert tour of that time. Later that year, she released a remixed album of her old songs featuring just one new one titled, You Can Dance.
Madonna's fourth album, Like a Prayer, released in 1989, was co-written and co-produced with Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray where she collaborated with Prince on a duet. The album was rated as “her best and most consistent” by All Music Guide. Her knack for running into controversy didn’t leave her here also. A commercial shoot for Pepsi with the same song video as of that for “Like a Prayer” went haywire with the video feigning the sentiments of many hurt Catholics.
By 1990, she was ready to star as Breathless Mahoney in a film adaptation of the comic book series Dick Tracy for which promotion she released her next album, I'm Breathless that included Academy Award-winning song "Sooner or Later”. The album became a success with selling over 7 million copies worldwide. It was followed by Blond Ambition World Tour, which again brought her into the heart of controversy regarding her overtly sexual image.
In the November of same year, Madonna came out with first greatest hits compilation album, The Immaculate Collection, which included two new songs: “Justify My Love” and “Rescue Me.” In fact the latter became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in U.S. chart history. Her first documentary movie, Truth or Dare which chronicled her successful 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, as well as her personal life came out in 1991 followed closely by A League of Their Own, a movie for which she recorded the hit theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground”.
Soon by 1992, she found her own entertainment company in a joint venture with Time Warner called Maverick, consisting of a record company; Maverick Records, a film production company; Maverick Films and also music publishing, television, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. Their first venture was a book titled SEX, consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images photographed by Steven Meisel which caused a huge controversy but became a hit nonetheless. Side by side she released her fifth album, Erotica, featuring three sexual songs — "Erotica", "Where Life Begins", and "Did You Do It?” cashing in on the SEX controversy. The album as expected became one of the greatest hits with entering Hot 100 Airplay chart at #2.
In 1993, she starred in two movies, Body of Evidence and Dangerous Game, the first production of Maverick films. At the end of the year she embarked on her The Girlie Show World Tour. Her second publication, The Girlie Show came out with home music video, The Girlie Show - Live Down Under in 1994.
Her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories also released in 1994 was more of R&B-flavored sound and brought her the Grammy Award nomination in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. In fact, her hit single, “Take a Bow" was a success on the Billboard Hot 100, staying #1 for seven consecutive weeks, becoming one of her biggest hits in the United States.
In 1995, she released Something to Remember, a collection of her best ballads with three new tracks. The album peaked at #6 on the U.S. charts. She also did cameos in movies like Four Rooms and comedy Blue In The Face. But the most rewarding moment of life came in the form of Evita (1996), a highly acclaimed movie by critics where she played the title role with an ease and won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. The movie’s soundtrack featuring the song “You Must Love Me” won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture.
Two years later she released her new studio album titled Ray of Light that debuted at #2 on the U.S. albums chart. It was well received by industry people as well as music lovers. Barring a controversy regarding “Frozen" song which was adjudicated to be a plagiarism of Belgian songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva's 1993 song "Ma Vie Fout L'camp”, the album managed to win three Grammy awards in 1999. The same year she recorded for the hit movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
In 2001, she starred in a music video "What It Feels Like for a Girl” and an internet commercial, Star, for car manufacturer BMW, both of whom were directed by her then husband Guy Ritchie. Later in 2002, she worked again in her husband directed Swept Away which bombed at the box office. Her promotional song for the bond movie, ‘Die Another Day’, was nominated for a Golden Globe for the best original score. Incidentally, she had a cameo too in the movie.
Her ninth album i.e. American Life, released in 2003 earned mixed reviews making her the lowest selling album of her entire career. Later that year, Madonna performed the song "Hollywood" with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott at the MTV Video Music Awards whereupon kissing Spears and Aguilera spurred major controversy.
In 2003, Madonna compiled the remixed EP called Remixed & Revisited. She separated ways with the Warner bros, over bookkeeping methods but still continued working with them under separate contract. With Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., Canada, and Europe becoming a huge success, she released a documentary about it named I'm Going to Tell You a Secret. 2005, saw her performing at various fund raising concerts including the "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope”.
Her tenth studio album, the Grammy-winning Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) sold more than 8 million copies and presented a continuous mix of dance songs, with musical elements borrowed from the '70s, and current dance music. In the middle of the year, her hold over the masses again came out in the form of a clothing line dedicated top her being M by Madonna. The same year she successfully completed her Confessions tour which again involved the bible crucifix controversy.
On May 16, 2007, Madonna released the download-only song "Hey You", in anticipation of the coming Live Earth, which was free for its first week. Madonna performed "Hey You" amongst other songs at the London concert of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium on July 7.
