Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie born August , , known artistically as Madonna, is an American pop singersongwriter, record producer, and actress. Raised near Detroit, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City for a career in ballet. After performing as member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her selftitled debut album in . She rose to success after producing three consecutive numberone studio albums on the Billboard in the s.Madonna is wellknown for her works that explore religious symbolism and sexual themes. In , she founded an entertainment company, Maverick, whose first publication is a book of erotic photographs Sex. She also released a studio album Erotica and starred in a film Body of Evidence with erotic themes. These works generated negative critical publicity, opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, and a fall in commercial sales in the early to mid s compared to her success in the s. Nevertheless, she continued to earn considerable chart success with several releases during this perod albums such as The Immaculate Collection, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Evita, all achieved multiplatinum sales. Madonnas fortunes were revived in , when the release of her album Ray of Light garnered critical acclaim. She subsequently made four more consecutive numberone studio albums.Besides her music career, Madonna has acted in films. Although several of them failed critically and commercially, she earned a Golden Globe Award for her role in the film Evita. Divorced from actor Sean Penn, Madonna is married to film director Guy Ritchie. She has two biological children and successfully adopted a Malawian boy, David Banda, in despite media allegations of violating adoption laws.Madonna has been critically regarded as one of the greatest pop acts of all time and dubbed The Queen of Pop by the media. She is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the bestselling female rock artist of the twentieth century and the second topselling female artist in the United States with million certified albums. Guinness World Records list her as the worlds most successful female recording artist of all time and the topearning female singer in the world with an estimated net worth of over US$ million, having sold over million albums worldwide. On March , , she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.CareerEarly life and career debutMadonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in a Catholic family in Bay City, Michigan. Her mother, Madonna Louise née Fortin, was of French Canadian descent, and her father, Silvio Tony P. Ciccone, was a firstgeneration Italian American ChryslerGeneral Motors design engineer whose parents originated from Pacentro in Italy. Madonna is the third of six children her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Paula Mae, Christopher, and Melanie.
Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac, Michigan and Avon Township now Rochester Hills, Michigan. Her mother died of breast cancer at age on December , . Her father married the family housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and they had two children. I didnt accept my stepmother when I was growing up, Madonna said, in retrospect I think I was really hard on her. Madonna convinced her father to allow her to take ballet classes. Madonna attended St. Fredericks Elementary School and St. Andrews Elementary School present day Holy Family Regional and West Middle School. She attended Rochester Adams High School, becoming a straightA student and a member of the cheerleading squad. Madonna received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan after graduating from high school.Madonnas ballet teacher persuaded her to pursue a dance career, so she left the University of Michigan at the end of and moved to New York City. Madonna had little money and for some time lived in squalor, working at Dunkin Donuts and with modern dance troupes. Speaking of her move to New York, Madonna said, It was the first time Id ever taken a plane, the first time Id ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $ in my pocket. It was the bravest thing Id ever done. While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his world tour, Madonna became romantically involved with the musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club in New York. In it, she sang and played drums and guitar before forming the band Emmy in with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray. She and Bray wrote and produced dance songs that brought her local attention in New York dance clubs. Disc jockey and record producer Mark Kamins was impressed by her demo recordings, so he brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.– Madonna and Like a VirginIn , Madonna signed a singles deal with Sire Records, a label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her first release was Everybody on April , . Her debut album, Madonna was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas.adonnas look and manner of dress, performances and music videos, became influential among young girls and women. Defined by lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the Christian cross, and bleached hair, it became a female fashion trend in the s. Her follow up album, Like a Virgin, became her first number one album on the U.S. albums chart its commercial performance was buoyed by the success of its title track, Like a Virgin, which reached number one in the U.S. with a six week stay at the top. The album sold millions copies worldwide, eight of which in the U.S. She performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards, wearing her thentrademark Boy Toy belt. Like a Virgin is listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the Definitive Albums of All Time.
