Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan

Bay City, Michigan

Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...

, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club (band)

Breakfast Club was an American New Wave group. Their biggest hit single was "Right on Track", which went to #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Band history:...

 and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983. She followed it with a series of albums that attained immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Throughout her career, many of her songs have hit number one on the record charts, including "Like a Virgin

Like a Virgin (song)

"Like a Virgin" is a song by American singer Madonna from her second album of the same name. It was released on November 6, 1984 by Sire Records, as the first single from the album. The song appears on the greatest hits compilation albums The Immaculate Collection and Celebration...

", "Papa Don't Preach

Papa Don't Preach

"Papa Don't Preach" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, and produced by Stephen Bray and Madonna for her third studio album True Blue, released in June 1986...

", "Like a Prayer

Like a Prayer (song)

"Like a Prayer" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna on her fourth studio album of the same name . It was released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records as the album's lead single...

", "Vogue", "Frozen

Frozen (song)

"Frozen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her eight studio album Ray of Light. It was released as the lead single from the album on 23 February 1998 by Maverick Records...

", "Music

Music (Madonna song)

"Music" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 8th studio album Music and was released on August 21, 2000, by Maverick Records. It was also released on DVD single, a debut in this format by Madonna. It earned two Grammy Award nominations in 2001, for Record of the Year...

", "Hung Up

Hung Up

"Hung Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was written and produced in collaboration with Stuart Price, and released as the first single from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Initially used in a number of television advertisements and serials, the song was...

", and "4 Minutes

4 Minutes (Madonna song)

"4 Minutes" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her eleventh studio album Hard Candy. It was released as the lead single from the album on March 17, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. The song's development was motivated by a sense of urgency to save the planet from destruction, and...

". Critics have praised Madonna for her diverse musical productions while at the same time serving as a lightning rod for religious controversy.

Her career was further enhanced by film appearances that began in 1979, despite mixed commentary. She won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award

Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in Evita

Evita (film)

Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...

(1996), but has received harsh feedback for other film roles. Madonna's other ventures include being a fashion designer, children's book author, film director and producer. Madonna has been acclaimed as a businesswoman. In 1992, she founded entertainment company Maverick

Maverick (entertainment company)

Maverick, is an entertainment company founded by Madonna, Frederick DeMann and Ronnie Dashev in April 1992. It is owned and operated by Warner Music Group.-History:...

 as a joint venture with Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

. In 2007, she signed an unprecedented US $120 million contract with Live Nation

Live Nation

Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....

.

Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

. According to the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 (RIAA), she is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, behind Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

, with 64 million certified

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 albums. In 2008, Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine ranked Madonna at number two, behind only The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of the Billboard chart. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 in the same year. Considered to be one of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" by Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

for being an influential figure in contemporary music, Madonna is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry.

1958–81: Early life and career beginnings

Madonna was born in Bay City

Bay City, Michigan

Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...

, Michigan, on August 16, 1958. Her father, Silvio Anthony Ciccone, is a first-generation Italian American

Italian American

An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

, while her mother, Madonna Louise (née Fortin), was of French Canadian

French Canadian

French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

 descent. The Ciccone family originated from Pacentro

Pacentro

Pacentro is a comune of 1279 inhabitants of the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. It is a well preserved historic medieval village located in the central part of Italy, several kilometers from the City of Sulmona about 170 km east of Rome...

, Italy; her father later worked as a design engineer for Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

 and General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

. Madonna was nicknamed "Little Nonni" to distinguish her from her mother. The third of six children from the same two parents, her full-blood siblings are: Martin, Anthony, Paula, Christopher

Christopher Ciccone

Christopher G. Ciccone is an American artist, film director, artistic director, dancer, best selling author, and interior and furniture designer. He is the younger brother of Madonna, and began his career working as Madonna's assistant, dresser, backup dancer, stylist, and artistic director...

, and Melanie. Madonna was raised Roman Catholic. Upon receiving confirmation, she adopted Veronica

Saint Veronica

Saint Veronica or Berenice, according to the "Acta Sanctorum" published by the Bollandists , was a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead...

 as an additional confirmation name. She was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac

Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

 and Avon Township (now part of Rochester Hills

Rochester Hills, Michigan

Rochester Hills is an affluent city in northeast Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 70,995. The city of Rochester is bounded on the north, south, and west by Rochester Hills...

).

Her mother died of breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

 at the age of 30 in 1963. Months before her mother's death, Madonna noticed changes in her behavior and personality from the attentive homemaker she was, although she did not understand the reason. Mrs. Ciccone, at a loss to explain her dire medical condition, would often begin to cry when questioned by Madonna, at which point Madonna would respond by wrapping her arms around her mother tenderly. "I remember feeling stronger than she was," Madonna recalled, "I was so little and yet I felt like she was the child." Madonna later acknowledged that she had not grasped the concept of her mother dying. "There was so much left unsaid, so many untangled and unresolved emotions, of remorse, guilt, loss, anger, confusion. [...] I saw my mother, looking very beautiful and lying as if she were asleep in an open casket. Then I noticed that my mother's mouth looked funny. It took me some time to realize that it had been sewn up. In that awful moment, I began to understand what I had lost forever. The final image of my mother, at once peaceful yet grotesque, haunts me today also."

Madonna eventually learned to take care of herself and her siblings, and she turned to her grandmother in the hope of finding some solace and some form of her mother in her. The Ciccone siblings resented housekeepers and invariably rebelled against anyone brought into their home ostensibly to take the place of their beloved mother. In an interview with Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

, Madonna commented that she saw herself in her youth as a "lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades.... I wanted to be somebody." Terrified that her father could be taken from her as well, Madonna was often unable to sleep unless she was near him. Her father married the family's housekeeper Joan Gustafson, and they had two children: Jennifer and Mario Ciccone. At this point, Madonna began to express unresolved feelings of anger towards her father that lasted for decades, and developed a rebellious attitude. She attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Catholic Elementary Schools, and then West Middle School. She was known for her high grade point average

Grade (education)

Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters , as a range , as a number out of a possible total , as descriptors , in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary...

, and achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior: she would perform cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangle by her knees from the monkey bars

Jungle gym

The jungle gym, monkey bars, or climbing frame, is a piece of playground equipment made of many pieces of material, such as metal pipe or rope, on which children can climb, hang, or sit. The monkey bar designation refers to the rambunctious, climbing play of monkeys.-History:The first jungle gym...

 during recess, and pull up her skirt during class—all so that the boys could see her underwear.

Madonna later attended Rochester Adams High School

Rochester Adams High School

For schools with similar names, see Adams High School.Rochester Adams High School is a high school located in Rochester Hills, Michigan and is part of the Rochester Community Schools district...

, and was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad. After graduating, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

. She convinced her father to allow her to take ballet lessons and was persuaded by Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, to pursue a career in dance. At the end of 1977 she dropped out of college and relocated to New York City. She had little money and worked as a waitress at Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts is an international doughnut and coffee retailer founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts; it is now headquartered in Canton...

 and with modern dance

Modern dance

Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...

 troupes. Madonna said of her move to New York, "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." She started to work as a backup dancer for other established artists. During a late night, Madonna was returning from a rehearsal, when she was dragged up an alleyway by a pair of men and forced to perform fellatio

Fellatio

Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...

 at knifepoint. Madonna had later commented that "the episode was a taste of my weakness, it showed me that I still could not save myself in spite of all the strong-girl show. I could never forget it." While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez

Patrick Hernandez

Patrick Hernandez is a French singer who had a worldwide hit with "Born to Be Alive" in 1979.-Biography:...

 on his 1979 world tour, Madonna became romantically involved with musician Dan Gilroy. They formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club (band)

Breakfast Club was an American New Wave group. Their biggest hit single was "Right on Track", which went to #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Band history:...

, for which Madonna sang and played drums and guitar. In 1980 she left Breakfast Club and, with her former boyfriend Stephen Bray

Stephen Bray

Stephen Bray is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer from Detroit. Bray is best known for his collaboration with Madonna.Bray began studying music through private instruction in Detroit, and continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.Bray owns and operates Saturn...

 as drummer, formed the band Emmy. Their music impressed DJ and record producer Mark Kamins

Mark Kamins

Mark Kamins is a New York club DJ.He is best known for helping launch the career of one-time girlfriend Madonna by presenting a demo to Seymour Stein of Sire Records. He also produced her first single "Everybody" in 1982...

 who arranged a meeting between Madonna and Sire Records

Sire Records

Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...

 founder Seymour Stein

Seymour Stein

Seymour Stein is an entrepreneur in the music industry who has been a part of the business since getting his first job as a clerk for Billboard magazine in 1958. Stein is a vice president of Warner Bros...

.

1982–85: Madonna, Like a Virgin and marriage to Sean Penn

Madonna signed a singles

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 deal with Sire, a label belonging to Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

. Her debut single, "Everybody", was released on October 6, 1982, and became a dance hit. She started developing her debut album Madonna, which was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas

Reggie Lucas

Reginald "Reggie" Lucas is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Lucas is most famous for his production work with percussionist Mtume and for producing the majority of Madonna's 1983 self-titled debut album.-Biography:...

, a Warner Bros. producer. However, she was not happy with the completed tracks and disagreed with Lucas' production techniques, so decided to seek additional help. Madonna moved in with boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez

John Benitez

John Benitez, better known as "Jellybean Benitez" is an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, DJ, remixer and music producer of Puerto Rican descent...

, asking his help for finishing the album's production. Benitez remixed most of the tracks and produced "Holiday

Holiday (Madonna song)

"Holiday" is a song by American singer Madonna from her self-titled debut album. Released on September 7, 1983 by Sire Records, it later appeared remixed on the 1987 remix compilation You Can Dance and the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection, and in its original form on the...

", which was her third single. The overall sound of Madonna is dissonant, and is in the form of upbeat synthetic disco, utilizing some of the new technology of the time, like the usage of Linn drum machine

LinnDrum

The LinnDrum is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics. It was released in 1982 as a successor to the Linn LM-1. The LinnDrum has 15 drum sounds sampled from real drums, a sequencer for programming rhythm patterns and five trigger inputs....

, Moog bass

Moog Taurus

The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...

 and the OB-X synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

. The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, and yielded the hit singles "Holiday", "Borderline

Borderline (song)

"Borderline" is a song by American pop singer Madonna from her self-titled debut album. It was released on February 15, 1984 as the fifth single from the album, by Sire Records. Written and composed by producer Reggie Lucas, the song received remix treatment from Madonna's then boyfriend John...

" and "Lucky Star".
Gradually, Madonna's look and manner of dressing, her performances and her music videos started influencing young girls and women. Her style became a female fashion trend of the 1980s. It was created by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol

Maripol

Maripol was brought up in France before moving to New York, USA in 1976. She is an artist, film producer, fashion designer and stylist who has had an influence on the looks of many influential artists, including Grace Jones, Deborah Harry, and Madonna. Maripol is also a Polaroid artist...

 and the look consisted of lace tops, skirts over capri pants

Capri pants

Capri pants are mid-calf pants worn in warm weather. Variants end below the knee and calf...

, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the crucifix, bracelets, and bleached hair. She achieved global recognition after the release of her second studio album: Like a Virgin

Like a Virgin

Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984 by Sire Records. It was re-released worldwide in 1985, with the inclusion of the bonus track "Into the Groove". In 2001, Warner Bros. Records released a remastered version with two bonus...

in 1984. It topped the charts in several countries and became her first number one album on the Billboard 200. The title track, "Like a Virgin

Like a Virgin (song)

"Like a Virgin" is a song by American singer Madonna from her second album of the same name. It was released on November 6, 1984 by Sire Records, as the first single from the album. The song appears on the greatest hits compilation albums The Immaculate Collection and Celebration...

", topped the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart for six consecutive weeks. It attracted the attention of organizations who complained that the song and its accompanying video promoted premarital sex and undermined family values, and moralists sought to have the song and video banned. Madonna further came under fire when she performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards

1984 MTV Video Music Awards

The 1984 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 14, 1984, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1983, to May 2, 1984. The show was hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City....

 where she appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake, wearing a wedding dress and bridal veil, adorned with her characteristic "Boy Toy" belt buckle. The performance is noted by scholars and by MTV as an iconic performance in MTV history. In later years, Madonna commented that she was actually terrified of the performance. She recalled, "I remember my manager Freddy shouting to me, 'Oh my God! What were you doing? You were wearing a wedding dress. Oh my God! You were rolling around on the floor!' It was the bravest, most blatant sexual thing I had ever done on television." Like a Virgin was certified diamond

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. The National Association of Recording Merchandisers

National Association of Recording Merchandisers

The National Association of Recording Merchandisers is a United States not-for-profit trade association based in Marlton, New Jersey that serves music retailing businesses in lobbying and trade promotion...

 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 listed the album as one of the "Definitive 200 Albums of All Time" in 1998.
Madonna entered mainstream films in 1985, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in Vision Quest

Vision Quest

Vision Quest is a 1985 coming of age drama film starring Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino, and Ronny Cox. It is based on Terry Davis' novel of the same name. In some countries, it was released as Crazy for You to market on Madonna's emerging fame and the popularity of the song...

, a romantic drama film. Its soundtrack contained her U.S. number one single, "Crazy for You

Crazy for You (song)

"Crazy for You" is a song by American singer Madonna for the 1985 film Vision Quest. It was released on March 2, 1985, by Geffen Records as the first single from the soundtrack album of the film, and later included on the ballads compilation Something to Remember...

". She also appeared in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.-Plot:...

(1985), a film which introduced the song "Into the Groove

Into the Groove

"Into the Groove" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan. It was featured on the 1985 re-issue of her second studio album, Like a Virgin, and released on July 23, 1985 by Sire Records as the album's fourth single outside North America...

", her first number one single in the United Kingdom. Although not the lead actress for the film, her profile was such that the movie widely became seen (and marketed) as a Madonna vehicle. The film received a nomination for a César Award for Best Foreign Film

César Award for Best Foreign Film

This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Foreign Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...

 and The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby

Vincent Canby

Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...

 named it one of the ten best films of 1985. While filming the music video for the second single from Like a Virgin—"Material Girl

Material Girl

"Material Girl" is a song performed by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on January 30, 1985, by Sire Records, as the second single from her second album Like a Virgin. It also appears slightly remixed on the 1990 greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, and in its...

"—Madonna started dating actor Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

 and married him on her birthday in 1985.

Beginning in April 1985, Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in North America, The Virgin Tour

The Virgin Tour

The Virgin Tour is the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her first two studio albums, Madonna and Like a Virgin . Although, initially planned for an international audience, the tour was restricted within United States and Canada only. Warner Bros. decided...

, with the Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....

 as her opening act. Madonna commented: "That whole tour was crazy, because I went from playing CBGB

CBGB

CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...

 and the Mudd Club

Mudd Club

The Mudd Club was a TriBeCa nightclub that was opened in October 1978 by Steve Mass, art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips, a figure in the downtown punk scene...

 to playing sporting arenas. I played a small theater in Seattle, and the girls had flap skirts on and the tights cut off below their knees and lace gloves and rosaries and bows in their hair and big hoop earrings. [...] After Seattle, all of the shows were moved to arenas." In July, Penthouse

Penthouse (magazine)

Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...

and Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

magazines published a number of nude photos of Madonna, taken in New York in 1978. She had posed for the photographs as she needed money at the time, and was paid as little as $25 a session. The publication of the photos caused a media uproar, but Madonna remained defiant and unapologetic. The photographs were ultimately sold for up to $100,000. She referred to the whole experience at the 1985 outdoor Live Aid

Live Aid

Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...

 charity concert saying that she would not take her jacket off because "[the media] might hold it against me ten years from now."

1986–91: True Blue, Like a Prayer and the Blond Ambition Tour

In June 1986, Madonna released her third studio album, True Blue, which was inspired by and dedicated to Sean Penn. Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine was generally impressed with the effort, writing that the album "sound[s] as if it comes from the heart". It spawned three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Live to Tell

Live to Tell

"Live to Tell" is a pop ballad by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range...

", "Papa Don't Preach

Papa Don't Preach

"Papa Don't Preach" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, and produced by Stephen Bray and Madonna for her third studio album True Blue, released in June 1986...

" and "Open Your Heart

Open Your Heart (Madonna song)

"Open Your Heart" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fourth single from her third studio album True Blue on November 12, 1986, by Sire Records. It has since appeared remixed on the compilation albums The Immaculate Collection and Celebration...

", and two more top-five singles: "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita

La Isla Bonita

"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, on February 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Originally written as a lament, the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna accepted it...

". The album topped the charts in over 28 countries worldwide, an unprecedented achievement at the time. She also starred in the critically panned film Shanghai Surprise

Shanghai Surprise

Shanghai Surprise is a 1986 British adventure comedy film starring then-newlyweds Madonna and Sean Penn, produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...

, and made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabe's Goose and Tom-Tom, both co-starring Penn. The next year, Madonna's second feature film Who's That Girl was released. She contributed four songs to its soundtrack, including the title track and "Causing a Commotion

Causing a Commotion

"Causing a Commotion" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the second single from the soundtrack album Who's That Girl on August 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Its Silver Screen Single Mix later appeared on the 1991 UK compilation EP The Holiday Collection...

". In June 1987, she embarked on the Who's That Girl World Tour

Who's That Girl World Tour

The Who's That Girl World Tour is the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her third studio album, True Blue , as well as the soundtrack Who's That Girl . It was Madonna's first world tour, reaching Asia, North America and Europe...

 which continued until September. Regarding the tour, Madonna commented "I realised that I could go from being unmoulded clay, and over time and with the help of people, I could turn myself into something else. This tour is the reflection of that belief and it's as if saying to me 'Who are you girl?' Hence the name, its the new me." Later that year, she released a remix album of past hits, entitled You Can Dance

You Can Dance

You Can Dance is the first remix album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 18, 1987, by Sire Records. The album contains remixes of tracks from her first three studio albums—Madonna , Like a Virgin and True Blue — and a new track, "Spotlight"...

, which reached 14 on the Billboard 200. Madonna and Penn filed for divorce in December 1987, citing irreconcilable differences, with Madonna's lawyer pointing to Penn's drinking problem and his abusive nature. The divorce was finalized in January 1989. Of her marriage to Penn, Madonna later said, "I was completely obsessed with my career and not ready to be generous in any shape or form."
In January 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi

Pepsi

Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...

. In one of her Pepsi commercials, she debuted her song "Like a Prayer

Like a Prayer (song)

"Like a Prayer" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna on her fourth studio album of the same name . It was released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records as the album's lead single...

". The corresponding music video featured many Catholic symbols

Christian symbolism

Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and...

 such as stigmata

Stigmata

Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, such as the hands and feet...

 and burning crosses, and a dream about making love to a saint, leading the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 to condemn the video. Religious groups sought to ban the commercial and boycott Pepsi products. Pepsi revoked the commercial and canceled her sponsorship contract. However, she was allowed to retain her fee of five million dollars. The song was included on Madonna's fourth studio album, Like a Prayer

Like a Prayer

Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records, three years after her previous studio album. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and fellow icon Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the...

, which was co-written and co-produced by Patrick Leonard

Patrick Leonard

Patrick Raymond Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings....

 and Stephen Bray

Stephen Bray

Stephen Bray is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer from Detroit. Bray is best known for his collaboration with Madonna.Bray began studying music through private instruction in Detroit, and continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.Bray owns and operates Saturn...

. Rolling Stone hailed it as "...as close to art as pop music gets". Like a Prayer peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 13 million copies worldwide, with 4 million copies sold in the U.S. alone. Six singles were released from the album, including "Like a Prayer", which reached number-one, and "Express Yourself" and "Cherish

Cherish (Madonna song)

"Cherish" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the third single from her fourth studio album Like a Prayer on August 1, 1989, by Sire Records. The song was also included on the 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection and the two-disc edition of her 2009...

", both peaking at number two. By the end of the 1980s, Madonna was named as the "Artist of the Decade" by media such as MTV, Billboard and Musician

Musician (magazine)

Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...

magazine.

Madonna starred as "Breathless" Mahoney in the film Dick Tracy (1990), with Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...

 playing the title role. To accompany the film, she released the soundtrack album I'm Breathless

I'm Breathless

I'm Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the film Dick Tracy is the second soundtrack album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on May 22, 1990, by Sire Records...

, which included songs inspired by the film's 1930s setting. It also featured the U.S. number one hit, "Vogue", and "Sooner or Later

Sooner or Later (Madonna song)

"Sooner or Later" is a song recorded by the American pop singer Madonna, and written by the American composer Stephen Sondheim, for the 1990 film, Dick Tracy...

", which earned songwriter Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...

 an Academy Award for Best Original Song

Academy Award for Best Original Song

The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...

 in 1991. While shooting the film, Madonna began a relationship with Beatty which dissolved by the end of 1990. In April 1990 she began her Blond Ambition World Tour

Blond Ambition World Tour

The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour,...

, which continued for nearly four months. Regarding the tour, Madonna commented "I know that I'm not the best singer and I know that I'm not the best dancer. But, I can fucking push people's buttons and be as provocative as I want. The tour's goal is to break useless taboos." Rolling Stone called it an "elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza" and proclaimed it "the best tour of 1990". The tour was met with strong reaction from religious groups for her performance of "Like a Virgin", during which two male dancers caressed her body before she simulated masturbation. The Pope asked the general public and the Christian community not to attend the concert. A private association of Catholics calling themselves Famiglia Domani also boycotted the tour for its eroticism. In response, Madonna said, "I am Italian American and proud of it. [...] The tour in no way hurts anybody's sentiments. It's for open minds and gets them to see sexuality in a different way. Their own and others"; she declared that the Church "completely frowns on sex ... except for procreation." The Laserdisc release of the tour won Madonna a Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 in 1992 for Best Long Form Music Video

Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video

The Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs...

.

The Immaculate Collection

The Immaculate Collection

The Immaculate Collection is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 9, 1990 by Sire Records. It contains fifteen of her hit singles from 1982 to 1990, as well as two new tracks "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me"...

, Madonna's first greatest-hits compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, was released in November 1990. It included two new songs, "Justify My Love

Justify My Love

"Justify My Love" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection and was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records. It caused international controversy due to the accompanying music video which was sexually explicit...

