On July 10 1985, The Playboy magazine issue of nude Madonna photos was released !!

Playboy publishes nude photos of Madonna taken before she was famous.

The singer did a number of nude photo shoots from 1977-1980, starting when she was an 18-year-old student at the University of Michigan looking for some extra cash and trying to form a band. Now a huge star, Playboy publishes some of the shots taken in 1979 and 1980 in a revealing spread.

A year earlier, the magazine turned down nude photos of Miss America winner Vanessa Williams, which their rival Penthouse published. "We think Vanessa genuinely didn't know what she was doing, didn't know her photos might be published," the article states. "Madonna, on the other hand, posed repeatedly for two noted photographers who routinely publish what they shoot."

One of the photographers, Lee Friedlander, says of the shoot: "She seemed very confident, a street-wise girl."

Madonna has little to say on the matter, but doesn't shy away. "I'm not ashamed," she tells the New York Post, a quote that becomes her credo. A week later, more photos from this time period appear in Penthouse, and she also graces that cover.

Indeed, Madonna is very comfortable posing nude, and continues to do so, but on her terms. Already a sex symbol tantalizing audiences in her Like A Virgin phase, she gets far more controversial and erotic, releasing the revealing documentary Truth Or Dare in 1991, and publishing a book of nude photos called Sex in 1992.

By taking control of her image and embracing her sexuality, Madonna sets an example that many other young pop singers follow.