In , Madonna entered mainstream films, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest. Its soundtrack contained her second U.S. numberone single Crazy for You. Later that year, she appeared in Desperately Seeking Susan. The film introduced the song Into the Groove, which became her first numberone single in the UK. Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in the U.S. in titled The Virgin Tour, with the Beastie Boys. In July that year, Penthouse and Playboy magazines published a number of black and white nude photos of Madonna taken in the late s. Madonna took legal action to try and block them from being published, but when that failed she became unapologetic and defiant. At the outdoor Live Aid charity concert at the height of the controversy, Madonna made a critical reference to the media and stated she would not take her jacket off because they might hold it against me ten years from now.– True Blue, Like a Prayer and Blond AmbitionMadonna released her third album, True Blue, in , prompting Rolling Stone to say that it sounds as if it comes from the heart. The album included the ballad Live to Tell, which she wrote for the film At Close Range, starring her thenhusband Sean Penn. True Blue produced four Top singles on the Billboard charts Live to Tell, Papa Dont Preach, Open Your Heart and True Blue. In the same year, Madonna starred in the film Shanghai Surprise and made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabes Goose and TomTom, both costarring Sean Penn.In , Madonna starred in Whos That Girl, and contributed four songs to its soundtrack including the title track and the U.S. numbertwo single, Causing a Commotion. In the same year, she embarked on the Whos That Girl World Tour. It marked her first conflict with the Vatican, as Pope John Paul II urged Italian fans not to attend her concerts. Later that year, Madonna released a remix album of past hits, You Can Dance. In , city officials in the town of Pacentro began to construct a foot m statue of Madonna in a bustier. The statue commemorates the fact that her ancestors had lived in Pacentro. In , Madonna starred as Karen in a play by David Mamet called SpeedthePlow.In early , Madonna signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi. She debuted her new song, Like a Prayer, in a Pepsi commercial and also made a music video for it. The video, which features many Catholic symbols such as stigmata and burning crosses, was condemned by the Vatican. Since the commercial and music video were nearly identical, Pepsi was unable to convince the public that their commercial had nothing that could be deemed inappropriate. They revoked the commercial and cancelled their sponsorship contract with Madonna.
Madonnas fourth album, Like a Prayer, released in , was cowritten and coproduced by Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray. Rolling Stone hailed it as ...as close to art as pop music gets. Like a Prayer peaked at number one on the U.S. album chart and sold seven million copies worldwide, with four million copies sold in the U.S. alone. The album produced three Top charting singles the title track her seventh numberone single in the U.S., Express Yourself and Cherish.Madonna left with Tony Ward, center at the AIDS Project Los Angeles benefit concert in Madonna left with Tony Ward, center at the AIDS Project Los Angeles benefit concert in In , Madonna starred as Breathless Mahoney in a film adaptation of the comic book series Dick Tracy. To accompany the launching of the film in May , she released Im Breathless that includes songs inspired by the films s setting. It features her eighth U.S. numberone single, Vogue, and her Academy Awardwinning song Sooner or Later. The second single released from Im Breathless was Hanky Panky, which peaked in the U.S. at number nine. In April , Madonna began her Blond Ambition World Tour. Featuring religious and sexual themes, the tour drew controversy from her performance of Like a Virgin during which two male dancers caressed her body before she simulated masturbation. The Pope again encouraged Italians not to attend to it. A private association of Catholics, called Famiglia Domani, also boycotted the tour for featuring eroticism. In response, Madonna said, I am Italian American and proud of it and the Church completely frowns on sex... except for procreation.In November , Madonna released her first greatest hits compilation album, The Immaculate Collection, which includes two new songs Justify My Love and Rescue Me. Rescue Me became the highestdebuting single by a female artist in the U.S. chart history, entering at number and peaking at number nine, a record broken by Beyoncé Knowless Ring the Alarm in . Justify My Love became a numberone dance hit in the U.S. Its music video featured scenes of sadomasochism, bondage, samesex kissing and brief nudity. It was deemed too sexually explicit for MTV and banned from the station. In , Madonna starred in her first documentary film, Truth or Dare, which chronicles her Blond Ambition Tour, as well as her personal life. The following year, she appeared in the baseball film A League of Their Own with a portrayal of Italian American Mae Mordabito, and recorded the films theme song, This Used to Be My Playground.