" and "Rescue Me

Rescue Me (Madonna song)

"Rescue Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was the second single to be released from her 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection on February 26, 1991 by Sire Records...

". The album was certified diamond by RIAA and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist in history. "Justify My Love" reached number one in the U.S. and top ten worldwide. Its music video featured scenes of sadomasochism, bondage

Bondage (sexual)

Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

, same-sex kissing and brief nudity. The video was deemed too sexually explicit for MTV and was banned from the network. Madonna responded to the banning: "Why is it that people are willing to go and watch a movie about someone getting blown to bits for no reason at all, and nobody wants to see two girls kissing and two men snuggling? [...] MTV has been good to me, and they know their audience. If it's too strong for them, I understand. Although, half of me thought I was going to get away with it." The second single, "Rescue Me", became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in Hot 100 chart history at that time, entering at number 15 and peaking at number nine.

In December 1990, Madonna decided to leave Jennifer Lynch

Jennifer Lynch

Jennifer Chambers Lynch is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for writing the book The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer and for being Hollywood's youngest female writer and director with her 1993 feature film Boxing Helena. -Early life:Lynch was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,...

's film Boxing Helena

Boxing Helena

Boxing Helena is a 1993 romantic drama film and the debut feature film by Jennifer Chambers Lynch, daughter of David Lynch. The film stars Julian Sands and Sherilyn Fenn as the eponymous Helena.-Plot:...

, which she had previously agreed to star in, without any explanation to the producers. From late 1990 to early 1991, Madonna dated Tony Ward, a model and pornography performer who appeared in her music videos for "Cherish" and "Justify My Love". She also had an eight-month relationship with rapper Vanilla Ice

Vanilla Ice

Robert Matthew Van Winkle , best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, extreme athlete and home improvement television personality...

. Her first documentary film Truth or Dare

Madonna: Truth or Dare

Madonna: Truth or Dare is a 1991 American documentary film chronicling the life of American singer-songwriter Madonna during her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour...

(known as In Bed with Madonna outside North America) was released in mid-1991. The documentary chronicled her Blond Ambition World Tour and provided glimpses into her personal life.

1992–96: Maverick, Sex, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Evita

In 1992, Madonna had a role in A League of Their Own

A League of Their Own

A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...

as Mae Mordabito, a baseball player on an all-women's team. She recorded the film's theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground

This Used to Be My Playground

"This Used to Be My Playground" is a song performed by Madonna. It is the theme for the film A League of Their Own, which starred Madonna as well as Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Rosie O'Donnell....

", which became a Hot 100 number one hit. The same year, she founded her own entertainment company, Maverick

Maverick (entertainment company)

Maverick, is an entertainment company founded by Madonna, Frederick DeMann and Ronnie Dashev in April 1992. It is owned and operated by Warner Music Group.-History:...

, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records

Maverick Records

Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...

), a film production company (Maverick Films

Maverick Films

Maverick Films is an American film production company which was founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann and Ronnie Dashev. It is the film division of entertainment company, Maverick and owned by Warner Music Group...

), and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing and merchandising divisions. The deal was a joint venture with Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

 and paid Madonna an advance of $60 million. It gave her 20% royalties from the music proceedings, one of the highest rates in the industry, equaled at that time only by Michael Jackson's royalty rate established a year earlier with Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

. The first release from the venture was Madonna's book, entitled Sex

Sex (book)

Sex is a coffee table book written by Madonna with photographs by Steven Meisel Studio and film frames taken from film shot by Fabien Baron. The book was edited by Glenn O'Brien. Sex was released on October 21, 1992 by Warner Books...

. It consisted of sexually provocative and explicit images, photographed by Steven Meisel

Steven Meisel

Steven Meisel is an American photographer, who obtained popular acclaim with his work in US and Italian Vogue and his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book Sex...

. The book caused strong negative reaction from the media and the general public, but sold 1.5 million copies at $50 each in a matter of days. At the same time she released her fifth studio album, Erotica, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its title track peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Erotica also produced five further singles: "Deeper and Deeper

Deeper and Deeper

"Deeper and Deeper" is a song by Madonna, released as the second single from her 1992 studio album Erotica. It was released in December 1992 by Maverick Records....

", "Bad Girl", "Fever", "Rain

Rain (Madonna song)

"Rain" is a single by American singer-songwriter Madonna and was released on July 17, 1993 by Maverick Records. It was the fifth single release from her fifth studio album Erotica...

" and "Bye Bye Baby

Bye Bye Baby (Madonna song)

"Bye Bye Baby" is the sixth and final single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fifth studio album Erotica. It was released on November 15, 1993.-Single information:...

".

The provocative imagery that was her trademark continued in the 1990s with the erotic thriller Body of Evidence, a film which contained scenes of sadomasochism and bondage. It was poorly received by critics. She also starred in the film Dangerous Game

Dangerous Game

Dangerous Game is a 1993 film directed by Abel Ferrara starring Madonna, Harvey Keitel and James Russo.-Reception:The film opened in US theaters on November 19, 1993 and was trashed by critics...

, which was released straight to video in North America. The New York Times described the film as "angry and painful, and the pain feels real." In October 1993, she embarked on The Girlie Show World Tour, in which she dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix

Dominatrix

Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...

 surrounded by topless dancers. The show faced negative reaction, specifically in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 where she rubbed the island's flag between her legs on stage. The same year, she appeared as a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, using profanity that was required to be censored on television and handing Letterman a pair of her underwear and asking him to smell it. The releases of her sexually explicit films, albums and book, and the aggressive appearance on Letterman all made critics question Madonna as a sexual renegade. She faced strong negative publicity from critics and fans, who commented that "she had gone too far" and that her career was over.

According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli

J. Randy Taraborrelli

John Randall Taraborrelli is an American journalist and biographer.Taraborrelli is an author known for biographies of contemporary entertainers and political figures. He is a featured writer in several entertainment magazines in Canada, England, and Australia...

, the ballad "I'll Remember

I'll Remember

"I'll Remember" is a song by American recording artist Madonna. It was released on March 8, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records as the soundtrack single of the film With Honors...

" (1994), was an attempt to tone down her provocative image. The song was recorded for Alek Keshishian

Alek Keshishian

Alek Keshishian is a Lebanese-born Armenian film director. He is best known for his 1991 film Madonna: Truth or Dare, which for a time was the highest-grossing documentary of all time....

's film With Honors. She made a subdued appearance with Letterman at an awards show and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...

after realizing that she needed to change her musical direction in order to sustain her popularity. With her sixth studio album, Bedtime Stories

Bedtime Stories (Madonna album)

Bedtime Stories is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on October 25, 1994 by Maverick Records. Madonna collaborated with Dallas Austin, Babyface, Dave "Jam" Hall and Nellee Hooper, deciding to move into a more R&B direction...

(1994), Madonna employed a softer image to reconnect with the general public. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and produced four singles, including "Secret

Secret (Madonna song)

"Secret" is a song by Madonna, released as the first single from her 1994 album Bedtime Stories. It was released in September 1994 and became a top ten hit around the world, including reaching number three in the United States and five in the UK...

" and "Take a Bow", the latter topping the Hot 100 for seven weeks. At the same time, she became romantically involved with fitness trainer Carlos Leon

Carlos Leon

Carlos Manuel Leon is a Cuban personal trainer and actor and is most famous for being Madonna's baby daddy, as she gave birth to their daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, on October 14, 1996....

. Something to Remember

Something to Remember

Something to Remember is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 7, 1995 by Maverick Records. It came after a controversial period of Madonna in the 1990s and at this time critics had deemed her career over...

, a collection of ballads, was released in May 1995. The album featured three new songs: "You'll See

You'll See

"You'll See" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her ballads compilation Something to Remember . The album was released with the intention of tone down the image of Madonna, who was being heavily criticized at the time. The singer decided to work with producer David Foster, who...

", "One More Chance

One More Chance (Madonna song)

"One More Chance" is a pop ballad song by American singer Madonna from the ballads compilation Something to Remember. It was released on March 7, 1996 by Maverick Records as the second single from the album...

", and a cover of Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

's "I Want You

I Want You (Marvin Gaye song)

-Background:Madonna recorded a cover version of "I Want You" with British trip-hop group Massive Attack for her ballads compilation album Something to Remember and the Marvin Gaye tribute album Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye in 1995...

". In later years, Madonna commented that she was very fond of the albums between Like a Prayer and Something to Remember, "though I would agree that all of these albums were watershed moments for me".
The following year saw the release of Evita

Evita (film)

Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...

in which she played the title role of Eva Perón

Eva Perón

María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...

. For a long time, Madonna had desired to play Perón and even wrote to director Alan Parker

Alan Parker

Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...

, explaining how she would be perfect for the part. After securing it, she underwent vocal training and learned about the history of Argentina and Perón. During shooting she fell sick many times, commenting that "The intensity of the scenes we have been shooting and the amount of emotional work and concentration needed to get through the day are so mentally and physically exhausting that I'm sure I will need to be institutionalized when its over." It was on the set of Evita Madonna found out that she was pregnant, which further complicated the shooting for her. Evita was a period drama and almost 6,000 costumes were needed for the scenes. Madonna herself wore 370 different costumes, earning her a Guinness World Record for the most costume changes in a film. After its release, the film garnered critical appreciation. Zach Conner from Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine commented "It's a relief to say that Evita is pretty damn fine, well cast and handsomely visualized. Madonna once again confounds our expectations. She plays Evita with a poignant weariness and has more than just a bit of star quality. Love or hate Madonna-Eva, she is a magnet for all eyes." Madonna won a Golden Globe Award

Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the role. She released three singles from the Evita soundtrack album

Evita (soundtrack)

Evita is the third soundtrack album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1996 by Warner Bros. Records. It also includes performances by Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce and Jimmy Nail. It was released to promote and accompany the 1996 motion picture, Evita. The soundtrack...

 including "You Must Love Me

You Must Love Me

"You Must Love Me" is a pop ballad recorded by American singer-songwriter Madonna from the soundtrack album Evita of the motion picture of the same name. It was released in October 1996 by Warner Bros. as the first single from the album. Written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the song won an...

" (which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1997) and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". On October 14, 1996, Madonna gave birth to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, her daughter with Leon.

1997–2002: Ray of Light, Music and Drowned World Tour

After Lourdes' birth, Madonna became involved in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah

Kabbalah

Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

. She was introduced to the Jewish mysticism by actress Sandra Bernhard

Sandra Bernhard

Sandra Bernhard is an American comedian, singer, actress and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy in which she often bitterly critiques celebrity culture and political figures. Bernhard is number 97 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of...

 in 1997. Her seventh studio album, Ray of Light

Ray of Light

Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 3, 1998 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. After giving birth to her daughter Lourdes, Madonna collaborated with Patrick Leonard and William Orbit in developing the album...

, (1998) reflected this change in her perception and image. She commented: "This record, more than any other records, covers all the areas of life. I had recently joined Kabbalah and I had left off partying—but I had just had a baby, so my mood was complete, and I was incredibly thoughtful, retrospective and intrigued by the mystical aspects of life." The album garnered critical acclaim and Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

 declared it as "one of the great pop masterpieces of the '90s". Ray of Light was honored with four Grammy Awards, and listed as one of Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Albums of All Time

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...

