Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16, 1958), known artistically as Madonna, is an American pop singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actress and author. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City to pursue a career in ballet. After performing as a member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she began a career as a solo recording artist with the release of her self-titled debut album in 1983. Madonna has since been regarded as "one of the greatest pop acts of all time", dubbed the "Queen of Pop" by the media. Madonna rose to stardom, producing three consecutive number one studio albums on the Billboard 200: Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and Like a Prayer (1989). Though the entertainer faced negative critical publicity and modest sales on subsequent albums Erotica (1992) and Bedtime Stories (1994), she garnered critical acclaim with the release of her seventh studio album Ray of Light (1998). Madonna continued to remain in the forefront of pop...

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Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16, 1958), known artistically as Madonna, is an American pop singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actress and author. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City to pursue a career in ballet. After performing as a member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she began a career as a solo recording artist with the release of her self-titled debut album in 1983. Madonna has since been regarded as "one of the greatest pop acts of all time", dubbed the "Queen of Pop" by the media. Madonna rose to stardom, producing three consecutive number one studio albums on the Billboard 200: Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and Like a Prayer (1989). Though the entertainer faced negative critical publicity and modest sales on subsequent albums Erotica (1992) and Bedtime Stories (1994), she garnered critical acclaim with the release of her seventh studio album Ray of Light (1998). Madonna continued to remain in the forefront of pop music with four more consecutive number one studio albums; Music (2000) American Life (2003) Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008). In addition to her music career, Madonna has acted in 22 films. Although her performances have mostly been critically panned, her role in Evita (1996) earned her a Golden Globe award. Madonna is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the "Best Selling Female Rock Artist of the Twentieth Century" and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million certified albums. Guinness World Records lists her as the "World’s most successful female recording artist of all time" and the top earning female singer in the world with an estimated net worth of over $400 million, having sold over 200 million albums worldwide. On March 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Career
Early life and career debut
Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone (her Catholic confirmation name but not legal second middle name is Veronica) in Bay City, Michigan. Her mother, Madonna Louise (née Fortin), was of French-Canadian descent (though born in Bay City), and her father, Silvio "Tony" P. Ciccone, was a first-generation Italian-American who worked as Chrysler/General Motors design engineer and whose parents originated from Pacentro. Madonna is the third of six children; her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Paula Mae, Christopher, and Melanie. Madonna was raised in a Catholic family in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills). Madonna's mother died of breast cancer at age 30 on December 1, 1963. Her father married the family housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and they had two children, Jennifer and Mario. "I didn't accept my stepmother when I was growing up," the singer said, "in retrospect I think I was really hard on her." Madonna convinced her father to allow her to take ballet classes. Madonna attended St. Frederick's Elementary School and St. Andrew's Elementary School (present day Holy Family Regional) and West Middle School. She attended 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. After being convinced by her ballet teacher to pursue a dance career, Madonna left the University of Michigan at the end of 1977 and moved to New York City. Madonna had little money and for some time lived in squalor, working at Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes. Madonna has 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, Madonna became romantically involved with the musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club in New York. In it, she sang and played drums and guitar before forming the band Emmy in 1980 with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray. She and Bray wrote and produced dance songs that brought her local attention in New York dance clubs. Disc jockey and record producer Mark Kamins was impressed by her demo recordings, so he brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.

1982–1985: Madonna debut album and Like a Virgin
In 1982, Madonna signed a singles deal with Sire Records, a label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her first release was "Everybody" on April 24, 1982. "Burning Up" followed in March 1983. On May 5, 1983 a promotional single for "Physical Attraction" was released to U.S. radio. Her debut album, Madonna was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas. Madonnas then-boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez remixed and rearranged them. He also added a song ("Holiday"). Madonna's look and manner of dress, live performances and music videos, became influential among young girls and women. Defined by lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the Christian cross, and bleached hair, it became a female fashion trend in the 1980s. follow up album, Like a Virgin, became her first number one album on the U.S. albums chart, buoyed by the success of its title track, "Like a Virgin", which reached number one in the U.S. with a six week stay at the top. The album sold 8 million copies in the US and another 4 million worldwide at its time of release. She performed the title song at the first MTV Video Music Awards, wearing her then-trademark "Boy Toy" belt. Like a Virgin 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. In 1985, Madonna entered mainstream films, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest. The soundtrack to the film contained her second U.S. #1 single "Crazy for You", as well as the UK hit "Gambler". Later that year, she appeared in Desperately Seeking Susan. The film introduced the song "Into the Groove", which was released with "Angel", and became her first number one in the UK. Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in the U.S. in 1985 titled The Virgin Tour, with The Beastie Boys. In July that year, Penthouse and Playboy magazines published a number of black and white nude photos of Madonna taken in the late 1970s. Madonna took legal action to try and block them from being published, but when that failed she became unapologetic and defiant. At the outdoor Live Aid charity concert at the height of the controversy, Madonna made a critical reference to the media and stated she would not take her jacket off because "they might hold it against me ten years from now".

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