In addition to her professional accomplishments, she is an activist, who has adopted four of her six children from Malawi.
Madonna is the "Queen of Pop Music" and she's one of those iconic celebrities who is known by her first name alone. She's an accomplished performer, businesswoman, and mother, with a career that is entering its fifth decade. Her music, old and new, continues to be played all around the world.
Known for pushing boundaries in terms of expression and sexuality, Madonna remains a relevant household name. She’s showing no signs of slowing down and is currently in the middle of her 14th tour, for her album, Madame X. Her tour dates will continue well into 2020, at venues in London and Paris.
In 2006, Madonna formed a not-for-profit, charitable organization with Michael Berg, to help combat the poverty and hardship experienced by the million orphans in Malawi. In addition to her professional accomplishments, she is an activist, who has adopted four of her six children from Malawi.
In addition to her many awards, Madonna has held the top spot on VH1's countdown of the 100 Greatest Women in Music; Rolling Stone has listed her as one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
Today, let’s look at Madonna’s impressive career, in photos.
20Before She Was Famous
Born to parents who were Italian immigrants, Madonna was part of a big family. With two older brothers and three younger siblings, and the same name as her mom, her family gave her the nickname “Little Nonni”.
Madonna was only five years old when her mother passed away. In her younger life, she was 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.”
19Brand New On The Pop Charts
Madonna worked hard to be a straight-A student, balancing academics with her time on the school cheerleading team. When she graduated, she was awarded a dance scholarship at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.
She took ballet lessons and continued to work towards her dreams. In 1978, she dropped out of college and moved to New York City, like many others in pursuit of fame.
18Her Lucky Star
In the early 1980s, Madonna began to work as a backup dancer for other artists. She also formed a band with her then-boyfriend. As she began working on her songwriting, she soon discovered that she preferred to be a solo act. This was a smart move, as Madonna was signed by Sire Records in 1982, as a solo artist. She released her very first album in 1983.
17Live And In Concert
Madonna’s live show is a concert experience. It’s physical, it’s visually appealing and it's something that she’s worked very hard to perfect over the years. She's even integrated some acoustic songs, so she has a chance to recover from the physicality of some of her more energetic dances.
Hard work has always been a part of her brand. Madonna said, “I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star. I didn’t know anybody. I wanted to dance. I wanted to sing. I wanted to do all those things. I wanted to make people happy. I wanted to be famous. I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard and my dream came true.”
16The Material Girl
The evolution of Madonna’s famed relationship with Sean Penn coincides with much of her early career. Madonna began dating Penn when she was working on the video for “Material Girl”. The two tied the knot on her 27th birthday in 1985.
When Madonna dedicated her "True Blue" album to Penn, she said he was, “the coolest guy in the universe”. The marriage wouldn’t survive the 1980s and the two divorced on September 14th, 1989.
15The Big Hair Cut
Even celebrities are prone to buyer's regret when it comes to clothes they wear or a particularly tragic hairstyle choice. Fortunately for the rest of us, we are usually able to hide the photographic evidence.
For Madonna, these images remain a part of her journey as a style and music icon. Madonna said, “Sometimes I look back at myself and remember things I used to say, or my hairstyle, and I cringe.”
14Like A Prayer Era
Madonna’s look in the "Like a Prayer" video was one of the least controversial things about her career during that time period. Because of the video, and the outrage it triggered, the star lost her Pepsi contract and some fans.
Rhino Insider shared information from a Rolling Stone interview with the video's director, Mary Lambert. Mary said, “I knew that we were pushing some big buttons, but I sort of underestimated the influence and bigotry of fundamentalist religion and racism in this country and the world.”
13Blonde Ambition Tour
Madonna’s Blonde Ambition World Tour was the star’s third concert tour, to promote her fourth studio album. The tour had a last-minute name change. It was previously meant to be called the Like A Prayer Tour, but the title needed to be altered when Pepsi pulled their sponsorship of the star.
12Erotica Tour
Madonna’s fourth concert tour, in support of her album, "Erotica", was called The Girlie Show World Tour (or The Girlie Show for short). Always interested in smashing records, Madonna managed to sell 360,000 records. The tour was estimated to gross more than 70 million US dollars. It should have been called the “Make Madonna Rich” tour instead.
