Born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City-Bay City, near Detroit, Michigan, USA. Her father was an engineer and her mother was a housewife. Madonna was the oldest girl in a family of eight children, and at the age of six her mother died of breast cancer. As a child, Madonna was bold and business-minded. She participated in school performances, was a cheerleader, took piano lessons, and studied ballet. Madonna's dancing skills won her a scholarship to the University of Michigan.
In 1978, during her sophomore year of college, Madonna interrupted her studies to head to New York. The legendary singer set up home in New York's "Times Square" with only $35 and a lot of enthusiasm. After one low-paying job after another, including a frugal clerkship at Dunkin' Donuts in Times Square, Madonna joined the famous Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham dance troupe, where she danced jazz for a while. Her restless nature made her reluctant to mingle with a group of dancers for long and remain in obscurity. She also wanted to move from dance to music. The dancer-turned-singer played in a string of smaller bands.
In the early '80s, she began experimenting with writing lyrics and slowly learned to play guitar and piano again. Madonna began working as a jazz singer in local dance clubs, where her titillating voice, enthusiasm and mischievous stage style captured the attention of large audiences.
In 1982, Radio Records music program host Mark Kamins offered her the opportunity to produce a successful club revue based on one of her singles, "Everybody," and introduced the fledgling Madonna to Warner Bros. The executive at Warner Bros. was very pleased with her songs. The official was so pleased with her songs that he immediately offered Madonna a recording contract.
In 1983, Madonna released her first album under her name, "MADONNA," but it didn't attract much attention. However, several of the album's songs became must-play hits in New York nightclubs. The first single, "Holiday," was broadcast over the airwaves by inner-city radio stations and, incredibly, made it into the top 20 best songs in the country. Soon after, the album's "Lucky Star" and "Borderline" followed the same path of success as her first single. After the video went viral, the world knew Madonna for her intriguing appearance: her bee-stinged hair, bare stomach, ultra-short skirts and religiously tinted adornments, especially those intentionally colored.
In 1984, Warner Records released her record collection Like a Virgin, whose title track became Madonna's first chart-topping single, and the album went to No. 1 on the charts.
In 1985, Madonna sold more singles and albums than any other artist. The accomplished Madonna began touring, and she also appeared in the feature films "Vision Quest" (1985) and "Desperately Seeking Susan" ("Desperately Seeking Susan," 1985). She also appeared in the stage productions of "David Rabe's Goose" and "Tom-Tom". Her performances were poorly received, but they gave her the opportunity to meet her partner in the show, Sean Penn, and the two of them immediately became the talk of the town.
The two were united on Madonna's birthday, Aug. 16, 1985, in Malibu, California, and in 1986 they starred in the thriller "Shanghai Surprise," which drew a huge response. But their marriage ended after less than four years. "The controversy" - sometimes inescapable - has since stayed with Madonna.
It was Madonna's hit song from her 1989 album "Like a Prayer" ("Like a Prayer") that caused a sensation because of her rueful videotape. The video showed Madonna dancing in front of a burning cross and kissing an African-American religious man, demonstrating her instinctive disdain for God. Religious groups were outraged, and as a result, PepsiCo canceled funding for Madonna's tours and discontinued airing her image in commercial television films. What lesson did Madonna learn from this incident? Scandal sells. Madonna continued to use emotional techniques to sell her 1990 "Blonde Ambition" worldwide tour, as well as to boost ticket sales for the documentary "Truth or Dare," the X-rated autobiographical photo book "Sex," and the hit record "Erotica.
After the "Sex" story died down, Madonna realized that she had indeed "stripped too much" and retired from performing.
Madonna began filming several small-budget movies in 1995, including "Blue in the Face" and "Four Rooms". When she re-emerged, she embodied two new variations: a mother-to-be and a serious actress.
On Oct. 14, 1996, she and her then-boyfriend Carlos Leon welcomed their daughter, ourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, whom Madonna calls Lola. The flirt appeared in Who's That Girl ("Who's That Girl?" 1987), Body of Evidence ("Body of Evidence" 1993), and in 1996 in Mrs. Perón ("Mrs. Perón"). Mrs. Péron ("Evita") in 1996. The role was a custom-made one for her, at least according to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which honored Madonna with a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Music and Comedy.
In 1998 Madonna released a new single, "Ray of Light," which she had expected to be poorly received, but surprisingly the record quickly went to the top of the charts and has **** won platinum awards four times since. Produced by William Orbit, the record was her first since her 1994 album Bedtime Stories, and featured a new wardrobe and image that suggested that "Material Mom" (Madonna's alias for her hit song "Material Girl") was the best thing to happen to her. "Material Girl") has been perfectly aligned with the new style of dance music, pushing the traditional pop genre into new territory. Obviously, like her 2 singles from Austin Powers, Orbit's efforts made "Beautiful Stranger" a quick hit and won Madonna a Best Movie MTV Music Television Award, giving Madonna a new lease on life.
Introducing the second version
Madonna was born in Bay City, Michigan, one of eight children in a large Italian family. She showed an early love of music - especially while in the Motor City - and dance, both of which also earned her a scholarship to the University of Michigan.
Shortly after her arrival in New York, she began her dance career with the Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey Dance Company.
With a passion for music, Madonna joined several bands, including the Breakfast Club cabaret club. Since signing with Sire Records in 1982, she has had a recording career that has spanned more than 20 years and is considered one of the most successful and influential singers of our time.
Over the past 25 years, Madonna has sold 240 million albums worldwide and has been certified by Guinness as the world's top-selling female artist, with 25 consecutive Top 10 singles including "Material Girl," "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," "Fashion Vogue," and "The Hidden Journey. Yourself," "Vogue," "Ray of Light," and "Music." She has won three Grammy Awards and is the most nominated artist in MTV history.
April 2003 saw the release of her anti-war album "American Life".
Madonna's film and television career includes appearances in the smash hits Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own and the acclaimed documentary Truth or Dare. Her leading role in the musical film "Evita (Mrs. Perón)" earned her a Golden Globe.
Madonna's appearance in the critically acclaimed Broadway film David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow led to her debut on the West London stage in the spring of 2002 in the critically acclaimed Up For Grabs, which was an enormous sell-out, with back-to-back sell-outs.
Madonna also starred in the James Bond series <Die Another Day> in which she played a sword teacher and wrote the theme song for the film.
She has written five children's books for children, the first of which, The English Rose, will be published on September 15, 2003, in 30 languages in more than 100 countries around the world.
She lives in the U.S. and the U.K. with her husband, film director Guy Ritchie, and their two children, Lola and Rocco.