". Topping the charts in Australia, Canada, UK and mainland Europe, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200—held off from the top spot by the soundtrack to the film Titanic

Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

—and sold over 20 million copies worldwide. The album's first single, "Frozen

Frozen (song)

"Frozen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her eight studio album Ray of Light. It was released as the lead single from the album on 23 February 1998 by Maverick Records...

", became Madonna's first single to debut at number one in the UK, while in the U.S. it became her sixth number two single and set another record for Madonna as the artist with the most number two hits. The song was banned in Belgium, however, adjudicated to be plagiarized from Belgian songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva's 1993 song "Ma Vie Fout L'camp". The second single, "Ray of Light

Ray of Light (song)

A high-speed electronic dance song, "Ray of Light" has received stylistic comparisons to rave, psychedelic and acid music. The track contains strong techno elements, as well as disco, trance and Eurodance influences, and it sees Madonna deepen her dance roots and go for a more electronic sound...

", debuted at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Madonna's relationship with Leon ended in December 1998; she declared that they were "better off as best friends." Following their break-up, Madonna signed to play a violin teacher in the film Music of the Heart

Music of the Heart

Music of the Heart is a 1999 dramatic film. This film was produced by Craven-Maddalena Films and Miramax Films, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.The film stars Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Gloria Estefan, and Angela Bassett...

but left the project, citing "creative differences" with director Wes Craven

Wes Craven

Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...

. She followed the success of Ray of Light with the single "Beautiful Stranger

Beautiful Stranger

"Beautiful Stranger" is a Grammy Award winning dance-pop song written and produced by American singer Madonna and British song-writer and musician William Orbit, drawing heavily on the 1966 song "She Comes in Colors" by Love. "Beautiful Stranger" was written for the film soundtrack Austin Powers:...

", recorded for the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...

. It reached number 19 on the Hot 100 solely on radio airplay and earned Madonna a Grammy Award for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media has been awarded since 1988 and is awarded to songs written for films, television, video games or other visual media...

".

In 2000, Madonna starred in the film The Next Best Thing

The Next Best Thing

The Next Best Thing is a soundtrack album released by Maverick Records on February 21, 2000. It was released to accompany and promote the 2000 film, The Next Best Thing. It reached number 34 on the US Billboard 200 album chart....

, and contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack: "Time Stood Still" and the international hit "American Pie", a cover version of Don McLean

Don McLean

Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...

's 1971 song. She released her eighth studio album, Music

Music (Madonna album)

Music is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on September 19, 2000 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records...

, in September 2000. It featured elements from the electronica

Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

-inspired Ray of Light era, and catered to her gay audience. Collaborating with French producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Mirwais Ahmadzaï, more commonly known as Mirwais, is a Paris based record producer and songwriter. He was born in Switzerland to an Afghan father and an Italian mother. He is a leader in the French style of progressive electronic dance music and progressive electronica...

, Madonna commented: "I love to work with the weirdos that no one knows about—the people who have raw talent and who are making music unlike anyone else out there. Music is the future of sound." Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

 from Allmusic felt that "Music blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style and substance. It has so many depth and layers that it's easily as self-aware and earnest as Ray of Light. The album took the number one position in more than 20 countries worldwide and sold four million copies in the first ten days. In the U.S., Music debuted at the top, and became her first number one album in eleven years since Like a Prayer. It produced three singles: the Hot 100 number one "Music

Music (Madonna song)

"Music" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 8th studio album Music and was released on August 21, 2000, by Maverick Records. It was also released on DVD single, a debut in this format by Madonna. It earned two Grammy Award nominations in 2001, for Record of the Year...

", "Don't Tell Me

Don't Tell Me (Madonna song)

"Don't Tell Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the second single from her eighth studio album Music on November 21, 2000 by Maverick Records. The single has sold around 4.5 million copies to date.-History:...

" and "What It Feels Like for a Girl

What It Feels Like for a Girl

"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was the third and final single released from her eighth studio album Music on April 17, 2001 by Maverick Records. The video mix of the song is a trance song, while the album version is a more demure pop and...

". The music video of "What It Feels Like for a Girl" depicted Madonna committing murders and involved in car accidents, and was banned by MTV and VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

.

Around the same time of the Music album, Madonna became involved in a relationship with Guy Ritchie

Guy Ritchie

Guy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...

, whom she had met in 1999 through mutual friends Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler

Trudie Styler

Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...

. On August 11, 2000, she gave birth to their son, Rocco Ritchie. In December, Madonna and Ritchie were married in an exclusive ceremony in Scotland.

Her fifth concert tour, entitled Drowned World Tour

Drowned World Tour

The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...

, started in April 2001. The tour visited cities in the U.S. and Europe and was the highest-grossing concert tour of the year by a solo artist, earning $75 million from 47 sold-out shows. She also released her second greatest-hits collection, entitled GHV2

GHV2

GHV2 is the second greatest hits compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 2001, by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It contains the most popular songs from the 1990s up until 2001. It is the follow-up to the 1990 release, The...

, to coincide with the home video release of the tour

Drowned World Tour 2001

Drowned World Tour 2001 is live music video title by singer Madonna. It was released by Warner Music Vision on November 13, 2001 and was released to accompany the second greatest hits album GHV2. It contained a live date from the Drowned World Tour recorded at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn...

. GHV2 debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. Madonna starred in the film Swept Away

Swept Away (2002 film)

Swept Away is a 2002 Franco-British romantic comedy film directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Madonna, Adriano Giannini, and Bruce Greenwood. It was released by Screen Gems and produced by Matthew Vaughn. It received generally negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure.-Plot:Amber...

, directed by Ritchie. Released direct-to-video

Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 in the UK, the film was a commercial and critical failure. Later that year, she released "Die Another Day

Die Another Day (song)

"Die Another Day" is the theme to the James Bond film of the same name recorded by Madonna. The single was released in late 2002, marking Madonna's 20th career anniversary, and peaked at number eight in the United States and number three in the United Kingdom, selling 167,863 copies - making it the...

", the title song of the James Bond

James Bond (film series)

The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...

 film Die Another Day

Die Another Day

Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...

, in which she had a cameo role

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated both for a Golden Globe Award

Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Song.

2003–06: American Life and Confessions on a Dance Floor

Following Die Another Day, Madonna collaborated with fashion photographer Steven Klein

Steven Klein

Steven Klein is an American photographer based in New York.-History:After studying painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, he moved into the field of photography...

 in 2003 for an exhibition installation named X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS

Steven Klein

Steven Klein is an American photographer based in New York.-History:After studying painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, he moved into the field of photography...

. It included photography from a photo shoot in W

W (magazine)

W is a monthly American fashion magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, who purchased original owner Fairchild Publications in 1999. It was created in 1971 by the publisher of sister magazine Woman's Wear Daily, James Brady. The magazine is an oversize format – ten inches wide and...

magazine, and seven video segments. The installation ran from March to May in New York's Deitch Projects

Deitch Projects

Deitch Projects was a contemporary art gallery in New York City founded by Jeffrey Deitch.-History:Since opening with a performance by Vanessa Beecroft in February 1996, the gallery has presented nearly one hundred and eighteen solo exhibitions and projects, ten thematic exhibitions, and a few...

 gallery. It then traveled the world in an edited form. Madonna released her ninth studio album, American Life

American Life

American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on April 22, 2003 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. The album produced in its entirety by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï featured references to many parts of American culture...

, which was based on her observations of American society, and received mixed reviews. She commented, "[American Life] was like a trip down memory lane, looking back at everything I've accomplished and all the things I once valued and all the things that were important to me." Larry Flick from The Advocate

The Advocate

The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...

felt that "American Life is an album that is among her most adventurous and lyrically intelligent. [...] It is like the flip side to 2000's Music, and turns out to be a lazy, half-arsed effort to sound and take her seriously." The title song

American Life (song)

"American Life" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was the first single from her 2003 studio album American Life...

 peaked at number 37 on the Hot 100. Its original music video was canceled as Madonna thought that the video, featuring violence and war imagery, would be deemed unpatriotic since America was then at war with Iraq. With only four million copies sold worldwide, American Life was the lowest selling album of her career. She gave another provocative performance later that year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards

2003 MTV Video Music Awards

The 2003 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2003, honoring the best music videos from June 1, 2002, to June 9, 2003. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City...

, while singing "Hollywood" with Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

, Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

 and Missy Elliott

Missy Elliott

Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...

. Madonna mouthkissed Spears and Aguilera during the performance, triggering a tabloid frenzy. In October 2003, Madonna provided guest vocals on Spears' single "Me Against the Music

Me Against the Music

"Me Against the Music" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her fourth album, In the Zone, featuring American recording artist Madonna. It was released on October 20, 2003 as the lead single from the album by Jive Records. After bonding with Spears during a night in New York...

". It was followed with the release of Remixed & Revisited

Remixed & Revisited

Remixed & Revisited is an remix album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 24, 2003 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records...

. The EP contained remixed versions of songs from American Life and included "Your Honesty", a previously unreleased track from the Bedtime Stories recording sessions. Madonna also signed a contract with Callaway Arts & Entertainment

Callaway Arts & Entertainment

Callaway Arts & Entertainment is a family entertainment company specializing in the design, production, and publication of illustrated books and multimedia products....

 to be the author of five children's books. The first of these books, entitled The English Roses

The English Roses

The English Roses is a 2003 children's picture book written by American recording artist and entertainer Madonna and illustrated by Jeffrey Fulvimari, which later became a series of children's books by both artists...

, was published in September 2003. The story was about four English schoolgirls and their envy and jealousy of each other. Kate Kellway from The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

commented "[Madonna] is an actress playing at what she can never be – a J.K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling

Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...

, an English rose." The book debuted at the top of The New York Times Best Seller list and became the fastest-selling children's picture book of all time.

The next year, Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

 and its former parent company Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

 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. The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares, owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev, were purchased by Warner. Madonna and Dashev's company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music, but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract. In mid-2004 Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., 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

I'm Going to Tell You a Secret

I'm Going to Tell You a Secret is the title of an American documentary film that follows pop singer Madonna on her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour. It premiered on MTV on October 21, 2005 and was released commercially in a CD+DVD package on June 20, 2006 by Warner Bros. Records...

. Rolling Stone ranked her at number 36 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In January 2005, Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 song "Imagine

Imagine (song)

"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...

" at Tsunami Aid

Tsunami Aid

Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope was a worldwide benefit held for the tsunami victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. It was broadcast on NBC and its affiliated networks of USA Network, Bravo, PAX, MSNBC, CNBC, Sci-Fi, Trio, Telemundo and other NBC Universal stations and was heard on any Clear...

. She also performed at the Live 8

Live 8

Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...

 benefit concert in London.

Her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor

Confessions on a Dance Floor

Confessions on a Dance Floor is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 15, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a complete departure from her last studio album, American Life . It included influences of 70s and 80s disco as well as...

, was released in November 2005. Musically the album was structured like a club set composed by a DJ. The songs on the album started out light and happy, and as it progressed, it became intense, with the lyrics dealing more about personal feelings, hence "Confessions." Keith Caulfield from Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

commented that the album was a "welcome return to form for the Queen of Pop." The album won a Grammy Award for "Best Electronic/Dance Album

Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album

The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the dance music and electronica genres...