Madrid premiere of EvitaMadrid premiere of EvitaIn , Madonna founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company Maverick Records, a film production company Maverick Films, and also music publishing, television, merchandising and bookpublishing divisions. It was a joint venture with Time Warner as part of a $ million recording and business deal. The deal gave her a % royalty, equal at the time to Michael Jacksons. The first release from the venture was Madonnas first publication Sex, a book consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images photographed by Steven Meisel. It caused media controversy but sold , copies in the U.S. At the same time she released her fifth studio album Erotica, featuring three sexual songs—Erotica, Where Life Begins, and Did You Do It?. The album peaked at number two in the U.S., becoming one of her least successful records. Its title track peaked at in the U.S. Hot . The album also produced five further songs Deeper and Deeper, Bad Girl, Fever, Rain and Bye Bye Baby.During , she starred in two films. First was the erotic thriller Body of Evidence. The film contained S&M and bondage and was poorly received by critics. The second was the first production for Maverick Films, Dangerous Game. It was released straighttovideo in North America but received some good reviews for Madonnas performance. The New York Times described that She submits impressively to the emotions raging furiously around her. Madonna was publicly unhappy with the end result saying that Even though its a shit movie and I hate it, I am good in it.citation needed She also expressed her disappointment regarding the final cut of the film, claiming that the director had cut many of her key scenes and completely changed the ending. Madonna embarked on The Girlie Show World Tour at the end of . It featured her dressed as a whipcracking dominatrix, surrounded by topless dancers. The controversy continued in Puerto Rico when she rubbed its flag between her legs on stage, while Orthodox Jews protested against her first ever show in Israel.In the spring of , Madonna released the single Ill Remember which she recorded for Alek Keshishians film With Honors. That year, she also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, using fourletter words and asking Letterman to smell her underwear. Later that year, she released her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories which was a further commercial disappointment. It produced four singles— Secret, Take a Bow, Bedtime Story and Human Naturen November , Madonna released Something to Remember, a collection of her ballads which featured her cover of the Marvin Gaye song I Want You and the top ten song Youll See. In , Madonna’s most critically successful film, Evita, was released. She portrayed the main part of Eva Perón, a role first played by Elaine Paige in the West End. The soundtrack album contained three of her singles, of which You Must Love Me won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song From a Motion Picture. Madonna also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
Ray of Light, Music and Drowned WorldMadonnas studio album Ray of Light debuted at in the U.S. Allmusic called it her most adventurous record. The album produced three U.S. top singles Frozen, Ray of Light and Nothing Really Matters. It won three Grammy Awards. Its title track won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. and was used by Microsoft in its advertising campaign to introduce Windows XP. Frozen was adjudicated to be a plagiarism of Belgian songwriter Salvatore Acquavivas song Ma Vie Fout Lcamp, and the album banned in Belgium. The album has been ranked on Rolling Stones Greatest Albums of All Time. In , Madonna was signed to play a violin teacher in the film Music of the Heart but left the project, citing creative differences with director Wes Craven. Madonna followed the success of Ray of Light with the single Beautiful Stranger, recorded for the Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack. It reached on the Billboard Hot with airplay alone.In , Madonna starred in The Next Best Thing. She contributed two songs to the films soundtrack, Time Stood Still and the international hit American Pie, a cover version of the s Don McLean single. Madonnas eighth studio album, Music, was released in and debuted at on the U.S. album charts. It produced three successful singles in the U.S. Music, Dont Tell Me and What It Feels Like for a Girl. The latter having a video which depicts murders by car, was banned by MTV and VH.In , Madonna began her first world tour since , the Drowned World Tour, visiting cities in North America and Europe. The tour was a success as one of the highest grossing of the year. It grossed $ million from soldout shows. She also released her second greatest hits collection, GHV to coincide with the home video release of the tour.In , Madonna starred in the film Swept Away directed by her husband Guy Ritchie. The film was a commercial and critical failure and released straighttovideo in the UK. Later that year, she released the title song Die Another Day to the th James Bond film, in which she had a cameo role. It reached number eight in the U.S. Hot and was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Song. In , Madonna starred in a play by David Williamson entitled Up For Grabs.– American Life and Confessions On A Dance Floorive benefit concert, July, ive benefit concert, July , In April , Madonna released the album American Life, themed on American society. It received mixed reviews. The song peaked at on the Billboard Hot . Having sold million copies, American Life became the lowest selling album of her career. Later that year, Madonna performed the song Hollywood with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott at the MTV Video Music Awards. Madonna kissed Spears and Aguilera during the performance, resulting in tabloid press frenzy. That fall, Madonna provided guest vocals on Spearss single Me Against the Music. During the Christmas season of , Madonna released Remixed & Revisited, a remix EP that included rock versions of songs from American Life, and Your Honesty, a previously unreleased track from the Bedtime Stories recording sessions.
