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Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16, 1958), known as Madonna, is a Grammy and Golden Globe award winning American pop singer, songwriter, record and film producer, dancer, actress, author and fashion icon. She is noted for her ambitious music videos and stage performances as well as using political, sexual, and religious themes in her work.
In 2000, Guinness World Records listed Madonna as the most successful female recording artist of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of 120 million albums; in 2005, her record company credited her as having sold over 200 million albums worldwide. Madonna is the highest earning female singer of all time according to both the 2007 Guinness Book of Records, and Billboard Magazine. Forbes magazine has estimated her net worth at $325 million. In addition, Madonna holds the record for the top-grossing concert tour by a female artist.
Early life
Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan. She was the third of six children born to Silvio "Tony" Ciccone, an Italian-American Chrysler engineer whose parents originated from Pacentro, and Madonna Louise Fortin, who was of French-Canadian descent.
She was raised in a Catholic family in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills). Madonna's mother died of breast cancer at age 30 on December 1, 1963. Her father later married the family housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and they had two children together.
Madonna convinced her father to allow her to take ballet classes. Her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, exposed Madonna to gay discotheques. She attended Rochester Adams High School, where she was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad. Madonna received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan.
She left at the end of her sophomore year in 1978 and moved to New York City to pursue a dance career. Madonna has said:
When I came to New York it was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi-cab, the first time for everything. And I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done.
–
She had little money and for some time lived in squalor, working low-paying jobs including a stint at Dunkin' Donuts. She also worked as a nude model. She studied with Martha Graham and Pearl Lang, and later performed with several modern dance companies, including Alvin Ailey and the Walter Nicks dancers.
While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour, Madonna became involved with the musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club. In it, she sang and played drums and guitar before forming the band Emmy in 1980 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. DJ and record producer Mark Kamins was impressed by her demo recordings, so he brought them to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.
Music career
1980–1985: Rise to fame
In 1982, Madonna signed a singles deal with Sire Records (a new wave label belonging to Warner Bros. Records) in the United States that paid her $5,000 per song. Her first release, "Everybody", a self-written song produced by Mark Kamins, became a hit on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Chart but failed to make an impact on the Billboard Hot 100. It also gained airplay on U.S. R&B radio stations, leading many to assume that Madonna was a black artist. The double-sided 12" vinyl single featuring "Burning Up" and "Physical Attraction" followed in 1983, and was a success on the U.S. dance charts. These results convinced Sire Records' executives to finance an album.
Her debut album, Madonna, a collection of dance songs, was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas, but in the process both realized they could not work well together. After initial production on the album was completed, Madonna took the record to her then boyfriend, John "Jellybean" Benitez, who remixed and rearranged it. It reached number eight on the U.S. albums chart and contained three successful Hot 100 singles, "Holiday", "Borderline", and "Lucky Star". At the time of its release, Madonna sold three million copies worldwide, one million of those in the U.S. It has since been certified with current sales of thirteen million worldwide.
Madonna's style became popular. Teenage girls were dressing like her.
Her follow up album, Like a Virgin, was an international success, and became her first number one album on the U.S. albums chart. Buoyed by the success of its title track, which reached number one in the U.S. (with a six week stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart) as well as hit singles with "Material Girl" (#2 US, kept out of the number one spot due to USA For Africa's "We Are The World" single), "Angel", and "Dress You Up", the album sold twelve million copies at its time of release and currently stands at seventeen million copies worldwide and produced four top-five singles in the U.S. and the UK Her performance of the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards, during which she writhed on the stage (on top of a wedding cake) wearing a combination bustier/wedding gown, lacy stockings, garters, and her then-trademark "Boy Toy" belt, was the first of several public displays that boosted Madonna's fan base as much as they incensed some critics, who felt that her provocative style attempted to disguise an absence of talent.
In 1985, Madonna entered mainstream films, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in the film Vision Quest. The soundtrack to the film contained her second number one pop hit, the Grammy-nominated ballad "Crazy for You", as well as the UK hit "Gambler". Later that year she appeared in the commercially and critically successful film Desperately Seeking Susan, with her comedic performance winning her positive reviews. The film introduced the dance song "Into the Groove", which was released as a B-side to her single "Angel", peaking at number five in the US and becoming a major hit internationally, and her first number one in the UK.
Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in the U.S. in 1985 titled The Virgin Tour, with opening act The Beastie Boys.