11Evita
Madonna’s foray into acting has been one of her most widely-criticized choices, but just the same, she saw some success. Her movie roles have included Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy, and Evita.
Madonna did manage to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, for her depiction of Eva Peron in the 1996 film, Evita.
10Ray Of Light
"Ray of Light" marked a new Madonna, as she embraced long blonde 'Botticelli curls' and a ‘Mother Earth’ aesthetic. Perhaps this was because of her new role as mother to daughter, Lourdes.
Madonna said, “Ever since my daughter was born, I feel the fleetingness of time. And I don’t want to waste it on getting the perfect lip color.”
9Nothing Really Matters At The Grammys
If Madonna was in the music business just for the awards, she’d still be winning. The star remains the highest-grossing touring solo artist of all time, having brought in 1.31 billion dollars for her concerts alone over the past 30 years. Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the very first year she became eligible.
8The All-American Cowgirl
While Madonna may enjoy looking like a cowgirl, she may not be so keen to get back in the saddle. The star broke several bones after a riding accident at her English country home on her 47th birthday.
Billboard released an article about the incident, along with a statement from her spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg. The statement read: “The superstar was hospitalized with three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.”
7Treated Like Royalty In 2002
While many like to poke fun at the British accent Madonna acquired quite suddenly, after spending more time in England, she is truly pop royalty. When Madonna met the Queen in 2002, she was reportedly quite nervous but remained calm. One fun fact is that Her Majesty didn’t immediately recognize Madonna out of context.
The Sun reported that Madonna said, “Indeed, it’s a nervous moment - it isn’t easy to keep up with The Queen".
The video footage in the report shows the Material Girl singer struggling to keep her cool as she shakes hands with QEII.
6 One Queen & Two Pop Princesses
Who could forget the infamous ‘performance’ at the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards, when Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears performed a version of her hit, "Like A Virgin", that was sealed with a very public kiss?
Even Brit was still talking about it when she performed at Radio City Music Hall (again) for her 2018 Pieces of Me Tour. ET Online reported that Britney told her fans, “This is our favorite city, the Big Apple! How are you guys doing? The last time I was on this stage, I kissed a girl. Her name was Madonna!”
5Disco Chic
Always redefining her look, her sound, and her image, Madonna looks groovy in this Disco-inspired outfit. Madonna has a healthy take on how fickle fans and haters can be and said, “I’ve been popular and unpopular, successful and unsuccessful, loved and loathed, and I know how meaningless it all is. Therefore, I feel free to take whatever risks I want.”
4Live From London
Whether you’re a lifelong fan or just curious, scoring a ticket to a Madonna show is something that's worth adding to your bucket list. In talking about her performances Madonna has a defined idea of what she’s offering. The pop queen says, “I’d like to think I am taking people on a journey; I am not just entertaining people but giving them something to think about when they leave.”
3Passing The Torch
Following Madonna's comment that one of Lady Gaga’s songs was similar to her own, the press reported that there was a feud between the two stars. This photo shows that the two have no problem interacting with each other, no matter what others say.
Madonna told Rolling Stone, “I don’t think she wants my crown. We live in a world where people like to pit women against each other. And this is why I love the idea of embracing other females who are doing what I’m doing.”
2Met Gala Madge
Even in her sixties, Madonna still pushes limits and speaks her mind. When she showed up at the Met Gala in a risqué outfit, she said that it was to make a statement about society’s constraints on women.
Madge posted on Instagram, “When it comes to women's rights we are still in the dark ages. My dress at the Met Ball was a political statement as well as a fashion statement. The fact that people actually believe a woman is not allowed to express her sexuality and be adventurous past a certain age is proof that we still live in an age-ist and sexist society.”
1How She's Still The Queen
Madonna still has it. To date, she has sold more than 300 million records globally and has been named by the Guinness World Records as the best-selling female recording artist of all time.
Madonna is confident and proud of her achievements. She said, “I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what I am, having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.”
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