In March Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company, Time Warner, claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, WMG filed a countersuit, alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own. On June , , the dispute was resolved when Maverick shares owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev were purchased. The company was now a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music. but Madonna is still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract. Later that year, Madonna embarked on the ReInvention World Tour in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. It became the highestgrossing tour of , earning $ million. She made a documentary about the tour named Im Going to Tell You a Secret. In , Rolling Stone ranked her on their list of the Greatest Artists of All Time.Confessions Tour in Los AngelesConfessions Tour in Los AngelesIn January , Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon song Imagine on the televised U.S. aid concert Tsunami Aid, which raised money for the tsunami victims in Asia. In July , Madonna performed at the Live benefit concert in London, run in support of the aims of the UKs Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty. Her performances of Like a Prayer, Ray of Light and Music were included in the Live DVD. Her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor was released that year and sold more than million copies. The album received positive reviews. It produced four singles — Hung Up reached in a record breaking countries. Sorry became Madonnas twelfth number one in the UK, making her the female artist with the most singles in the UK charts. It was also a U.S. Dance hit. Get Together, became her thirtysixth number one dance hit in the U.S. The fourth single, Jump, reached number nine in the UK.Madonna at the Wembley Arena in London during her Confessions touradonna at the Wembley Arena in London during her Confessions tourIn mid, Madonna became the worldwide model for H&M. Included in the deal was a specially designed track suit, created by Madonna. The next year, the clothing line M by Madonna was launched internationally. Madonnas Confessions Tour began in May . It had a global audience of . million people and, with reported gross sales of $. million. The use of religious symbols such as the crucifix and Crown of Thorns in the performance of Live to Tell caused controversy. The Russian Orthodox Church and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia urged all members to boycott her concert. Prosecutors in Düsseldorf threatened to sue her and a Protestant bishop said, the only way an aging superstar can attract attention is to offend peoples religious sentiments. Vatican officials claimed her mock crucifixion was an open attack on Catholicism, to which Madonna responded My performance is neither antiChristian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole. In December , PETA criticized Madonna for wearing a chinchilla fur coat in a London restaurant.
Madonna opposes American President George W. Bush. In her Confessions Tour performance of the song I Love New York, she replaced the original lyrics just go to Texas, isnt that where they golf? with just go to Texas and suck George Bushs dick! She endorsed Wesley Clarks Democratic nomination for the presidential election in a letter to her fans saying, the future I wish for my children is at risk. In late , she expressed her support for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the election. Most recently, she stated that she would be behind Al Gore if he decided to run for the elections after seeing his documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. She also urged her fans to see Michael Moores Fahrenheit .–present New record deal, directorial debut and Hard Candyn May , Madonna released the downloadonly song Hey You, in anticipation of Live Earth, which was free for its first week. She also performed it at the London Live Earth concert in July .In October , Madonna announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records and a new $ million, ten year contract with Live Nation. She will be the founding recording artist for the new music division, Live Nation Artists. The Warner Bros. deal will be completed with a compilation album due at the end of or early .In November , The New York Post claimed animal enthusiasts were horrified by Madonna dyeing her sheep for a photograph, and vilified for organising pheasanthunting parties at her estate. In December , the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Madonna as one of the five inductees of . The ceremony took place on March , . Madonna also directed her first film, Filth and Wisdom and produced and wrote I Am Because We Are, a documentary on the problems faced by Malawians directed by her former gardener Nathan Rissman. Filth and Wisdom received mixed reviews. The Times Online said she has done herself proud while The Telegraph described the film as not an entirely unpromising first effort but Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job. The Guardian praised I Am Because We Are, saying that she came, saw and conquered the worlds biggest film festival.In , Madonna promoted her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy, with the Hard Candy Promo Tour. It was lauded by Rolling Stone as an impressive taste of her upcoming tour. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, where Madonna achieved ten number one albums. Hard Candy sold , copies in the United States upon its first day of release. It debuted at number one on the Billboard with over , copies sold. Despited positive reviews, it was panned as an attempt to harness the urban market. Its lead single Minutes reached number on the U.S. Billboard Hot and number on the U.S. Radio & Records Pop Chart. Future promotion of the album will include the Sticky & Sweet Tour due to begin in August .