". Confessions on a Dance Floor and its lead single, "Hung Up

Hung Up

"Hung Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was written and produced in collaboration with Stuart Price, and released as the first single from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Initially used in a number of television advertisements and serials, the song was...

", went on to reach number one in 40 and 41 countries respectively, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

. "Sorry

Sorry (Madonna song)

"Sorry" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her tenth studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor. It was written and produced by Madonna and Stuart Price and released as the second single from the album on February 28, 2006. It later appeared on Celebration, her 2009 greatest hits...

", the second single, became Madonna's twelfth number one single in the UK. She embarked on the Confessions Tour

Confessions Tour

Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It supported her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Madonna confirmed the possibility of going out on a tour as early as November 2005. Jamie King, Madonna's longtime collaborator, was then hired on...

 in May 2006, which had a global audience of 1.2 million and grossed over $194.7 million, becoming the highest grossing-tour to that date for a female artist. Madonna used religious symbols, such as the crucifix

Crucifix

A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....

 and Crown of Thorns

Crown of Thorns

In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...

, in the performance of "Live to Tell". It caused the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia to urge all their members to boycott her concert. The Vatican protested the concert, as did bishops from Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

. Madonna responded: "My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole." In the same year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced officially that Madonna has sold over 200 million copies for her albums alone worldwide.

While on tour, Madonna participated in the Raising Malawi

Raising Malawi

Raising Malawi is a charity non-profit organization that was founded by Madonna and Michael Berg in 2006. It is dedicated to helping with the extreme poverty and hardship endured by Malawi's one million orphans.-Mission statement:-Charity fundraiser:...

 initiative by partially funding an orphanage and traveling to that country. On October 10, 2006, she filed adoption papers for a boy from the orphanage, David Banda Mwale. He was later renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie. The adoption raised strong public reaction, because Malawian law requires would-be parents to reside in Malawi for one year before adopting, which Madonna did not do. She addressed this on The Oprah Winfrey Show

The Oprah Winfrey Show

The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....

, saying that there were no written adoption laws in Malawi that regulated foreign adoption. She described how Banda had been suffering from pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 after surviving malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

 and tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 when she first met him. Banda's biological father, Yohane commented, "These so-called human rights activists are harassing me every day, threatening me that I am not aware of what I am doing. [...] They want me to support their court case, a thing I cannot do for I know what I agreed with Madonna and her husband." The adoption was finalized on May 28, 2008. A clothing line titled M by Madonna, in collaboration with Swedish clothing retailer H&M

H&M

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....

, was launched internationally in 2006. The collection consisted of leather trench coats, sequined shift dresses, cream-colored calf-length pants and matching cropped jackets. H&M said the collection reflected Madonna's "timeless, unique and always glamorous style."

2007–09: Live Nation, Hard Candy and the Sticky & Sweet Tour

Madonna released the song "Hey You

Hey You (Madonna song)

"Hey You" is a pop charity song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was co-produced by Pharrell Williams. The song was released as part of the Live Earth campaign and was free to download from websites like MSN. It was released digitally as well as on the CD and DVD of the Live Earth concerts...

" for the Live Earth

Live Earth

-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...

 series of concerts. The song was available as a free download during its first week of release. She also performed it at the London Live Earth concert

Live Earth concert, London

The Live Earth concert in the United Kingdom was held at Wembley Stadium, London, England on 7 July 2007.-Running order:In order of appearance :...

. Madonna announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records, and a new $120 million, ten-year contract with Live Nation

Live Nation

Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....

. She became the founding artist for the new music division, Live Nation Artists. She produced and wrote I Am Because We Are

I Am Because We Are

I Am Because We Are is a 2008 documentary film directed by Nathan Rissman and written, narrated, and produced by Madonna.The film premiered at the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, on April 24, 2008 and at the 61st annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 21, 2008...

, a documentary on the problems faced by Malawians. The documentary was directed by Nathan Rissman, who worked as Madonna's gardener. She also directed her first film Filth and Wisdom

Filth and Wisdom

Filth and Wisdom is the first film directed by Madonna, starring Eugene Hütz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure and Richard E. Grant. It was filmed on location in London, England from May 14 to May 29, 2007 with additional scenes shot in July 2007....

. The story of the film was about three friends and their aspirations. Madonna commented that it was Ritchie who inspired her to develop the screenplay for the film. "The fact of the matter is that all the work I do is very autobiographical, directly or indirectly, because who do I know better than me?" The Times said she had "done herself proud" while The Daily Telegraph described the film as "not an entirely unpromising first effort [but] Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job." In December 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 announced Madonna as one of the five inductees of 2008. At the induction ceremony on March 10, 2008, Madonna did not sing but asked fellow Hall of Fame inductees and Michigan natives The Stooges

The Stooges

The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...

 to perform her songs "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light". She thanked Christopher Flynn, her dance teacher from 35 years earlier, for his encouragement to follow her dreams.

Madonna released her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy

Hard Candy (Madonna album)

Hard Candy is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on April 19, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. It was her final studio album with the record company, marking the end of a 25 year recording history. Madonna started working on the album in 2007, and collaborated...

, in April 2008. Containing R&B and urban pop

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 influences, the songs on Hard Candy were autobiographical in nature and saw Madonna collaborating with Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

, Timbaland

Timbaland

Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....

, Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...

 and Nate "Danja" Hills. Rolling Stone complimented it as an "impressive taste of her upcoming tour."

The album debuted at number one in 37 countries and on the Billboard 200. It received generally positive reviews worldwide though some critics panned it as "an attempt to harness the urban market". Its lead single, "4 Minutes

4 Minutes (Madonna song)

"4 Minutes" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her eleventh studio album Hard Candy. It was released as the lead single from the album on March 17, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. The song's development was motivated by a sense of urgency to save the planet from destruction, and...

", reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was Madonna's 37th Hot 100 top-ten hit—it pushed Madonna past Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 as the artist with the most top-ten hits. In the UK, she retained her record for the most number one singles for a female artist; "4 Minutes" becoming her thirteenth. At the 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards, Madonna received her fifth "Artist of the Year" trophy from Recording Industry Association of Japan

Recording Industry Association of Japan

The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry...

, the most for any artist. To further promote the album, Madonna embarked on the Sticky & Sweet Tour

Sticky & Sweet Tour

The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...

; her first major venture with Live Nation. With a gross of $280 million, it became the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist, surpassing the previous record Madonna set with the Confessions Tour. It was extended to the next year, adding new European dates, and after it ended, the total gross was $408 million.

Life with My Sister Madonna, a book by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone

Christopher Ciccone

Christopher G. Ciccone is an American artist, film director, artistic director, dancer, best selling author, and interior and furniture designer. He is the younger brother of Madonna, and began his career working as Madonna's assistant, dresser, backup dancer, stylist, and artistic director...

, debuted at number two on The New York Times Bestseller List. It was not authorized by Madonna, and led to a rift between them. Problems also arose between Madonna and Ritchie, with the media reporting that they were on the verge of separation. Ultimately, Madonna filed for divorce from Ritchie, citing irreconcilable differences, which was finalized in December 2008. She decided to adopt again from Malawi. The country's High Court initially approved the adoption of Chifundo "Mercy" James; however, the application was rejected because Madonna was not a resident of Malawi. Madonna appealed, and on June 12, 2009, the Supreme Court of Malawi granted Madonna the right to adopt Mercy James. She also released Celebration

Celebration (Madonna album)

Celebration is the third greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, and the closing release under her contract with Warner Bros. Records, her record company since 1982. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, The Immaculate Collection and GHV2...

, her third greatest-hits album, and the closing release with Warner. It contained the new songs "Celebration

Celebration (Madonna song)

"Celebration" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her third compilation album, Celebration. It was written by Madonna, Paul Oakenfold, Ciaran Gribbin and Ian Green, and produced by Madonna and Paul Oakenfold. The song was released digitally on July 31, 2009 by Warner Bros. Records....

" and "Revolver

Revolver (song)

"Revolver" is a song by American recording artist Madonna from her third greatest hits compilation, Celebration, and features rapper Lil Wayne. It was written by Madonna, Carlos Battey, Steven Battey, Dwayne Carter, Justin Franks and Brandon Kitchen, and produced by Madonna and DJ Frank E. The song...

" along with 34 hits spanning her career. Celebration reached number one in the UK, tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo act with most number one albums in the British chart history. She appeared at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

2009 MTV Video Music Awards

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 13, 2009, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, honoring the best music videos from June 19, 2008, to June 29, 2009. Comedian Russell Brand hosted the event for the second time in a row. The awards were held a few months after Michael...

 on September 13, 2009, to speak in tribute to deceased pop star Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

. Madonna ended the 2000s as the best-selling single artist of the decade in the U.S. and the most-played artist of the decade in the UK. Billboard also announced her as the third top-touring artist of the decade—behind only The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 and U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

—with a gross of over $801 million, 6.3 million attendance and 244 sell-outs of 248 shows.

2010–present: W.E. and twelfth studio album

Madonna performed "Like a Prayer" at the Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief

Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief

Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief was a charity telethon held on January 22, 2010 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time . The telethon was the most widely distributed telethon in history...

 concert in January 2010. In April she released her third live album, Sticky & Sweet Tour

Sticky & Sweet Tour (album)

Sticky & Sweet Tour is the third live album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on March 26, 2010 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was released on DVD, Blu-ray and CD formats. The tour was filmed at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the 2008 leg of...

. It was her first release under Live Nation, but was distributed by Warner Bros. She announced plans to direct her second film, W.E.

W.E. (film)

W.E. is an upcoming romantic drama film co-written and directed by Madonna, starring Abbie Cornish, Oscar Isaac, Richard Coyle, James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough. It began filming on location in London, England, on July 5, 2010, and also shot in France and the United States...

, a biopic about the affair between King Edward VIII

Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...

 and Wallis Simpson; it was co-written with Alek Keshishian

Alek Keshishian

Alek Keshishian is a Lebanese-born Armenian film director. He is best known for his 1991 film Madonna: Truth or Dare, which for a time was the highest-grossing documentary of all time....

. She later clarified that the film is about a woman's journey and was not going to be about the duchess' life. Instead, the duchess would act as the woman's spiritual guide. Following the completion of the shooting for W.E, Madonna released the "Material Girl" clothing line, which she designed with her daughter, Lourdes. The 1980s inspired clothing line, borrowed from Madonna's punk-girl style when she rose to fame in the 1980s, was released under the Macy's

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

 label. Soon after the clothing line went on sale, apparel manufacturer L.A. Triumph Inc. sued her saying that they have been using the name Material Girl and selling clothes under that name since 1997. They demanded that Madonna's clothing line be stopped from selling and the profits be returned. The Material Girl clothing was first fronted by Taylor Momsen

Taylor Momsen

Taylor Michel Momsen is an American actress, musician and model who portrays the character of Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl and portrayed the role of Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless.-Early life and career:Taylor...

 but she was later replaced by Kelly Osbourne

Kelly Osbourne

Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne is an English media personality, television personality, host, judge, fashion designer, singer, and actress, best known for being the daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne...

.

Madonna granted American TV show Glee

Glee (TV series)

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...

the rights to her entire catalogue of music, and the producers planned an episode which would feature Madonna songs exclusively. Titled "The Power of Madonna

The Power of Madonna

"The Power of Madonna" is the 15th episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on April 20, 2010...