She also ventured into directed with Filth and Wisdom and helped producing I Am Because We Are, a documentary on the problems and difficulties faced by people in Malawi which was premiered at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. 2008 also became the year for her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy which just released in April and contains collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Danja.
Marking her seventh world tour, Madonna, on August 20, 2008, will begin the Sticky & Sweet Tour in Zurich, Switzerland at the Dubenhof Festival Site.
After a brief stint of failed marriages and relationships including one with Tony Ward, a young bisexual model and porn star who starred in her music videos for "Cherish" (1989) and "Justify My Love" (1990), she is currently married to Guy Ritchie ( December 22, 2000) with three children. She adopted David Banda (renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie) when she flew to Malawi to help build an orphanage. This brought her again under the public eye, with comments on special treatment being given to Madonna during adoption process because of her celebrity status. A disciple at Kabaalah Centre, she has always been the paparaazi’s favorite child, all credit to her flamboyant and rebellious attitude. Nonetheless, maybe this is the reason she has been ruling the charts for so long now and is adored by ardent fans worldwide.
Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone on born August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan to Madonna Louise who was of French-Canadian descent and Silvio "Tony" P. Ciccone who was a first-generation Italian-American working as Chrysler/General Motors design engineer. She was the third among her six siblings. Her mother died of breast cancer when Madonna was 5 years old. Her father later remarried their housemaid, and had two children, Jennifer and Mario. She did her schooling from St. Frederick's Elementary School, St. Andrew's Elementary School (present day Holy Family Regional) and West Middle School and Rochester Adams High School where she was famous for her straight- A streak with a contrasting interest in cheerleading. Madonna received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan after graduating from high school.
But destiny had something else in mind for her. Upon persuasion by a teacher that Madonna should try her luck in New York, she shifted base. She had to struggle a lot initially, working in dance troupes, taking small jobs. It was there only that she met musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club in New York
With the success of this rock band, she went on to form band Emmy in 1980 with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray. That brought her local attention in New York dance clubs. In fact, Disc jockey and record producer Mark Kamins who got impressed by her demo recordings brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein by this only.
Career in Music
Madonna debuted with hit single “Everybody" in 1982, after signing a deal with Sire Records, a new wave label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her debut album, Madonna, a collection of dance songs, was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas, who had also produced for several R&B singers including Stephanie Mills. But she wasn’t satisfied with the finished product and sought the help of her then boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez, who remixed the album for her adding one more song, to it. The album became an instant hit.
On the flip side, Madonna’s wardrobe was becoming a style statement being copied by young girls worldwide. Her next album, Like a Virgin, topped the Billboard charts with the single of the same name becoming number one everywhere.
1985 saw her entering mainstream movies with appearances in movies like Vision Quest and Desperately Seeking Susan both of which included hit numbers from her previous albums such as "Crazy for You”, "Into the Groove” respectively. The year also brought her the chance of her very first concert tour in the U.S. titled The Virgin Tour, with The Beastie Boys. Madonna's studio album Like a Virgin (1984) was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the Definitive 200 Albums of All Time. She was also engulfed in a controversy regarding Penthouse and Playboy publishing her nude photos taken in 1970s.
True blue, Madonna’s 1986 released album contained "Live to Tell” (featured in movie, At Close Range), “Open Your Heart”. Incidentally, this album also credited her with the bill of producer and her creativity through art direction and cinematography. Madonna starred in Who's That Girl, and contributed four songs to its soundtrack, including the film's title track. She later divulged on the Who's That Girl World Tour, which was the highest grossing concert tour of that time. Later that year, she released a remixed album of her old songs featuring just one new one titled, You Can Dance.
Madonna's fourth album, Like a Prayer, released in 1989, was co-written and co-produced with Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray where she collaborated with Prince on a duet. The album was rated as “her best and most consistent” by All Music Guide. Her knack for running into controversy didn’t leave her here also. A commercial shoot for Pepsi with the same song video as of that for “Like a Prayer” went haywire with the video feigning the sentiments of many hurt Catholics.
By 1990, she was ready to star as Breathless Mahoney in a film adaptation of the comic book series Dick Tracy for which promotion she released her next album, I'm Breathless that included Academy Award-winning song "Sooner or Later”. The album became a success with selling over 7 million copies worldwide. It was followed by Blond Ambition World Tour, which again brought her into the heart of controversy regarding her overtly sexual image.
In the November of same year, Madonna came out with first greatest hits compilation album, The Immaculate Collection, which included two new songs: “Justify My Love” and “Rescue Me.” In fact the latter became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in U.S. chart history. Her first documentary movie, Truth or Dare which chronicled her successful 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, as well as her personal life came out in 1991 followed closely by A League of Their Own, a movie for which she recorded the hit theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground”.