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Madonnas Catholic background and relationship with her parents were reflected in the album Like a Prayer. It is also an evocation of the impact religion had on her career. Her video for the title track contains Catholic symbolism, such as the stigmata. During The Virgin Tour, she wore a rosary and prayed with it in the music video for La Isla Bonita.Madonna has also referred to her Italian heritage in her work. The video for Like a Virgin, features Venetian settings. The Open Your Heart video sees her boss scolding her in Italian. In Ciao, Italia! Live from Italy, the video release of her Whos That Girl Tour, she dedicates the song Papa Dont Preach to the Pope Papa is the Italian word for Pope.n , Madonna commented that the first song to ever make a strong impression on her was These Boots Are Made for Walkin by Nancy Sinatra and that it summed up her takecharge attitude. As a young woman, she attempted to broaden her taste in literature, art, and music, and during this time became interested in classical music. She noted that her favorite style was baroque, and loved Mozart and Chopin because she liked their feminine quality. In , Madonna identified musical influences that impacted her such as Karen Carpenter, the Supremes and Led Zeppelin, and dancers like Martha Graham, Rudolph Nureyev. In an interview with the Observer, Madonna professed her inspirations—Detroit natives The Raconteurs and The White Stripes, as well as New York band The Jett Set.During her childhood, Madonna was inspired by actors, later saying, I loved Carole Lombard and Judy Holliday and Marilyn Monroe. They were all incredibly funny...and I saw myself in them...my girlishness, my knowingness and my innocence. Her Material Girl music video recreated Monroes Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and she later studied the screwball comedies of the s, particularly those of Lombard, in preparation for her film Whos That Girl. The video for Express Yourself was inspired by Fritz Langs silent film Metropolis. The video for Vogue recreated the style of Hollywood glamour photographers, in particular Horst P. Horst, and imitated the poses of Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard and Rita Hayworth, while the lyrics referenced many of the stars who had inspired her. Among them was Bette Davis, described by Madonna as an idol, along with Louise Brooks and Dita Parlo.Madonna has been influenced by the art world, most notably by Frida Kahlo. Her music video to Bedtime Story featured images inspired by the paintings of Kahlo and Remedios Varo. Her video to Hollywood was a homage to the work of photographer Guy Bourdin which led to a lawsuit by Bourdins son due to the use of his fathers work without permission.
Personal lifeRelationshipsIn the late s, Madonna began dating Dan Gilroy, with whom she formed the band Breakfast Club. In the early s, she also dated her collaborator Stephen Bray, artist JeanMichel Basquiat, DJ and record producer Mark Kamins, and musician Jellybean Benitez. While filming the music video for Material Girl in , Madonna began dating actor Sean Penn and married him later that year. After filing and withdrawing divorce papers in December , they separated on New Years Eve of and officially divorced in September . Of her marriage to Penn, Madonna said, I was completely obsessed with my career and not ready to be generous in any shape or form. Madonna then began a relationship with Warren Beatty while working on the film Dick Tracy early in .Madonna with husband Guy RitchieMadonna with husband Guy Ritchien late , Madonna dated Tony Ward, a young bisexual model and porn star who starred in her music videos for Cherish and Justify My Love . Their relationship ended by early , and Madonna later began an eightmonth relationship with rapper Vanilla Ice, who appeared later in her Sex book. Madonna dated basketball player Dennis Rodman in the mid s. In September , while walking in Central Park, Madonna met fitness trainer Carlos Leon who became her personal trainer and lover. On October , , Madonna gave birth to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon in Los Angeles, California. Madonna then dated Andy Bird, who sold his story to the newspapers in a tellall about their eighteenmonth relationship in late . Madonna was later romantically involved with Guy Ritchie, whom she had met in through mutual friends Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler. In August , she bore his son, Rocco in Los Angeles. On December , , Madonna and Ritchie were married in Scotland. As of , Madonna resides in Marylebone, London and her country estate in Tollard Royal, Wiltshire, with Ritchie and her two biological children and David Banda adopted.David Banda adoption controversyIn October , Madonna flew to Malawi to help build an orphanage, which she also funded as part of the Raising Malawi initiative. On October , , she filed adoption papers for a boy named David Banda Mwale, born on September , and renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie. Banda was flown out of Malawi on October . The adoption raised public controversy due to the fact that Malawian law requires one year of residence for potential adoptive parents. The effort was highly publicised and culminated into legal disputes.Madonna refuted the allegations on The Oprah Winfrey Show in October . She said that there are no written adoption laws in Malawi that regulate foreign adoption and that Banda had been suffering from pneumonia after surviving malaria and tuberculosis when she met him. Madonna blamed the media for doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa by discouraging the adoption. Singer and humanitarian activist, Bono, defended her by saying, Madonna should be applauded for helping to take a child out of the worst poverty imaginable. Her friend Gwyneth Paltrow also credited her as an inspiration for future adoption plans.