", the episode was approved by her, telling Us Weekly

Us Weekly

Us Weekly is a celebrity gossip magazine, founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986. The publication covers topics ranging from celebrity relationships to the latest trends in fashion, beauty, and entertainment...

that she found it "brilliant on every level", praising the scripting and the message of equality. The episode also received positive reviews from critics. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly called it "one of the best hours of TV you’re likely to see all year", writing that the episode pays Madonna "the highest compliment possible" in not just expressing admiration for the singer, but "demonstrat[ing] a potent understanding of why Madonna matters." Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna

Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna

Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna is the first extended play by the cast of the musical television series Glee. It contains eight songs from the season one Glee episode, "The Power of Madonna", which was a tribute episode dedicated to American recording artist Madonna...

, an EP containing eight cover versions of Madonna songs featured in the episode was released in May. The EP debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, with 98,000 copies sold in the U.S. Madonna also announced plans to open a series of fitness centers

Health club

A health club is a place which houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.-Main workout area:...

 around the world. Named Hard Candy Fitness, the gyms are a partnership between Madonna, her manager Guy Oseary and Mark Mastrov, the founder and CEO of 24 Hour Fitness. The first of the gyms was opened at Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 in November 2010, as Madonna believed that Mexico City "will serve as a great test market before bringing the gyms to cities around the world." She added, "If any of you have seen my shows, you know that I don't skimp on them, and the same is true for the gym. We spend what it takes to make a globally first-class gym."

W.E. premiered out of the main competition at the 2011 Venice Film Festival

Venice Film Festival

The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

, and received mixed reviews. In June 2011, Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, took to his Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 page to confirm that Madonna would begin recording her twelfth studio album the following month. Later, Madonna confirmed during the premiere of W.E. that the album will be released before spring of 2012, and a new single will precede it in February.

Musical style

Madonna's music has been the subject of much analysis and scrutiny of critics. Robert M. Grant

Robert McQueen Grant

Robert M. Grant is a professor and US economic strategy academic who challenged Michael Porter's views on the basis for competitive advantage. He suggested that competitive advantage was more frequently to be discovered in access to distinctive or unique internal resources, rather than a choice...

, author of Contemporary Strategy Analysis (2005), commented that what has brought Madonna success is "certainly not outstanding natural talent. As a vocalist, musician, dancer, songwriter, or actress, Madonna's talents seem modest." He asserts Madonna's success is in relying on the talents of others, and that her personal relationships have served as cornerstones to the numerous reinventions in the longevity of her career. Madonna's approach was far from the music industry wisdom of "Find a winning formula and stick to it." Her musical career has been a continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and new images and a constant quest for new heights of fame and acclaim. Grant concluded that "having established herself as the queen of popular music, Madonna did not stop there, but continued re-inventing." Conversely, Rolling Stone has named Madonna "an exemplary songwriter with a gift for hooks and indelible lyrics, and a better studio singer than her live spectacles attest." Mark Bego

Mark Bego

Mark Bego is a best selling author of top performers in the rock & roll and show business. By having more than 10 million books in print, Mark Bego has been acknowledged as "the prince of pop bios" - the best selling biographer in the rock and pop field. Bego has written 54 books, two of which...

, author of Madonna: Blonde Ambition, called her "the perfect vocalist for lighter-than-air songs", despite not being a "heavyweight talent." Madonna has always been self-conscious about her voice, especially in comparison to her vocal idols such as Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 and Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...

.

Throughout her career, Madonna has written and co-written most of her own materials, as well as songs of other artists such as Nick Kamen

Nick Kamen

Nick Kamen is an English male model, songwriter and musician, and brother of session guitarist Chester Kamen and artist Barry Kamen.-Career:...

's "Each Time You Break My Heart

Each Time You Break My Heart

"Each Time You Break My Heart" is a 1986 song recorded by singer Nick Kamen featuring Madonna and Siedah Garrett on backing vocals. It was his debut single from his album Nick Kamen, released in 1987. The song achieved success in many European countries, including Ireland, Italy, UK, Swiss, and in...

" and Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...

's "Love Won't Wait

Love Won't Wait

"Love Won't Wait" is the second solo single released by British singer-songwriter Gary Barlow from his debut solo album Open Road. The song was written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone, and was an unreleased demo from her 1994 album sessions...

". According to Freya Jarman-Ivens, Madonna's talent for developing "incredible" hooks for her songs allows the lyrics to capture the attention of the audience, even without the influence of the music. As an example, Jarman-Ivens cites the 1985 single "Into the Groove

Into the Groove

"Into the Groove" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan. It was featured on the 1985 re-issue of her second studio album, Like a Virgin, and released on July 23, 1985 by Sire Records as the album's fourth single outside North America...

" and its line "Live out your fantasy here with me, just let the music set you free; Touch my body, and move in time, now I know you're mine." From 1983 to 1986, Madonna's musical productions were often girlish and naïve in nature, focusing primarily on love, romance, passion and boy-meets-girl relationships. This changed with the album Like a Prayer, when the lyrics became much more personal, such as in "Promise to Try", which references Madonna's lingering pain at the loss of her mother. Madonna's lyrics often suggest an identification with the gay community. Fouz believes that when Madonna sings "Come on girls, do you believe in love?" in "Express Yourself", she is addressing both the gay audience and the heterosexual female. Even in the Erotica era, with its often adult-oriented lyrics, the songs appear free-flowing and gullible ("So won't you go down, where it's warm inside" — "Where Life Begins" from Erotica). Madonna's songwriting ability has been criticized, with Rolling Stones Maria Raha calling her lyrics "flighty and not sophisticated. Madonna can only bring a trunk full of trite lyrics on the long standing tradition of pop music, love; when she wasn't singing about love, she was singing about partying and dancing." Her lyrics were considered banal, and her songwriting capability was largely ignored by critics until the release of Ray of Light and Music. According to Jarman-Ivens, lyrics such as "You're frozen, when your heart's not open" ("Frozen

Frozen (song)

"Frozen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her eight studio album Ray of Light. It was released as the lead single from the album on 23 February 1998 by Maverick Records...

", 1998) and "I can't remember, when I was young, I can't express if it was wrong" ("Paradise (Not for Me)", 2000) reflected an artistic palette, "encompassing diverse musical, textual and visual styles in its lyrics."
She started her musical career with songs that she described as "soulful pop music". Madonna recalled in a 1983 interview with Island magazine that she had wanted to grow up as a black kid. "First of all, all the black girls in my neighborhood had these dances in their yard where they had these little turntables with 45 records and they'd play all this Motown stuff and they would dance, just dance, all of them dancing together and none of the white kids I knew would ever do that. They were really boring and stiff. And I wanted to be part of the dancing. I didn’t like my friends. I had to be beaten up so many times by these little black girls before they would accept me and finally one day they whipped me with a rubber hose till I was like, lying on the ground crying. And then they just stopped doing it all of a sudden and let me be their friend, part of their group." On her 1983 debut album, Madonna's vocal abilities and personal artistry were not fully formed. Her vocal style was similar to other pop stars of that period like Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...

, Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne

Taylor Dayne

Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...

. The songs on Madonna reveal several key trends that have continued to define her success, including a strong dance-based idiom, catchy hooks

Hook (music)

A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...

, highly polished arrangement

Arrangement

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

s and Madonna's own vocal style. In songs such as "Lucky Star" and "Borderline", Madonna introduced a style of upbeat dance music that would prove particularly appealing to gay audiences. The bright, girlish vocal timbre

Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...

 of the early years became passé in Madonna's later works, the change being deliberate, since Madonna was constantly reminded of how the critics had once labelled her as "Minnie Mouse on helium", because of her early voice. Her second album, Like a Virgin (1984), foreshadowed several trends in Madonna's later works. It contained references to classical works (pizzicato

Pizzicato

Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....

 synthesizer line that opens "Angel

Angel (Madonna song)

"Angel" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her second studio album Like a Virgin. It was released on April 10, 1985 by Sire Records as the third single from the album. Written by Steve Bray and Madonna, it was one of the first songs developed for the project and, according to...

"); potential negative reaction from social groups ("Dress You Up

Dress You Up

"Dress You Up" is a song by American singer Madonna. It was released as the final single from her second studio album, Like a Virgin, on July 24, 1985, by Sire Records. The song was the last track to be added to the album as it was submitted late by songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale...

" was blacklisted by the Parents Music Resource Center

Parents Music Resource Center

The Parents Music Resource Center was an American committee formed in 1985 with the goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to be violent, have drug use or be sexual.The committee was founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice...

); and retro styles ("Shoo-Bee-Doo", Madonna's homage to Motown). Madonna's early style, and the change that she ushered in it, is best evident in the song "Material Girl". It opens with Madonna using a little-girl voice, but following the first verse, she switches to a richer, more mature voice in the chorus

Chorus effect

In music, a chorus effect occurs when individual sounds with roughly the same timbre and nearly the same pitch converge and are perceived as one...

. This mature artistic statement was visible in True Blue (1986). The song "Papa Don't Preach" was a significant milestone in her artistic career. The classical introduction, fast tempo and the gravity in her voice was unprecedented in Madonna's œuvre at that time.

With Like a Prayer (1989), Madonna again entered a new phase, musically. The album introduced live recorded songs and incorporated different genres of music, including dance, R&B

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 and gospel music. Madonna continued to compose ballads and uptempo dance songs for Erotica (1992) and Bedtime Stories (1994). She tried to remain contemporary by incorporating samples, drum loops and hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 into her music. Her voice grew much deeper and fuller, evident in the tracks like "Rain" and "Take a Bow". During the filming of Evita, Madonna had to take vocal lessons, which increased her range further. Of this experience she commented, "I studied with a vocal coach for Evita and I realized there was a whole piece of my voice I wasn't using. Before, I just believed I had a really limited range and was going to make the most of it." Continuing her musical evolution with Ray of Light, the track "Frozen" displayed her fully formed vocal prowess and her allusions to classical music. Her vocals were restrained and she sang the songs in Ray of Light without vibrato. However, the intake of breath within the songs became more prominent. With the new millennium came her album Music in which Madonna sang in her normal voice in a medium range, and sometimes in a higher register for the chorus. A change was also noted in the content of the songs, with most of them being simple love songs, but with an underlying tone of melancholy. As she explained, "I sing about shattering an image that you have of somebody, but I also sing about loving someone that wish you didn’t love. Because you know that you’re doomed, but you can’t stop yourself." Such melancholics continued in her next record American Life, which was infused with thumping techno rhythm, liquid keyboard lines, acoustic choruses and a rap

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 on the title track. The unconventional rock songs of the album were intermingled with dramatic lyrics about patriotism and composition, including the appearance of a gospel choir in the song "Nothing Fails

Nothing Fails

"Nothing Fails" is the third single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 9th studio album American Life. It was released by Maverick Records on November 21, 2003. There was little promotion to accompany it and no music video was filmed. The song performed poorly on most mainstream charts...