In July 1985, Penthouse and Playboy magazines published a number of black and white nude photos of Madonna taken in the late 1970s. The publications caused a swell of public discussion of Madonna, who at first tried to block them from being published, but later remained unapologetic and defiant. Speaking to a global audience 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, despite the heat, because "they might hold it against me ten years from now".
1986–1991: Artistic development
Madonna's 1986 album True Blue presented a more musically and thematically mature album than its predecessors, prompting Rolling Stone to declare, "singing better than ever, Madonna stakes her claim as the pop poet of lower-middle-class America." The album included the soulful ballad "Live to Tell", which she wrote for the film At Close Range, starring then-husband Sean Penn. The album was also the first to credit her as producer. She collaborated with composer Patrick Leonard, who would become a long-time collaborator and friend. True Blue reached #1 in various countries and sold over eleven million copies worldwide at its time of release It spawned five successful singles in "Live To Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", "Open Your Heart", "True Blue" and Latin-themed "La Isla Bonita". The first three singles hit number one in the U.S.
The music videos for the album displayed Madonna's continued interest in pushing the boundaries of the video medium to a cinematic level, including elaborate art direction, cinematography, and film devices such as character and plot. Though Madonna had already made videos expressing her sexuality, she added religious iconography, gender archetypes, and social issues to her oeuvre, and these concepts would carry through her work for years to come. One notable example was the "Open Your Heart" video, her first collaboration with French photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
In 1987, Madonna starred in the box office failure Who's That Girl?, and contributed four songs to its soundtrack, including the film's title track, which became a hit and Madonna's sixth #1 single in the U.S. The albums second single, "Causing a Commotion" also went top five.
In 1987, Madonna embarked on the successful Who's That Girl World Tour, beginning her long association with backing vocalists and dancers Donna DeLory and Niki Haris, and moving closer to the more elaborately staged theater-inspired concert tour. It also marked her first run-in with the Vatican, with the Pope urging fans not to attend her performances in Italy. The Vatican later expressed outrage at the unveiling of a racy 13-foot tall statue of Madonna in the Italian town of Pacentro, from where her father's family hailed .
Later that year, Madonna released a remix album of past hits, You Can Dance, which included one new song, "Spotlight." The album sold nearly two million copies in the U.S. upon release.
Madonna's fourth album, released in 1989, Like a Prayer, presented more personal lyrics and a more mature vocal style. Co-written and co-produced with Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, it settled her as a serious pop artist. She teamed up with Prince on a duet, and he also played guitar on two songs. Like a Prayer garnered Madonna the strongest reviews of her career and attracted a more mature audience. All Music Guide described the album as "her best and most consistent", while Rolling Stone hailed the album as "..as close to art as pop music gets". Like a Prayer produced five hit singles, the title track, "Express Yourself", "Cherish", "Oh Father", and "Keep It Together." "Like a Prayer", itself, hit number one on the Hot 100.
In early 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi, which would debut her new song, "Like a Prayer", in a Pepsi commercial that Madonna would also appear in. Madonna would make a separate music video which Pepsi would have nothing to do with. Although the commercial itself was not controversial, the video for "Like a Prayer" caused an uproar. The video premiered on MTV and featured many Catholic symbols, such as stigmata, and was condemned by the Vatican for its "blasphemous" mixture of Catholic symbolism and eroticism. The video depicted a black man who comes to the aid of a white woman being murdered by white men and he is falsely arrested for the crime. Madonna, who has witnessed the crime, secures his release. Although the video's intent was to denounce racism, Madonna was criticized for her use of burning crosses and "making out" with Jesus, even though it was St. Martín de Porres. Pepsi was bombarded with complaints and boycotts. Since the commercial and music video were nearly identical in visual terms, the soft drink manufacturer was unable to convince the public that their commercial actually had nothing that could be deemed inappropriate. Pepsi pulled the commercial but Madonna kept her five million dollar fee, as Pepsi had nullified the contract, not she. The album went to number one on the US album chart and it sold six million copies worldwide at that time (three million of those in the US).
In 1990, Madonna starred as Breathless Mahoney in a film adaptation of the popular comic book series Dick Tracy. To accompany the launching of the film, in May 1990 she released I'm Breathless, which included songs from and inspired by the film's 1930s setting. It featured the #1 house music anthem "Vogue" (which was an hommage to the Hollywood stars), the Gershwin-esque "Something to Remember", and three songs by Stephen Sondheim, including "Sooner or Later", which won an Academy Award for 'Best Original Song.' I'm Breathless was a success in Europe, Australia and the United States, and sold four million copies worldwide (2x platinum in the US) at its time of release.
