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Madonna is arguably the most successful female recording artist, having been a prominent pop icon for over 20 years and selling an estimated 120 million albums. The singer rose to stardom in the early 1980s and has continued generating continuous hits into the 21st century. Over the years she has been able to effectively recreate her image and music to fit the style and trend of the present. The often controversial entertainer has been criticized for using sexual and religious themes throughout her career.

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born August 16, 1958 i Continued...

n Bay City, Michigan and is the third of six siblings. Madonna was encouraged to take music lessons when she was younger. She played the piano until convincing her father to let her take ballet lessons instead. Christopher Flynn was her ballet instructor as well as mentor who further influenced her musical style and dance. During her high school years, she was an active teenager as a member of the cheerleading squad and was also a straight A student. She graduated from Rochester Adams High School in 1976 making plans to attend the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship. After two years in college she made the decision that would greatly affect her life by quitting school and pursuing her dancing career in New York City. Struggling to support her new lifestyle, she worked odd jobs as a nude model and as a Dunkin’ Donuts employee. In 1979, she landed a job as one of French disco artist, Patrick Hernandez’s dancers during his world tour. There she met Dan Gilroy who became her boyfriend and bandmate in the Breakfast Club. She left in 1980 to join her former boyfriend Stephen Bray’s group Emmy, eventually separating themselves from the band to work on their own dance tracks. After gaining some recognition in NY dance clubs, her demo recordings were brought to the attention of Seymour Stein, the founder of Sire Records, by DJ and producer Mark Kamins.

Madonna signed with Sire and worked with Kamis to produce her first single “Everybody” in 1982 which became a hit on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club chart. In 1983, she released her self-titled debut album. The album was produced by Reggie Lucas but eventually re-arranged and remixed by Madonna’s boyfriend John “Jellybean” Benitez, as Lucas and the singer did not get along. “Holiday” became her first Top 40 hit and reached number one on the Club Play Singles chart. Madonna was certified 5x platinum selling eight million copies.

Like a Virgin was instantly a worldwide success selling nineteen million copies and placing number one on the US album chart in 1984. The first single “Like a Virgin” peaked at number one for six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. She gained increasing popularity as her sexy videos received heavy rotation on MTV. In 1985 she starred in the film Desperately Seeking Susan, receiving positive reviews and attention by critics. The “material girl” began her first concert tour, The Virgin Tour in 1985. Teenaged female fans began to emulate the star by dressing in miniskirts, spandex, torn t-shirts and teased hair, some even going as far as drawing a mole on their upper lip.

Her next album, True Blue, was released in 1986 and recognized as more mature due to its more ambitious content. Single “Papa Don’t Preach” became an instant hit and the album a commercial success selling over 20 million copies. Her second successful film, Who’s That Girl? was released in 1987 and its theme song became an international hit. She shortly after began the Who’s That Girl World Tour. 1989’s Like A Prayer caused more controversy than any album previously released with the video accompanying its title track. Many believed it to be offensive primarily the Vatican who damned the video for its “blasphemous” combination of Catholic symbols and eroticism. However, the song was a success despite the strife. Other major hits, “Express Yourself”, “Cherish” and “Vogue” also contributed to the album achieving 4x platinum. The Blond Ambition Tour, the most popular of all her tours, began in 1990. While on tour, filming began for her first documentary entitled Truth or Dare (In Bed With Madonna outside of North America). During this time she also starred in the film Dick Tracy as “Breathless Mahoney”. The Immaculate Collection, a greatest hits album which featured new song “Justify My Love” whose video also caused much controversy was banned by music stations due to its extreme sexual content.

A League of Their Own was released in 1992 and starred the singer. Her single “This Used to be My Playground” was featured in the film and topped the charts at number one. Madonna’s adult coffee table sized book Sex was also released that year. The book consisted of many erotic photographs of the star as well as other celebrities Isabella Rossellini, Naomi Campbell, Vanilla Ice, and Big Daddy Kane depicting simulations of sexual acts. The controversial book also set the stage for her album Erotica which, was released the same year selling over two million copies. The title track, “Erotica”, became the highest debuting single in US history entering the charts at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay. Without a doubt the accompanying video contained sexual content and was only aired three times on MTV. The Girlie Show Tour went on the road in 1993 and is considered her most sexually explicit tour.

Bedtime Stories was issued in 1994 and was her seventh album to achieve multi platinum status. “Take a Bow” which was co-written and produced by R&B artist Babyface, was a huge hit taking over the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks. A more conservative Madonna starred in Andre Lloyd Weber’s film rendition of Evita in 1995. She was very well received by critics earning the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy), and was praised for her sudden vocal improvement evident in songs “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” and “You Must Love Me” featured in the film. The latter won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture. Soon after the hype of the film, the news spread that Madonna was pregnant with her first child Lourdes.

Madonna returned in 1998 with the release of Ray of Light, introducing a new flavor of electronica, techno and trip hop inspired music. The album was a success making for a great comeback for the new mother. Music was released in 2000 providing an electro-pop sound similar to Daft Punk and Air. That year, she gave birth to her second child, Rocco, with soon to be husband film director Guy Ritchie. American Life was released in 2003 becoming Madonna’s lowest selling album of her career. The lead single “American Life” was criticized for its unpatriotic content which triggered the downfall of the record.

Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna’s tenth album, was released in 2005 reaching number one in 40 countries which set a new record outnumbering The Beatles. The album received much acclaim with top charting singles “Hung Up”, “Sorry”, and “Get Together”. The Confessions Tour began in the summer of 2006 and is expected to be the highest grossing world tour by a female recording artist.