". Musically, things changed with Confessions on a Dance Floor, which returned Madonna to pure dance songs, infusing club beats and retro music, but the lyrics continued to be about paradox

Paradox

Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...

ical metaphors and reference to her earlier works. Her most recent studio album, Hard Candy, saw her mixing R&B and hip hop music with dance tunes. The album also had songs, who's lyrics craved for peace movements as well as being autobiographical. The singing in higher register continued, with employment of double tracking. Fouz-Hernández commented that "Throughout her career, Madonna's manipulation of her voice shows us that, by refusing to be defined in one way, she has in fact opened up a space for new kinds of musical analysis."

Influences

According to Taraborrelli, "Almost certainly, the defining moment of Madonna's childhood—the one that would have the most influence in shaping her into the woman she would become—was the tragic and untimely death of her beloved mother." Psychiatrist Keith Ablow suggests that her mother's death would have had an immeasurable impact on the young Madonna at a time when her personality was still forming. According to Ablow, the younger a child is at the time of a serious loss, the more profound the influence and the longer lasting the impact. He concludes that "some people never reconcile themselves to such a loss at an early age, Madonna is not different than them." Conversely, author Lucy O'Brien

Lucy O'Brien

Lucy O'Brien is an author and journalist whose work focuses on women in music.-Early musical and writing career:...

 feels that the impact of the rape is, in fact, the motivating factor behind everything Madonna has done, more important even than the death of her mother: "It's not so much grief at her mother's death that drives her, as the sense of abandonment that left her unprotected. She encountered her own worst possible scenario, becoming a victim of male violence, and thereafter turned that full-tilt into her work, reversing the equation at every opportunity."

As they grew older, Madonna and her sisters would feel deep sadness as the vivid memory of their mother began drifting, farther from them. They would study pictures of her and come to think that she resembled poet Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton was an American poet, known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967...

 and Hollywood actresses. This would later raise Madonna's interest in poetry with Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...

 being her favourite. Later, Madonna commented: "We were all wounded in one way or another by [her death], and then we spent the rest of our lives reacting to it or dealing with it or trying to turn into something else. The anguish of losing my mom left me with a certain kind of loneliness and an incredible longing for something. If I hadn't had that emptiness, I wouldn't have been so driven. Her death had a lot to do with me saying—after I got over my heartache—I'm going to be really strong if I can't have my mother. I'm going to take care of myself." Taraborrelli felt that in time, no doubt because of the devastation she felt, Madonna would never again allow herself, or even her daughter, to feel as abandoned as she had felt when her mother died. "Her death had taught her a valuable lesson, that she would have to remain strong for herself because, she feared weakness—particularly her own—and wanted to be the queen of her own castle."

In 1985, Madonna commented that the first song to ever make a strong impression on her was "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

Jessica Simpson recorded her own version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" for the soundtrack to the film The Dukes of Hazzard . Simpson's cover was co-produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and was released as the soundtrack's first single in 2005)...

" by Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....

; she said it summed up her own "take-charge attitude". As a young woman, she attempted to broaden her taste in literature, art, and music, and during this time became interested in classical music. She noted that her favorite style was baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

, and loved Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

 and Chopin

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

 because she liked their "feminine quality". Other musical influences included artists Karen Carpenter

Karen Carpenter

Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...

, The Supremes

The Supremes

The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...

, Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, and dancers such as Martha Graham

Martha Graham

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...

 and Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...

. Madonna's Italian-Catholic background and her relationship with her parents were reflected in the album Like a Prayer. It was an evocation of the impact religion had on her career. Her video for the title track contains Catholic symbolism, such as the stigmata. During The Virgin Tour, she wore a rosary

Rosary

The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...

, and also prayed with it in the music video for "La Isla Bonita". The "Open Your Heart" video sees her boss scolding her in the Italian language. On Who's That Girl World Tour, she dedicated the song "Papa Don't Preach" to the Pope.

During her childhood, Madonna was inspired by actors, later saying, "I loved Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...

 and Judy Holliday

Judy Holliday

Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...

 and Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

. They were all incredibly funny ... and I saw myself in them ... my girlishness, my knowingness and my innocence." Her "Material Girl" music video recreated Monroe's look in the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , which was written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin...

", from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She studied the screwball comedies of the 1930s, particularly those of Lombard, in preparation for the film Who's That Girl. The video for "Express Yourself" (1989) was inspired by Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang

Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...

's silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 Metropolis

Metropolis (film)

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...

(1927). The video for "Vogue" recreated the style of Hollywood glamour

Glamour (presentation)

Glamour originally was a magical-occult spell cast on somebody to make them believe that something or somebody was attractive. In the late 19th century terminology a non magical item used to help create a more attractive appearance gradually became 'a glamour'...

 photographs, in particular those by Horst P. Horst

Horst P. Horst

Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann who chose to be known as Horst P. Horst was a German-American fashion photographer.-Early life:...

, and imitated the poses of Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...

, Carole Lombard and Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...

, while the lyrics referred to many of the stars who had inspired her, including Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...

, described by Madonna as an idol. Influences also came to her from the art world, most notably through the works of artist Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....

. The music video of the song "Bedtime Story" featured images inspired by the paintings of Kahlo and Remedios Varo

Remedios Varo

Remedios Varo Uranga was a Spanish-Mexican, para-surrealist painter and anarchist. She was born María de los Remedios Varo Uranga in Anglès, Girona, Spain in 1908. During the Spanish Civil War she fled to Paris where she was greatly influenced by the surrealist movement...

. Her 2003 video for "Hollywood" was an homage to the work of photographer Guy Bourdin

Guy Bourdin

Guy Louis Bourdin , born Guy Louis Banarès, was a French fashion photographer.-Life and career:Guy Louis Banarès was born December 2, 1928, at 7 Rue Popincourt, Paris...

; Bourdin's son subsequently filed a lawsuit for unauthorised use of his father's work. Pop artist Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

's use of sadomasochistic imagery in his underground films were reflected in the music videos for "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper". However, Madonna's film career has been largely received negatively by the film critic community. Stephanie Zacharek, critic for Time magazine, stated that, "[Madonna] seems wooden and unnatural as an actress, and it's tough to watch, because she's clearly trying her damnedest." According to biographer Andrew Morton

Andrew Morton (writer)

Andrew David Morton is a former British Fleet Street journalist, a notable writer and biographer.Before moving into a career in journalism, he attended grammar school, then studied history at the University of Sussex....

, "Madonna puts a brave face on the criticism, but privately she is deeply hurt." After the 2002 box-office bomb Swept Away, Madonna vowed that she would never act in a film, hoping that her repertoire as a bad actress will never be discussed again.

Madonna is dedicated to Kabbalah

Kabbalah

Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

 and in 2004, she adopted the name Esther

Esther (given name)

Esther is a feminine given name. It may derive from the Old Persian stāra or - more likely - from the name of the Babylonian goddess of love, Ištar . It was adopted as an English name in the 17th Century...

 which in Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 means "star". She has donated millions of dollars to New York and London schools teaching the subject. She faced opposition from rabbis who felt Madonna's adoption of the Kabbalah was sacrilegious and a case of celebrity dilettantism. Madonna defended her studies, saying "It would be less controversial if I joined the Nazi Party", and that her involvement with the Kabbalah is "not hurting anybody." The influence of the Kaballah was subsequently observed in Madonna's music, especially albums like Ray of Light and Music. During the Re-Invention World Tour, at one point in the show, Madonna and her dancers wore t-shirts that read "Kabbalists Do It Better".

Music videos and performances

In The Madonna Companion, biographers Allen Metz and Carol Benson noted that more than any other recent pop artist, Madonna had used MTV and music videos to establish her popularity and enhance her recorded work. According to them, many of her songs have the imagery of the music video in strong context, while referring to the music. The media and public reaction towards her most-discussed songs such as "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer" or "Justify My Love" had to do with the music videos created to promote the song and their impact, rather than the song itself. Morton felt that "artistically, Madonna's songwriting is often overshadowed by her striking pop videos." Madonna's initial music videos reflected her American and Hispanic mixed street style combined with a flamboyant glamor. She was able to transmit her avant-garde downtown New York fashion sense to the American audience. The imagery and incorporation of Hispanic culture and Catholic symbolism continued with the music videos from the True Blue era. Author Douglas Kellner

Douglas Kellner

Douglas Kellner is a “third generation” critical theorist in the tradition of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School. Kellner was an early theorist of the field of critical media literacy and has been a leading theorist of media culture generally...

 noted, "such 'multiculturalism' and her culturally transgressive moves turned out to be highly successful moves that endeared her to large and varied youth audiences". Madonna's Spanish look in the videos became the fashion trend of that time, in the form of boleros and layered skirts, accessorizing with rosary beads and a crucifix as in the video of "La Isla Bonita". Academics noted that with her videos, Madonna was subtly reversing the usual role of male as the dominant sex. This symbolism and imagery was probably the most prevalent in the music video for "Like a Prayer". The video included scenes of an African-American church choir, Madonna attracted to a statue of a black saint, and singing in front of burning crosses. This mix of the sacred and the profane upset the Vatican and resulted in the Pepsi commercial withdrawal. Madonna has been honored with 20 MTV Video Music Awards—the most for any artist—including the lifetime achievement "Video Vanguard Award

MTV Video Vanguard Award

The following is a list of recipients of the MTV Video Vanguard Award.The Video Vanguard Award, also known as the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award or the Lifetime Achievement Award, is given to musicians who have made a profound effect on the MTV culture...

" in 1986. In 2003, MTV named her "The Greatest Music Video Star Ever" and said that "Madonna's innovation, creativity and contribution to the music video art form is what won her the award."

Madonna's emergence occurred during the advent of MTV, and, according to Chris Nelson from The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, "with its almost exclusively lip-sync

Lip sync

Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...

ed videos, ushered in an era in which average music fans might happily spend hours a day, every day, watching singers just mouth the words." The symbiotic relationship between the music video and lip-syncing led to a desire for the spectacle and imagery of the music video to be transferred to live stage shows. He added, "Artists like Madonna and Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...

 set new standards for showmanship, with concerts that included not only elaborate costumes and precision-timed pyrotechnics but also highly athletic dancing. These effects came at the expense of live singing." Thor Christensen of the Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...

commented that while Madonna earned a reputation for lip-syncing during her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, she has subsequently reorganized her performances by "stay[ing] mostly still during her toughest singing parts and [leaves] the dance routines to her backup troupe ... [r]ather than try to croon and dance up a storm at the same time." To allow for greater movement while dancing and singing, she was one of the earliest adopters of hands-free radio-frequency headset microphones, with the headset fastened over the ears or the top of the head, and the microphone capsule on a boom arm that extended to the mouth. Because of her prominent usage, the microphone design came to be known as the "Madonna mic". Metz noted that Madonna represents a paradox

Paradox

Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...

 as she is often perceived as living her whole life as a performance. While her big-screen performances are panned, her live performances are critical successes. Madonna was the first artist to have her concert tours as reenactment of her music videos. Author Elin Diamond explained that reciprocally, the fact that images from Madonna's videos can be recreated in a live setting enhances the realism of the original videos. Thus her live performances have become the means by which mediatized representations are naturalized. Taraborrelli said that encompassing multimedia, latest technology and sound systems, Madonna's concerts and live performances are deemed as "extravagant show piece, a walking art show."

Legacy

Madonna has been considered to be one of the greatest figures in music and one of the most influential women in history. She is featured in the book 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century, published in 1998 by Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...

