Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone ( chih-KOH-nee; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Queen of Pop", she is known for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation, with works that incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes and have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A significant cultural figure of both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna is often deemed one of the greatest popular musicians in history.

Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she rose to solo stardom with her debut studio album, Madonna (1983). She has since earned eighteen multi-platinum albums, including Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990)—some of the best-selling albums of all time—and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), her 21st-century bestseller. Like a Prayer (1989), Ray of Light (1998), and Music (2000) were ranked among Rolling Stone's greatest albums of all time. Madonna's top-charting singles include "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl", "La Isla Bonita", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Take a Bow", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes".

Madonna has starred in films such as Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996), with the lattermost winning her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Many of her other films were not well-received. Her business endeavors encompass the entertainment company Maverick (1992–2009), which included Maverick Records—one of the most successful artist-run labels. She has also pursued fashion brands, written works, health clubs, and filmmaking. Madonna contributes to various charities, having founded the Ray of Light Foundation in 1998 and Raising Malawi in 2006, and advocates for gender equality and LGBT rights.

Madonna is the best-selling female music artist of all time and the first female performer to accumulate US$1 billion from her concerts. She is the most successful solo artist on the US Billboard Hot 100 and has 44 number-one singles across major global music markets. Her accolades include seven Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, 20 MTV Video Music Awards, and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. Madonna was the world's highest-paid female musician for a record eleven years across four decades (1980s–2010s). She has become the subject of various scholarly, literary, and artistic works, as well as a mini-academic sub-discipline called Madonna studies.

Life and career

1958–1978: Early life

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan, on August 16, 1958. Her father, Silvio "Tony" Ciccone, worked as an optics and military engineer and physicist for Chrysler Defense and later General Dynamics Land Systems; her mother, Madonna Louise (née Fortin), was an X-ray technician. Tony's parents were Italian emigrants from Pacentro, while her mother was of French-Canadian descent. Since Madonna shared her name with her mother, family members referred to her as "Little Nonnie". Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills), alongside her two older brothers, Anthony and Martin, and her three younger siblings, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.

When Madonna was five years old, her mother died of breast cancer on December 1, 1963. In 1966, she adopted Veronica as a confirmation name upon receiving the sacrament in the Catholic Church. That same year, Tony married the family's housekeeper, Joan Gustafson. They were married for 58 years until Joan's death in 2024, and had three children: Joey (who died shortly after his 1967 birth from a heart defect), Jennifer, and Mario. Madonna attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Catholic elementary schools, as well as West Middle School. She earned high grades—her father gave her a quarter for every A—and was notorious for her unconventional behavior. Madonna performed cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, hung upside down from the monkey bars during recess, and lifted her skirt in class to amuse the boys.

In retrospect, Madonna described herself as a "lonely girl who was searching for something", explaining: "I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave under my arms and I didn't wear makeup like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades [...] I wanted to be somebody." Her father initially enrolled her in classical piano lessons, but she eventually persuaded him to let her study ballet instead. Her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, inspired her to pursue a career in dance. While attending Rochester Adams High School, Madonna was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad. After graduating in January 1976, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan and spent the summer studying at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina.

In 1978, Madonna left college and moved to New York City. She called the decision "the bravest thing [she'd] ever done"; it was the first time she had ever flown on a plane or taken a taxi, and she arrived with "$35 in [her] pocket". She settled in the Alphabet City area of the East Village and supported herself with limited means by working various jobs—including as a hatcheck girl at the Russian Tea Room, an elevator operator at Terrace on the Park, and a member of modern dance troupes. Madonna took classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performed with the Pearl Lang Dance Theater, and studied under dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. One night, while returning from a rehearsal, two men held her at knifepoint and forced her to perform fellatio. She later found the incident to be "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."

1979–1983: Career beginnings, rock bands, and Madonna

In 1979, Madonna entered a romantic relationship with musician Dan Gilroy. During this period, she searched for job opportunities in such publications as Variety, Backstage, and Show Business, leading to a successful audition to perform in Paris as a backup singer and dancer for French disco artist Patrick Hernandez. During her little time with Hernandez's troupe in Paris, she traveled to Tunisia and several disco-oriented European countries before returning to New York that same year. Madonna relocated to an abandoned synagogue in Corona, Queens, where Gilroy and his brother Ed resided and practiced. The group slept in the basement and used its meeting space both to rehearse and record music for their band, Breakfast Club, for which Madonna sang and played drums and guitar.

Madonna made her acting debut in the low-budget indie film A Certain Sacrifice, which was shot in two parts during 1979 and 1981. She unsuccessfully attempted to block its 1985 release through legal action against director Stephen Jon Lewicki. The film was primarily criticized for its explicit sexual and violent content. In 1980, after leaving the Breakfast Club and ending her relationship with Gilroy, Madonna reunited with drummer Stephen Bray, whom she had previously dated in Michigan, and together they formed the band Emmy. By 1982, she and Bray lived and rehearsed at the Music Building in Manhattan, where they wrote songs and recorded a four-track demo tape. After leaving Emmy, Camille Barbone, who ran Gotham Records in the Music Building, signed Madonna to a contract with the label in March 1981, working as her manager until February 1982. Her creative partnership with Bray continued for many years.

In 1982, Madonna visited nightclubs to persuade disc jockeys (DJs) to play her demo, leading Mark Kamins at Danceteria to take an interest in her music and begin a romance with her. He arranged a meeting with Seymour Stein, president of Sire Records—a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records—after which she signed a two-single deal. Kamins produced her debut single, "Everybody", which was released in October 1982 and promoted with television and nightclub performances. Her second single, the double A-side "Burning Up" / "Physical Attraction", was released in March 1983. Both "Everybody" and "Burning Up" / "Physical Attraction" reached number three on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. During this period, Madonna was in a relationship with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and living in his SoHo loft. Basquiat introduced her to art curator Diego Cortez, who had managed several punk bands. Cortez declined to manage Madonna when she requested for him to do so.