From April until August 1990, Madonna toured Japan, North America, and Europe on her highly successful Blond Ambition Tour, which the singer likened to musical theatre. Featuring religious and sexual themes and symbolism, the tour drew controversy from Madonna's performance of "Like a Virgin", during which she allowed two male dancers to caress her body before she simulated masturbation. Despite the controversy, however, the tour is now considered to have changed the look and feel of concert tours, and remains one of the singer's most popular tours amongst her fans.
In November 1990, Madonna released her first greatest hits compilation album, The Immaculate Collection, which included two new songs, "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me." The music video for "Justify My Love", again directed by Mondino, showed Madonna in a Parisian hotel, in suggestive scenes with her then-lover, model/actor Tony Ward, as well as scenes of S&M, bondage with gay and lesbian characters, and brief nudity. It was deemed too sexually explicit for MTV, and was subsequently banned from the station. Warner Bros. Records released the video as a video single—the first of its kind—and it became the highest-selling video single of all time.
In 1991, Madonna starred in her first documentary film, Truth or Dare (also known as In Bed with Madonna outside North America), which chronicled her successful 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, as well as her personal life. The following year, she appeared in the baseball film A League of Their Own, and recorded the film's theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground", which became her tenth #1 single in the United States.
1992–1997: Sex controversy and Evita
Erotica, produced primarily with Shep Pettibone, was disregarded as simply being a "porn" album, with most believing that all the album tracks were about sex; but in truth the album only featured three (out of fourteen) overtly sexual songs: "Erotica", "Where Life Begins", and "Did You Do It?". The album peaked at number two in the U.S. and produced six singles, with its most successful being its title track "Erotica", which became the highest-debuting (number two) single in the history of the U.S. Hot 100 Airplay chart. The controversial music video that accompanied the song only aired three times on MTV due to its highly charged sexual content.
The Girlie Show Tour in 1993 was Madonna's most explicit and controversial concert tour to date and featured Madonna dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix, surrounded by topless dancers, including Luca Tommassini and Carrie Ann Inaba. The controversy caused by the tour followed Madonna when she caused uproar in Puerto Rico by rubbing the island's flag between her legs on stage, while Orthodox Jews protested against her first-ever show in Israel. Madonna would later comment that this period of her life was designed to give the world every single morsel of what they seemed to be demanding in their invasion of her private life. She hoped that once it was all out in the open, people could settle down and focus on her work.
After the raunchy sex period, Madonna released her sixth studio album, Bedtime Stories, co-produced by Nellee Hooper and Dallas Austin. Madonna at the time was inspired by R&B/rock singer Joi's debut album Pendulum Vibe, and was so in love with it that she recruited producer Dallas Austin to help with her project. The album features Madonna turning to a more R&B-flavoured sound. It was a success in Europe, Australia, and the United States, where it peaked at number three and was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. With its title track partially written by Björk, the album gave a hint of what would come musically a few years later. It produced four singles, including "Take a Bow", co-written and produced with Babyface. The song was a success on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number one for seven consecutive weeks, but became the first Madonna song not to chart in the UK Top 10, charting at number 16. The Michael Haussman Spanish-themed video, meanwhile, would later help her win the lead role in Evita.
On 7 November 1995, Madonna released Something to Remember, a collection of her best ballads, which featured three new tracks, including a cover of Marvin Gaye's classic "I Want You", which she recorded with British band Massive Attack, and the top ten hit "You'll See." The album just missed the top five on the U.S. charts; it has since been certified triple platinum.
In 1996, Madonna's most critically successful film, Evita, was released. The film's soundtrack became her twelfth platinum album and produced two hit singles, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "You Must Love Me", the latter of which was written specifically for the film. "You Must Love Me" won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song From a Motion Picture the following year. Madonna herself also won a Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy but failed to receive an Academy Award nomination.
1998–2002: Return to prominence
Madonna's seventh studio album, 1998's Ray of Light, blended personal and introspective lyrics with Eastern sounds, down-tempo, electronic instrumentation, strings by Craig Armstrong and a strong rave flavor. The album reached number two on the U.S. albums chart and since its release has been certified 4x platinum. It earned Madonna the strongest reviews of her career since Like a Prayer and has been widely considered by critics to be one of her greatest artistic achievements. Amazon.com described the album as "her richest, most accomplished record yet", while Rolling Stone credited Madonna and her co-producer William Orbit for "creating the first mainstream pop album that successfully embraces techno", stating that musically Ray of Light is her "most adventurous record" yet. Ray of Light produced five singles, including the European number one "Frozen". The album won four awards at the 1999 Grammy Awards and has been ranked #363 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Madonna followed the success of Ray of Light with the top-ten single "Beautiful Stranger", a late 60s psyche-pop song she wrote with William Orbit and recorded for the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack (1999).
