Madonna

Madonna

Biography

Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie, born 16.8.1958) Madonna is an American award winning songwriter and pop singer. She is also an award-winning actress.

Net Worth: According to a Forbes article in 2013, Madonna has a net worth of 500 million USD.

Childhood: Madonna's father, Silvio Ciccone was an Italian-American. He worked as a design engineer for Chrysler/General Motors. Her mother, Madonna Louise, was of French-Canadian heritage. The third of six children, Madonna was raised as a Catholic, in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township. When Madonna was five, her mother died of breast cancer and father went on to marry their housekeeper, with whom he fathered another two children. At high school, Madonna was a straight-A student as well as a member of the school cheerleading squad. She took dance classes from a young age and eventually earned a dance scholarship for the University of Michigan. 

Career: Madonna moved to New York to pursue a dancing career in 1977. She formed her first band, The Breakfast Club, with then-boyfriend Dan Gilroy. She sang and played guitar and drums in the band. Her second band, Emmy, with another boyfriend, Stephen Bray, brought her attention in New York's dance clubs. One local DJ was so impressed with her dance recording demo tapes that he passed them on to Seymour Stein, the infamous founder of Sire Records. Stein signed Madonna to a singles deal.

Her first release, in 1982, was 'Everybody'. The track reached number three in the Billboard Hot Dance/Club chart, as did its follow-up 'Burning Up', the next year. The success of the singles convinced Stein to finance a full-length album. Madonna, released in 1983, was also a success, peaking at number eight on the US album chart. The follow-up album, Like A Virgin, became Madonna's first US number one album. Her popularity drew a massive wave of look-alikes, with girls bleaching their hair and wearing fishnet tights, to copy Madonna's style. The title track from the album was also a number one success, this time on the mainstream Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Madonna performed the song 'Like A Virgin' at the first ever MTV Video Awards. She performed the song on top of a giant wedding cake. Madonna's second number one single and first Grammy Award nomination came with 1985's 'Crazy For You'. The song was from the Vision Quest soundtrack. The film featured Madonna in a small role, playing a club singer. Later that year, she starred in Desperately Seeking Susan. 'Into The Groove', from the film's soundtrack, became Madonna's first UK number one. Later that year, Madonna undertook her first US concert tour, with rap group The Beastie Boys. In 1986, Madonna released True Blue. The album spawned five hit singles, including 'Live To Tell', 'Papa Don't Preach' and 'Open Your Heart', which all reached number one in the US. The next year. Madonna contributed four songs to the soundtrack to Who's That Girl?, another film featuring the singer in a lead role. At the time, Madonna's 'Who's That Girl?' World Tour was the highest-grossing tour in music history.

Pope John Paul II encouraged fans to boycott her Italian performances. Like a Prayer, Madonna's fourth studio album, was released in 1989 and featured Prince playing guitar on two songs. The album reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The next year, Madonna starred in Dick Tracy and again, was featured on the soundtrack, which reflected the 1930's setting of the film.

The album, I'm Breathless, sold over seven million copies worldwide. Later on in 1990, Madonna embarked on the 'Blond Ambition World Tour', which found her critcised for her dance routine during 'Like A Virgin', in which she simulated masturbation. In November of the same year, her first greatest hits collection was released: The Immaculate Collection. 'Rescue Me', one of two new songs on the compilation, became the highest-debuting single by a female artist on the Billboard Hot 100. The video for the other new track, 'Justify My Love', was banned from MTV for its explicitly sexual overtones. The single became her ninth number one.

Continuing her chart domination, Madonna's next single, in 1992, was her tenth number one. 'This Used To Be My Playground' was taken from the soundtrack to her latest venture, A League Of Their Own. That same year, Madonna set up Maverick Records and released the book SEX, a publication of explicit photographs of Madonna by Steven Meisel. The accompanying album was entitled Erotica. The single of the same name became the highest-debuting single in US history.

Madonna's next two films were not brilliantly received, either publicly or by critics. Body of Evidence contained a number of S&M scenes and Dangerous Game was denied a theatrical release. Her overtly sexual image continued and Orthodox Jews protested against her first Israel concert. Her critics were not appeased when she removed her underwear on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1994.