Also, it was reported that Bandas biological father Yohane did not understand what adoption meant and had assumed that the arrangement was fostering. He said, These socalled human rights activists are harassing me every day, threatening me that I am not aware of what I am doing. He also said, They want me to support their court case, a thing I cannot do for I know what I agreed with Madonna and her husband. Madonna responded that Banda had rejected her offer of financial support and preferred adoption. The adoption was finalized on May , Yohane Banda expressed satisfaction but said, I might challenge some aspects of the order.Work at the Kabbalah CentreSince the late s, Madonna has been a devotee of the Jewish mysticism Kabbalah Centre and a disciple of its head, Rabbi Philip Berg, and his wife Karen. She also studies personally with her own privatetutor, Rabbi Eitan Yardeni, whose wife Sarah Yardeni runs her favorite charitable project, Spirituality for Kids, a subsidiary of the Centre. Madonna donated $ million towards a new Kabbalah school for children. Israeli rabbis condemned the song Isaac from Confessions on a Dance Floor because they believed it was a tribute to Rabbi Isaac Luria and claimed that Jewish law forbids commercialising a rabbis name. Madonna denied the accusations, claiming she named it after an Israeli singer and said, The album isnt even out, so how could Jewish scholars in Israel know what my song is about? Madonna has defended her Kabbalah studies by stating it would be less controversial if I joined the Nazi Party and that the Kabbalah is not hurting anybody.LegacyMadonna has been lauded as a talented artist by numerous music critics, although others have described her lyrics as simple, and even dull. Her Confessions Tour is the highest grossing concert tour by a female artist. In the United Kingdom, she is the most successful female in the singles chart history and has more UK number one singles than any other female solo artist. In , she surpassed Elvis Presley as the artist with most top ten hits in the history of Billboard Hot . In , Madonna was listed by VH as eighth in the Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. On March , , she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.There has been public intrigue and scrutiny concerning her alleged sexual relationships with women, including speculations of affairs with Naomi Campbell and Sandra Bernhard. The book Sex depicts her in several sexual situations with both men and women, and she has been credited for contributing to the social liberation of bisexuality in the United States in the s. Madonna has been criticized by the Roman Catholic Church, particularly during her Whos That Girl, Blond Ambition and Confessions tours. New York Times journalist and author Gay Talese relates this to her Italian ancestry – people from Pacentro have been in a long tradition of rebellion against Catholics. Madonna continued her rebellion by having her son Rocco baptized in a Presbyterian Church.
Madonnas persona and star figure have generated academic interest. Interdisciplinary research and publications on topics relating to Madonna include her relationship to and place within commodity culture, the massmedia spectacles she creates, and the iconography relating to minority groups such as gay, lesbian, and Latin American people, which she uses in videos such as Vogue, Like a Prayer, La Isla Bonita and Borderline. These publications were so extensive that in the s, academics would refer to Madonna Studies as a subfield of media studies.In a new water bear species Latin Tardigrada, Echiniscus madonnae, was named after Madonna. The paper with the description of E. madonnae was published in the international journal of animal taxonomy Zootaxa in March Vol. , pages –. The authors justification for the name of the new species was We take great pleasure in dedicating this species to one of the most significant artists of our times, Madonna Louise Veronica Ritchie. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System ITIS number of the species is is the debut album by American singersongwriter Madonna, released on July , by Sire Records. The album was rereleased in for the European market and repackaged as Madonna The First Album. In , Warner Bros. released a remastered version with two bonus remix tracks. The RIAA certified it Gold on May , & x platinum on Oct , , denoting million shipments throughout the United States alone. Worldwide, the album has sold at least million copies..Album historyfter achieving success on the dance charts if not the pop charts with the first two singles, Everybody, and Physical Attraction, Sire Records gave Madonna the green light to record this fulllength album. Though Madonna told New York DJ Mark Kamins she would let him produce the entire album if he got her a record deal which he did, when it was time to record the full length album, she decided to go with a more experienced producer in Reggie Lucas. This left Kamins credited with producing one song, Everybody. After production on the album began, Madonna and Lucas clashed, as they each had different ideas of how they wanted the final product to sound. When the album was completed, a dissatisfied Madonna called upon her friend John Jellybean Benitez for additional production.Madonna originally intended for the song Aint No Big Deal to be included on the album, however, Stephen Bray, a former boyfriend and collaborator on the song, had sold the song rights to another label, leaving Madonna and her producers to find another track. The song that made it onto the album was “Holiday,” written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens. Holiday had originally been offered to, but turned down by, singer and original Supremes member, Mary Wilson.The artwork that was featured on the original release of the album started the public fascination with Madonna. On the cover she has shortcropped, platinum hair, and stretches a dog chain roughly around her throat. Madonnas navel is prominent on the inner sleeve of the album, which became one of her trademarks.