. In 2010, Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine included Madonna in the elite list of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century", where she became one of the only two singers included, alongside Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

. Madonna also topped the VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

's list of "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era". Academic authors Ros Horton and Sally Simmons documented Madonna on their 2007 book Women Who Changed the World, which "pays homage to fifty of the most influential and admired women of all time." She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 on March 10, 2008—her first year of eligibility—for "influence and significance on rock and roll music." Additionally, Madonna ranked seventh on VH1 and People

People (magazine)

In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...

magazine's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time." In 2006, a new water bear

Tardigrade

Tardigrades form the phylum Tardigrada, part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa. They are microscopic, water-dwelling, segmented animals with eight legs. Tardigrades were first described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773...

 species, Echiniscus madonnae, was named after her. The paper with the description of E. madonnae was published in the international journal of animal taxonomy Zootaxa

Zootaxa

Zootaxa is a peer-reviewed scientific journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press . The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week...

in March 2006 (Vol. 1154, pages: 1–36). The Zoologists commented: "We take great pleasure in dedicating this species to one of the most significant artists of our times, Madonna Louise Veronica Ritchie." Aside from her critical acknowledgement, Madonna has also earned overwhelming commercial accomplishments. She has achieved multiple Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

citations, including world's top-selling female recording artist and most successful female recording artist of all time. Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. According to the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 (RIAA), she is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, behind Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

, with 64 million certified

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 albums. Madonna is also one of the top-touring artist in history and her Sticky & Sweet Tour

Sticky & Sweet Tour

The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...

 remains the highest-grossing tour of all time by a solo artist. In 2008, Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine ranked Madonna at number two, behind only The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of American singles chart. She has also scored many hits on major international charts, including 13 number one singles in the United Kingdom, 11 in Australia, and 23 in Canada

Canadian Singles Chart

The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....

—all of which are more than any other female artist.

Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone wrote that "Madonna is the most media-savvy American pop star since Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 and, until she toned down her press-baiting behavior in the nineties, she was the most consistently controversial one since Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

." According to her, Madonna's self-celebrating dance music and outré videos provided feminism with a makeover. Throughout the eighties she broke down sexual boundaries, making eroticism a crucial pop-song element, and challenging social and religious mores. Ganz felt that one fact was rarely disputed: "At nearly every turn, Madonna has maintained firm control over her career and image." Throughout her career the singer has repeatedly reinvented herself through a series of visual and musical personas, earning her the nickname "Queen of Reinvention". In doing so, "she exploited her sexuality to fashion herself into a cultural and commercial icon who, for more than a decade, was unchallenged as the reigning Queen of Pop music." Fouz-Hernández agrees that these reinventions are one of her key cultural achievements. Madonna reinvented herself by working with upcoming talented producers and previously unknown artists, while remaining at the center of media attention. According to Freya Jarman-Ivens, "In doing so Madonna has provided an example of how to maintain one's career in the entertainment industry." Such reinvention was noted by scholars as the main tool in surviving the musical industry, for a female artist. As Ian Youngs from BBC News

BBC News

BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

 commented, "Her ability to follow the latest trends and adapt her style has often been credited with preserving her appeal." Madonna's use of shocking sexual imagery has benefited her career and catalyzed public discourse on sexuality and feminism. The Times stated, "Madonna, whether you like her or not, started a revolution amongst women in music ... Her attitudes and opinions on sex, nudity, style and sexuality forced the public to sit up and take notice." Rodger Streitmatter, author of Sex Sells! (2004), commented that "from the moment Madonna burst onto the nation's radar screen in the mid-1980s, she did everything in her power to shock the public, and her efforts paid off." Shmuel Boteach, author of Hating women (2005), felt that Madonna was largely responsible for erasing the line between music and pornography. He stated: "Before Madonna, it was possible for women more famous for their voices than their cleavage, to emerge as music superstars. But in the post-Madonna universe, even highly original performers such as Janet Jackson now feel the pressure to expose their bodies on national television to sell albums."
Madonna has influenced numerous music artists throughout her career. Mary Cross, in her book Madonna: A Biography, wrote: "Her influence on pop music is undeniable and far-reaching. New pop icons from Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado

Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...

 and Shakira

Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

 to Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani

Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...

 and Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

 (not to mention Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

) owe Madonna, a debt of thanks for the template she forged, combining provocative sexiness and female power in her image, music, and lyrics." According to Fouz-Hernández, female pop performers such as Spears, the Spice Girls

Spice Girls

The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...

, Destiny's Child

Destiny's Child

Destiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...

, Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

 and Pink

Pink (singer)

Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....

 were like "Madonna's daughters in the very direct sense that they grew up listening to and admiring Madonna, and decided they wanted to be like her." Among them, Madonna's influence was most notable in Spears, who has been called her protégé. Madonna has also been credited with the introduction of European electronic dance music

Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 into mainstream American pop culture, and for bringing European producers such as Stuart Price

Stuart Price

Stuart Price is a three time Grammy-winning British electronic musician, songwriter, and record producer whose remixing and production skills are in demand by artists including New Order, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Missy Elliott, Scissor Sisters, The Killers, Pet Shop Boys, Brandon...

 and Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Mirwais Ahmadzaï, more commonly known as Mirwais, is a Paris based record producer and songwriter. He was born in Switzerland to an Afghan father and an Italian mother. He is a leader in the French style of progressive electronic dance music and progressive electronica...

 into the spotlight.

Madonna has received acclaim as a role model for businesswomen in her industry, "achieving the kind of financial control that women had long fought for within the industry", and generating over $1.2 billion in sales within the first decade of her career. As Taraborrelli noted, she already showed strong business sensibilities early in her career when she signed Freddie de Mann, Michael Jackson's former manager, to manage her career. As she said to Smash Hits

Smash Hits

Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...

magazine, "I thought, who’s the most successful person in the music industry and who’s his manager? I want him." Since it was Jackson, Madonna wanted de Mann more than anything else, and chance came when she learned that they have parted ways recently. After signing de Mann, her Madonna's associates had expressed their apprehension as to whether that was a good business decision by her. Madonna was adamant that since de Mann was free he would be able to devote all his time into his career. True to her, Madonna's popularity increased significantly, being asked to do more promotional tours and media appearances. Her seriousness towards her business was also portrayed in the Truth or Dare documentary, in a scene where Madonna throws out the cameraman as she was going to have a business meeting. This led Taraborrelli to comment that "she always knew the importance of the outcomes of these discussions with her associates. And she wanted the element of surprise." After its establishment, Maverick Records became a major commercial success from her efforts, which was unusual at that time for an artist-established label. Music journalist Robert Sandall said that while interviewing Madonna, it was clear that being "a cultural big hitter" was more important to her than pop music, a career she described as "an accident". He also saw a contrast between her anything-goes sexual public persona and a secretive and "paranoid" attitude toward her own finances; she fired her own brother when he charged her for an extra item. Professor Colin Barrow of the Cranfield School of Management

Cranfield School of Management

Cranfield School of Management is part of Cranfield University and a leading business school in the world. Cranfield University has provided management training since the late 1940s...

 described Madonna as "America's smartest businesswoman... who has moved to the top of her industry and stayed there by constantly reinventing herself". He held up her "planning, personal discipline and constant attention to detail" as models for all aspiring entrepreneurs. London Business School

London Business School

London Business School is an international business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London, located in central London, beside Regent's Park...

 academics called her a "dynamic entrepreneur" worth copying; they identified her vision of success, her understanding of the music industry, her ability to recognize her own performance limits (and thus bring in help), her willingness to work hard and her ability to adapt as the key to her commercial success. Morton commented that "Madonna is opportunistic, manipulative and ruthless—somebody who won't stop until she gets what she wants—and that's something you can get at the expense of maybe losing your close ones. But that hardly mattered to her." Taraborrelli felt that this ruthlessness was visible during the shooting of the Pepsi commercial in 1989. "The fact that she didn't want to hold a Pepsi can in the commercial, clued the Pepsi executives that Madonna the pop star and Madonna the businesswoman were not going to be dictated by somebody else, she will do everything in her way—the only way." Conversely, reporter Michael McWilliams commented: "The gripes about Madonna–she's cold, greedy, talentless–conceal both bigotry and the essence of her art, which is among the warmest, the most humane, the most profoundly satisfying in all pop culture."

Discography

• Madonna (1983)
• Like a Virgin
  Like a Virgin
  Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984 by Sire Records. It was re-released worldwide in 1985, with the inclusion of the bonus track "Into the Groove". In 2001, Warner Bros. Records released a remastered version with two bonus...
  
  (1984)
• True Blue (1986)
• Like a Prayer
  Like a Prayer
  Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records, three years after her previous studio album. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and fellow icon Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the...
  
  (1989)
• Erotica (1992)
• Bedtime Stories
  Bedtime Stories (Madonna album)
  Bedtime Stories is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on October 25, 1994 by Maverick Records. Madonna collaborated with Dallas Austin, Babyface, Dave "Jam" Hall and Nellee Hooper, deciding to move into a more R&B direction...
  
  (1994)
• Ray of Light
  Ray of Light
  Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 3, 1998 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. After giving birth to her daughter Lourdes, Madonna collaborated with Patrick Leonard and William Orbit in developing the album...
  
  (1998)
• Music
  Music (Madonna album)
  Music is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on September 19, 2000 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records...
  
  (2000)
• American Life
  American Life
  American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on April 22, 2003 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. The album produced in its entirety by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï featured references to many parts of American culture...
  
  (2003)
• Confessions on a Dance Floor
  Confessions on a Dance Floor
  Confessions on a Dance Floor is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 15, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a complete departure from her last studio album, American Life . It included influences of 70s and 80s disco as well as...
  
  (2005)
• Hard Candy
  Hard Candy (Madonna album)
  Hard Candy is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on April 19, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records. It was her final studio album with the record company, marking the end of a 25 year recording history. Madonna started working on the album in 2007, and collaborated...
  
  (2008)

Tours

• The Virgin Tour
  The Virgin Tour
  The Virgin Tour is the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her first two studio albums, Madonna and Like a Virgin . Although, initially planned for an international audience, the tour was restricted within United States and Canada only. Warner Bros. decided...
  
   (1985)
• Who's That Girl World Tour
  Who's That Girl World Tour
  The Who's That Girl World Tour is the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her third studio album, True Blue , as well as the soundtrack Who's That Girl . It was Madonna's first world tour, reaching Asia, North America and Europe...
  
   (1987)
• Blond Ambition World Tour
  Blond Ambition World Tour
  The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour,...
  
   (1990)
• The Girlie Show World Tour (1993)
• Drowned World Tour
  Drowned World Tour
  The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
  
   (2001)
• Re-Invention World Tour (2004)
• Confessions Tour
  Confessions Tour
  Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It supported her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Madonna confirmed the possibility of going out on a tour as early as November 2005. Jamie King, Madonna's longtime collaborator, was then hired on...
  
   (2006)
• Sticky & Sweet Tour
  Sticky & Sweet Tour
  The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...
  
   (2008–09)

See also

• Honorific nicknames in popular music
• List of unreleased Madonna songs
• Madonna bibliography
  Madonna bibliography
  Madonna's first venture into the literary world came with the release of her 1992 coffee table book, SEX. The book proved to be a massive success, selling out its entire first edition...
  
  
• Madonna filmography
• Mononymous persons

External links

• Madonna ancestry Genealogy.com