Madonna's sixth studio album was entitled Bedtime Stories, produced by Dallas Austin and nominated for a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Album. The title track was co-written by Icelandic pop star Björk and 'Take A Bow' stayed at number one for seven weeks. In 1996, Madonna returned to acting and starred in Evita, playing the role of Eva Perón. The soundtrack became her 12th platinum album. 'You Must Love Me', from the film, won both and Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture. She also won a Best Actress Golden Globe for her performance.

The next year, Madonna's album Ray of Light was released. Produced by William Orbit, the album won three Grammy Awards. She also released 'Beautiful Stranger', again with Orbit at the helm, for the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. In 2000, Madonna covered Don McLean's 'American Pie' for the soundtrack to her film The Next Best Thing. The follow up to Ray of Light saw Madonna continuing the electronic sound she had developed with William Orbit. Music went to number one in both the UK and US album charts. Her international success began to falter in 2002 when she starred in Swept Away, directed by her ex-husband Guy Ritchie. The film was a failure and failed to obtain a theatre release in Europe.

Her song 'Die Another Day', for the 20th James Bond theme earned her both a 'Best Original Song' nomination at the Grammys and a 'Worst Song' Golden Raspberry nomination. American Life was the title of Madonna's ninth studio album, released in 2003. It was the lowest-selling album of her career, despite selling over four million copies. At that year's MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna courted more controversy by sharing a kiss with both Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears during their onstage performance.

Her 'Re-Invention World Tour was the largest-grossing tour of 2004, and earned $125 million. Confessions on a Dancefloor, released in 2005, sold over 8 million copies. Madonna opened the 2006 Grammy awards with a performance of 'Hung Up.' It's follow-up, 'Sorry', made her the female artist with the highest number of number one singles in the UK.

The 'Confessions' tour was the highest-grossing tour ever for a female artist. 2007 saw Madonna leaving Warner Bros. and signing a new 10-year contract with Live Nation. The contract is reported to be worth $120 million and covers merchandise, albums and promotion. Her Warner Bros. obligations were completed with the 2008 release of Hard Candy, which features contributions from Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake.

In December 2007, Timberlake inducted Madonna to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2012, Madonna released her 12th studio album, MDNA. With this album, Madonna broke the record for most number one albums released by a solo artist in the UK and Australia.  

Personal Life: Madonna has had a number of high-profile relationships with men in the entertainment industry. Most notably, she has dated artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, musician Jellybean Benitez, actor Warren Beatty, rapper Vanilla Ice and basketball player Dennis Rodman.

In 1985, Madonna married Sean Penn, whom she had met on the set for the 'Material Girl' video. The couple was officially divorced in 1989. Madonna met Carlos Leon whilst walking in Central Park. They began dating and Madonna gave birth to their daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon on 14.10.1996. The relationship ended in 1997.

Two years later, she met Guy Ritchie and gave birth to their son, Rocco John Ritchie. The pair married in Scotland in 2000. In 2006, Madonna adopted a Malawian child, David Banda. The adoption caused outrage in some quarters as the adoption was not deemed to be legal and it was thought that Madonna had received special treatment due to her international profile.

On 15 December 2008 a spokeperson for Madonna announced that Guy Ritchie and Madonna were to divorce and had agreed a divorce settlement. In 2009, Madonna adopted a child from Malawi again called Mercy James.



Biography by Contactmusic.com

From Queen Of Pop To Prince Of Darkness: The Honorific Royalty Of The Music World


Elvis Presley Madonna Ozzy Osbourne

For as long as pop music has been a thing, we've been granting grand titles on some of the titans of the industry. While they'll never have the influence of real royal figures like Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, these artists' influence on popular culture has been nothing short of supreme.

Photo Credit: PixabayPhoto Credit: Pixabay

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Continue reading: From Queen Of Pop To Prince Of Darkness: The Honorific Royalty Of The Music World

It's Time We Stopped Talking About Madonna's Age


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Love her or hate her, you can't deny that Madonna is and always has been a stunningly beautiful woman. Meanwhile, she has also always been the centre of controversy with her bold looks and daring career moves. And that's not looking to change anytime soon as she causes quite a stir with a series of lingerie shots on Instagram.