The album was originally slated to be titled Lucky Star, after the track of the same name. It is unknown why the title was changed, but the original artwork created for the album was scrapped and a new, darker direction was taken. The original album title was kept on early pressings of the LP in South Africa and contained a version of Burning Up.The European pressing of the LP contained a different mix of Burning up, but the CD pressing had the same version as the American pressing.This page presents the singles discography of American popdanceelectronicarockR&Bhip hop singer Madonna. Also included are EPs, bsides, and collaborations with other artists and promotional singles. For Madonnas albums discography, see Madonna albums discography.All regularly released singles and their chart positions on the United World Chart UWC, the USA Billboard Hot Dance MusicClub Play Dance, the Billboard Hot Hot , the UK Singles Chart, the Eurochart Hot Singles, the Canadian Singles Chart, Oricon, the ARIA Charts, the Media Control Charts, in Switzerland, Austria, France, the Irish Singles Chart and Italy with world wide salesmillion copies Sales.Note Only the biggest world music markets are listed. Madonna has sold million singles worldwide to date.he discography of albums released by American pop singer Madonna includes eleven studio albums, three compilations, two remix compilations, three full soundtracks and two live albums. For Madonnas singles discography, see Madonna singles discography.Up to , Madonna has released twelve albums to multiplatinum status in the United States, those being Madonna , Like a Virgin , True Blue , Like a Prayer , Im Breathless , The Immaculate Collection , Erotica , Bedtime Stories , Something to Remember , Evita , Ray of Light , and Music , which totally sold roughly million copies worldwide, according to Warner Bros. records.n the new millennium, the artist released three more studio albums, all of which, as Music did, went to Number One in the Billboard chart, these being American Life , Confessions on a Dance Floor , and the recent Hard Candy . The latter two also went both to Number One in all the major countries having charts worldwide Englishspeaking countries, Germanspeaking countries, Japan, France, and Italy. In the s, she also released her second Greatest Hits album, entitled GHV , her second remix album, called Remixed & Revisited the first, You Can Dance, was out in , and her very first two live albums, namely Im Going to Tell You a Secret , and The Confessions Tour .
The releases below are represented by albums the music contained in which is either solely performed by Madonna, or the majority of, or most significant tracks are performed by her, for example the Whos That Girl and Evita soundtrack albums which, although containing some tracks by other artists, are considered to be Madonna albums, according to Warner Bros., and the Billboard . The first of these, namely Whos That Girl, was not mentioned above, because its status is actually quite peculiar though being in fact considered a Madonna album, unlike the second, that is Evita, mostly performed by Madonna, the first only features out of tracks by her, even though these are rather meaningful tracks, one being the titletrack of the album, i.e. Whos That Girl, and the other two having been released as singles at the time Causing a Commotion and The Look of Love.Madonna has scored international hits on virtually every continent North America USA and Canada, South America Argentina and Brazil, Europe UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia, Asia Japan and Taiwan, Oceania Australia and New Zealand and Africa Republic of South Africa.Album historyLike a Prayer was considered to be Madonnas most accomplished artistic statement at the time, incorporating rock, dance, pop, soul, and funk elements into the album. Rolling Stone magazine hailed it as close to art as pop music gets. It was recorded in with collaborators Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, and also includes a duet with R&B pop singer Prince. It featured the first of several songs throughout her career in which she talked openly about her mothers death, Promise to Try Madonna even dedicated the album to my mother who taught me to pray. She also addresses the end of her marriage to actor Sean Penn in the song Till Death Do Us Part.Before the commercial release of the first single and title track, Pepsi decided to use the song as part of their soft drink commercial featuring Madonna. In addition to this, the company had also struck a deal to sponsor her Blond Ambition Tour. The commercial was aired twice before the release of the music video on MTV. Pepsi had no idea about the controversial content depicted in the video Madonna witnesses a murder, kisses a black saint, displays stigmata after cutting her palms on a knife, and dances in a field of burning crosses. Religious groups were furious and threatened to boycott Pepsi. They decided the risk was too great, and they canceled their ad campaign and sponsorship deal, although Madonna got to keep the $ million in her contract. Due to the high publicity surrounding the controversy, the single soared to on the Billboard Hot chart in the USA. The album debuted at , and within three weeks, shot to , where it would stay for over a month. Singles Express Yourself and Cherish both made it to . Oh Father was her least successful single since , but still became a Top hit, peaking at number . Keep It Together reached on the charts, and Dear Jessie was also a hit single in Europe, and had an animated video.According to a list released by Time magazine on November , , Like a Prayer is one of the greatest albums of all time.