Soon by 1992, she found her own entertainment company in a joint venture with Time Warner called Maverick, consisting of a record company; Maverick Records, a film production company; Maverick Films and also music publishing, television, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. Their first venture was a book titled SEX, consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images photographed by Steven Meisel which caused a huge controversy but became a hit nonetheless. Side by side she released her fifth album, Erotica, featuring three sexual songs — "Erotica", "Where Life Begins", and "Did You Do It?” cashing in on the SEX controversy. The album as expected became one of the greatest hits with entering Hot 100 Airplay chart at #2.
In 1993, she starred in two movies, Body of Evidence and Dangerous Game, the first production of Maverick films. At the end of the year she embarked on her The Girlie Show World Tour. Her second publication, The Girlie Show came out with home music video, The Girlie Show - Live Down Under in 1994.
Her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories also released in 1994 was more of R&B-flavored sound and brought her the Grammy Award nomination in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. In fact, her hit single, “Take a Bow" was a success on the Billboard Hot 100, staying #1 for seven consecutive weeks, becoming one of her biggest hits in the United States.
In 1995, she released Something to Remember, a collection of her best ballads with three new tracks. The album peaked at #6 on the U.S. charts. She also did cameos in movies like Four Rooms and comedy Blue In The Face. But the most rewarding moment of life came in the form of Evita (1996), a highly acclaimed movie by critics where she played the title role with an ease and won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. The movie’s soundtrack featuring the song “You Must Love Me” won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture.
Two years later she released her new studio album titled Ray of Light that debuted at #2 on the U.S. albums chart. It was well received by industry people as well as music lovers. Barring a controversy regarding “Frozen" song which was adjudicated to be a plagiarism of Belgian songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva's 1993 song "Ma Vie Fout L'camp”, the album managed to win three Grammy awards in 1999. The same year she recorded for the hit movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
In 2001, she starred in a music video "What It Feels Like for a Girl” and an internet commercial, Star, for car manufacturer BMW, both of whom were directed by her then husband Guy Ritchie. Later in 2002, she worked again in her husband directed Swept Away which bombed at the box office. Her promotional song for the bond movie, ‘Die Another Day’, was nominated for a Golden Globe for the best original score. Incidentally, she had a cameo too in the movie.
Her ninth album i.e. American Life, released in 2003 earned mixed reviews making her the lowest selling album of her entire career. Later that year, Madonna performed the song "Hollywood" with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott at the MTV Video Music Awards whereupon kissing Spears and Aguilera spurred major controversy.
In 2003, Madonna compiled the remixed EP called Remixed & Revisited. She separated ways with the Warner bros, over bookkeeping methods but still continued working with them under separate contract. With Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., Canada, and Europe becoming a huge success, she released a documentary about it named I'm Going to Tell You a Secret. 2005, saw her performing at various fund raising concerts including the "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope”.
Her tenth studio album, the Grammy-winning Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) sold more than 8 million copies and presented a continuous mix of dance songs, with musical elements borrowed from the '70s, and current dance music. In the middle of the year, her hold over the masses again came out in the form of a clothing line dedicated top her being M by Madonna. The same year she successfully completed her Confessions tour which again involved the bible crucifix controversy.
On May 16, 2007, Madonna released the download-only song "Hey You", in anticipation of the coming Live Earth, which was free for its first week. Madonna performed "Hey You" amongst other songs at the London concert of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium on July 7.
She also ventured into directed with Filth and Wisdom and helped producing I Am Because We Are, a documentary on the problems and difficulties faced by people in Malawi which was premiered at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. 2008 also became the year for her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy which just released in April and contains collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Danja.
Marking her seventh world tour, Madonna, on August 20, 2008, will begin the Sticky & Sweet Tour in Zurich, Switzerland at the Dubenhof Festival Site.
After a brief stint of failed marriages and relationships including one with Tony Ward, a young bisexual model and porn star who starred in her music videos for "Cherish" (1989) and "Justify My Love" (1990), she is currently married to Guy Ritchie ( December 22, 2000) with three children. She adopted David Banda (renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie) when she flew to Malawi to help build an orphanage. This brought her again under the public eye, with comments on special treatment being given to Madonna during adoption process because of her celebrity status. A disciple at Kabaalah Centre, she has always been the paparaazi’s favorite child, all credit to her flamboyant and rebellious attitude. Nonetheless, maybe this is the reason she has been ruling the charts for so long now and is adored by ardent fans worldwide.
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