Madonna performing live in 2016 / Photo credit: Ron Elkman/SIPA USA/PA ImagesMadonna performing live in 2016 / Photo credit: Ron Elkman/SIPA USA/PA Images

Clad in what appears to be leather and lace underwear (and a cap), the Queen of Pop looked sensational in her Instagram shots (indeed, judging by his thirsty reply, Snoop Dogg thought so too). 

Continue reading: It's Time We Stopped Talking About Madonna's Age

Wonder Women 1984: Musical Icons Of Their Age.


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As Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman 1984 seems to be everywhere at the moment we thought we'd take a look back at the wonder women of music back in 1984. DC Comics inspirational character is strong, independent and driven, a quality possessed by our top ten female artists from 1984. Back then the UK had a woman PM (Let's not get into whether she was ever wonderful), the women of Tenko were still plotting their escape, Juliet Bravo was keeping the streets of Hartley safe and Miss Ellie, Sue Ellen and Pam were still keeping the men folk of Dallas in check. 1984 was also the year of Band Aid, Footloose, Ghostbusters and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. All girl groups were more popular than ever with Sister Sledge, The Pointer Sisters, The Weather Girls and Bananarama all making a significant contribution to the music of 1984. Other acts to feature a female lead also made their mark; Annie Lennox as part of Eurythmics, Alannah Currie as part of The Thompson Twins and Elizabeth Fraser (arguably the voice of a generation) with The Cocteau Twins. Today though we are focusing on the individual and wow what an incredible cast we've assembled.

http://www.contactmusic.com/images/feature-images/madonna-september-1984-james-colburn-pa-images.jpg  Madonna in 1984. Picture by James Colburn.  

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Continue reading: Wonder Women 1984: Musical Icons Of Their Age.

Banned Music Videos: What's All The Fuss About?


David Bowie Madonna Queen Frankie Goes To Hollywood The Cardigans

It's thirty years ago this week that MTV banned Madonna's Justify My Love video. Back in 1990 it was deemed that chicly shot, arty portrayals of men and women enjoying a bit of casual BDSM in the luxury of a hotel room were all a bit too much for Joe Public to appreciate. Fast forward three decades and we're post Fifty Shades, still amidst a pandemic of none too subtle, highly suggestive twerking in almost every Hip-Hop video and nearly every new gritty drama worth it's weight seems to feel the need to throw in a vivid sex scene, full frontal nudity or even self-abuse. Obviously there is an issue of age ratings and watershed times to be considered when certain platforms make their decisions but we thought it high time we took a look back at five of our favourite, once banned videos. 

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David Bowie - The Next Day.

Continue reading: Banned Music Videos: What's All The Fuss About?

Madonna: Size Matters


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Madonna has insisted ''size matters'' when it comes to penises.

The 61-year-old singer - who was previously married to Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie and is currently dating 25-year-old backing dancer Ahlamalik Williams - joked on stage during her show at London Palladium that she had ''never been with'' a guy with a small manhood.

She said: ''What do you call a man with a small penis? The answer is, I wouldn't f***ing know. I've never been with a guy with a small d**k.

Continue reading: Madonna: Size Matters

June Favourites 2019: A Month Of Legendary Comebacks From Madonna, Springsteen And More


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This month has been one of absolute nostalgia as we revisit some music icons, some music geniuses, and one music hero who we'll sadly never hear again. Here are seven albums that have been released this month by some of the most capable artists of this generation. Stay tuned for our most anticipated releases of next month...

Avicii - Tim

It's been just over a year since this Swedish DJ (whose real name is Tim Bergling) was taken from us far too soon at the age of just 28. But his posthumous third album Tim shows why he will be remembered for a long time to come. Certainly songs like SOS and Heaven featuring Chris Martin are far more poignant that they were some of his final songs, but they are also genuinely fantastic examples of why he was one of the most iconic producers of his generation.

Continue reading: June Favourites 2019: A Month Of Legendary Comebacks From Madonna, Springsteen And More

The Year Of The Legend: Albums Of 2019 Vs The Artists' Most Iconic Releases


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At a time when recording and releasing music to the public has never been so easy, it's no wonder that fewer and fewer old school legends are choosing to retire. This year so far we've seen seven iconic stars unveil brand new records - but how do they compare to their most seminal releases? Certainly these are some iconic records you can enjoy.