Erotica is the fifth studio album by American singersongwriter Madonna, released on October , by Maverick Records. The album was released simultaneously with Madonnas first book publication, Sex. The RIAA certified it Gold, Platinum & x Platinum on Jan ,, denoting million shipments throughout the United States, and worldwide has sold more than million copiesAlbum informationrotica is a concept album about sexuality and relationships. Each track explores a different facet of sexuality, usually involving sexual relationships. Lyrically, the album does not tie sex and sexual relationships with the traditional ideals of romance. A dance record by all accounts, the album showcases hip hop and jazzaffected club production from coproducers Shep Pettibone and André Betts. It is interesting to note that the song In This Life is based on George Gershwins Prelude No. .Madonnas intentions were that the album would be an accompaniment to her book Sex, which share the same cover photograph a colored reverse negative of Madonnas face done à la Andy Warhol, from whom Madonna found much inspiration during her socalled Erotica period for example, her Erotica and Deeper and Deeper videos were shot in near identical style to many of Warhols films, with Madonna paying obvious homage to Edie Sedgwick in the latter. The photos included in the albums liner notes also come from the Steven Meisel Studio photographs shot for the Sex book.The album is Madonnas first album to bear a Parental Advisory label the only other albums to do so being s American Life and s The Confessions Tour. A separate clean version was released without the sexually explicit song Did You Do It?Originally, Bad Girl was planned as the second single from the album with an Xrated video to match the Erotica single, but it was changed due to the backlash of the Sex book and instead it was released as the third single. Madonna performed Erotica, Fever, Bye Bye Baby, Deeper And Deeper, Rain, Whys It So Hard and In This Life on her The Girlie Show Tour.Early versions of some of the songs on the album, as well as demo versions of songs that were not included, were included in The Rain Tapes a collection of songs registered during the album development stage.edit Original ArtworkOriginally, the album was to feature completely different artwork. Warner Bros. Records refused to use it, as it was too explicit. The original image is now seen in the final inlay sleeve of the album.The final image used is identical to the Sex book foil cover if you place the CD on the cover it is the same size and fits perfectly. Up until near the release date, the finished artwork did not include any writing on the cover. At the last minute a Madonna font sticker was added to the bottom right corner using the same font as the Bad Girl single.he completed track listing was not what Madonna originally had planned, if the Maverick Records press information is to be believed
ControversyWhile Madonna had always expressed her sexuality suggestively through her art primarily through music and promotional music videos she was never as explicit as she had been during the Erotica period of her career. Erotica was one of a trio of sexually oriented mainstream projects released by Madonna or with her involvement within a span of several months. Released nearly simultaneously with Erotica was the coffee table book Sex, which featured the singer in photographs depicting simulations of sexual acts and BDSM. Less than four months later, a poorly received film titled Body of Evidence was released to theatres, featuring Madonna fully nude and in scenes engaged in simulated sexual acts.In Malaysia, Erotica was the first album banned for homosexualrelated content the second would be The Confessions Tour for the crucifixion scene during Live to Tell. At the same time, SEX was also banned from bookstores around the country. In spite of this, her singles Rain, Deeper and Deeper, Bye Bye Baby were significant airplay hits on national radio.edit Critical receptionThe controversial sexuality presented to the mainstream by Madonna during the Erotica period was not well received. It was widely taken down and Madonna had always been considered an expert at pushing buttons, but many thought she had greatly misstepped here. At the time of Eroticas release, she was widely condemned in the media for having pushed the limits of sexuality too far and was no longer considered acceptably suggestive, but vulgar and raunchy.Interestingly, the sexual imagery Madonna put forward in both Erotica and Sex was widely criticized for not actually being erotic, but sterile and calculating. On the subject, Madonna said to CNNs Larry King on January , , I didnt write a book about sex. I wrote a book that I mean I published a book that basically was sort of a an ironic tongueincheek, stickingmytongueoutatsociety photo essay...Reviews of Erotica that concentrated only on the musical aspect of the album were mostly positive Rolling Stone hailed the album as one of Madonnas best. In hindsight, both fans and critics have warmed to the album over the years, with some even considering it to be among her best work. In its th anniversary review of the album, Slant Magazine called it Madonna at her most important, at her most relevant.edit Commercial receptionThe surrounding massive media and critical backlash hurt Eroticas sales. While sales were initially brisk, the album didnt go through the roof as many predicted. It debuted at in the Billboard shifting , in the first week. It was knocked off the top spot by Garth Brookss blockbuster album The Chase. In the UK the album also debuted at , there blocked by Simple Mindss Glittering Prize . The album stalled over the longterm, selling a disappointing two million copies each in the USA, and Europe. Erotica also became the first album since her debut to yield no number one hits in either the UK or the USA, with the title track reaching , being the highest charting single from the album. In fact, the Billboard Hot peak of Bad Girl made it the first Madonna single to fail to reach the U.S. top after consecutive releases stretching back to Holiday in had done so. Nonetheless, the album produced six singles and was well received on the dance club circuit. To date, Erotica has shifted more than million units globally.