Bruce Springsteen

2019: Western Stars

Continue reading: The Year Of The Legend: Albums Of 2019 Vs The Artists' Most Iconic Releases

Madonna Really Doesn't Care What You Think About Her 'Butt Implants'


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Madonna has hit back at recent reports and rumours that has had ‘butt implants’ with a no-nonsense Instagram post addressing body-shamers, saying she’s been after “no-one’s approval”.

Ever since pictures and videos of the Queen of Pop arriving at Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn in New York City on New Year’s Eve emerged, fans and reporters have been speculating that the 60 year old star may have had implants in her buttocks.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday night (January 3rd), Madonna made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t interested in the slightest in what anybody had to say, and made a cheeky reference to the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan, in which starred alongside Rosanna Arquette.

Continue reading: Madonna Really Doesn't Care What You Think About Her 'Butt Implants'

Madonna Defends Her VMAs Tribute To Aretha Franklin After Backlash


Madonna Aretha Franklin

Madonna has addressed the backlash that followed her speech at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards at the weekend, after she was criticised for being disrespectful in her tribute to the late Aretha Franklin.

The pop icon, who celebrated her 60th birthday last week, was accused of being tone-deaf in her five-minute monologue about her own career. Some were annoyed that a white artist had been selected to pay tribute to Franklin (who passed away on Thursday), while others expressed disbelief that Madge spent virtually the entire time talking about herself and her own journey to becoming a star.

However, she took to Instagram days later to defend herself, explaining that the organisers of the VMAs had asked her to share “any anecdotes” about the late Queen of Soul while presenting the Album of the Year award on Sunday night at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Continue reading: Madonna Defends Her VMAs Tribute To Aretha Franklin After Backlash

Full 2018 MTV VMA Winners! (And Why Everyone Was Disappointed In Madonna)


Madonna Camila Cabello Aretha Franklin

The 2018 MTV VMAs were finally handed out last night but rather than the event being a cause for celebration, many people are unhappy with how everything went down. From the winners to the speeches, there was little that inspired Video Music Awards viewers this year. Ratings are not expecting to be at an all time high.

Camila Cabello at 2018 MTV VMAsCamila Cabello at 2018 MTV VMAs

For a start, plenty of people have taken to Twitter to complain about Camila Cabello winning Video of the Year with 'Havana' rather than Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' taking the prize. For a video that managed to win Video With a Message, Best Direction and Best Choreography, you would have thought Video of the Year was a given for Donald Glover.

Continue reading: Full 2018 MTV VMA Winners! (And Why Everyone Was Disappointed In Madonna)

Madonna seen on the red carpet at the 2016 Billboard Women In Music event held at Pier 36, New York, United States - Friday 9th December 2016

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Madonna seen on the red carpet at the 2016 Billboard Women In Music event held at Pier 36, New York, United States - Friday 9th December 2016

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Various celebrities including Madonna attend a VIP party celebrating the works of Mert & Marcus held at Mark's Club - London, United Kingdom - Friday 28th October 2016

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Madonna seen at the world premiere of 'The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years' held at The Odeon Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom - Thursday 15th September 2016

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Madonna seen at the 'The Beatles: Eight Days a Week' World Premiere held at Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom - Thursday 15th September 2016

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Madonna

Date of birth

16th August, 1958

Occupation

Musician

Sex

Female

Height

1.65




Instagram



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Madonna Movies

W.E. Movie Review

W.E. Movie Review

Madonna takes an ambitious approach to the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII, merging the history-making...

W.E. Trailer

W.E. Trailer

In 1998 came the news that the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor...

Swept Away (2002) Movie Review

Swept Away (2002) Movie Review

After beginning his career with two frenetic crime films (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels;...

Evita Movie Review

Evita Movie Review

Now I understand why Argentineans wanted Madonna to go home during the filming of Evita!What...

Die Another Day Movie Review

Die Another Day Movie Review

Until director Lee Tamahori blasts right past a perfectly good ending, only to burn a...

The Next Best Thing Movie Review

The Next Best Thing Movie Review

Homogenized, sterilized and clearly revised by test-audience scoring, "The Next Best Thing" is a disingenuous,...

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