In 2000, Madonna released her follow-up film to Evita. The Next Best Thing was a disappointment at the box office and was panned by critics. Madonna contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack, namely "Time Stood Still" and European number one "American Pie", a dance cover version of the 1970s Don McLean single.
Music, her eighth studio album, had Madonna slightly step away from the exploration of spirituality and fame to get back to the "party" spirit of dance, pop, and house music. However, she retained the introspective poignancy of Ray of Light in songs such as "Paradise (Not for Me)" and introduced guitars for a more folk-like note, notably in "Don't Tell Me" or ballads such as "Gone". Music debuted at number one on the U.S. albums chart and became her first number one album release since her 1989 Like a Prayer. Mainly co-written and produced with French house musician Mirwais Ahmadzai, the album produced three singles, including the worldwide number one "Music." The album's third single, "What It Feels Like for a Girl", featured a controversial music video, directed by Madonna's husband, Guy Ritchie, and was banned by MTV and VH1 after just one airing due to its graphic violence.
In 2001, Madonna embarked on the Drowned World Tour, her first tour in eight years. The concert tour was successful, was the subject of a television special in the US, and was released on DVD in November 2001 to coincide with the release of her second greatest hits album, GHV2. Unlike her previous compilation, GHV2 did not include any new songs, although clubs did receive multiple megamixes for promotional play only. In 2002, she wrote and performed the theme song to the James Bond film Die Another Day. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for both a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Song.
2003–present: Commercial ups and downs
Madonna's ninth studio album, American Life, in which her lyrics were themed on the aspects of the American dream, fame, fortune and society, received mixed reviews. Arguably her most daring and musically extreme album, American Life presented a darker and more serious side of the singer.
The music video for the first single, "American Life", caused controversy in the U.S., as it contained visceral scenes depicting war, explosions, and blood. The day before the video was to air on European television, Madonna pulled it and released instead an edited version, which showed her singing in front of flags from around the world. The song failed to perform well on the U.S. singles chart, peaking at thirty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, it rose to number two.
Having sold five million copies, American Life became the lowest selling album of her career. The album produced three more singles, all failing to chart in the U.S. and having little success in Europe.
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 Spears's single "Me Against the Music".
During the Christmas season of 2003, Madonna released Remixed & Revisited, a remix EP that included rock versions of songs from American Life, as well as "Your Honesty", a left-over from 1994's Bedtime Stories album. The collection failed to chart in the Billboard top 100.
In 2004, Madonna embarked on The Re-Invention Tour, which featured fifty-six dates in the U.S., Canada, and Europe and became the highest-grossing tour of 2004, earning $125 million. She made a documentary about the tour named I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, which debuted on MTV and was directed by Jonas Akerlund. Also in 2004, Madonna was involved in a brief legal battle with Warner Music Group, with whom she co-owned record label Maverick. The legal dispute ended with Warner Music Group buying Madonna's shares in the record label. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked her #36 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In January 2005, Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon song "Imagine" on the televised U.S. aid concert "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope", which raised money for the tsunami victims in Asia.
Madonna's tenth studio album, the Grammy-winning Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) which sold more than 10 million copies, was built as a continuous mix of dance songs, with musical elements borrowed from the '70s, and current dance music. The album received the most positive reviews since 1998's Ray of Light and was considered a return to form after the negative reception to American Life. It has produced four singles: "Hung Up", which features a sample of the ABBA song "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", "Sorry", "Get Together" and "Jump". "Hung Up" became one of the most successful singles of all time, reaching number one in a record breaking 41 countries. Madonna opened the 2006 Grammy Awards with "Hung Up", alongside the nominated computer-generated band, Gorillaz.
"Sorry" then became Madonna's twelfth number one in the UK. A third single, "Get Together", reached the UK Top 10 and became her thirty-sixth number one dance hit in the U.S. (the most for any artist in Billboard history), but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The fourth and final single release from Confessions on a Dance Floor was "Jump", charting at number nine in the UK, by the end of 2006, Madonna became the most played international artist in Ibero-America (she charted at number five on the overall chart).
In the summer of 2006, Madonna signed on to become the worldwide face of H&M and will have her own fashion line with H&M called M by Madonna in March 2007.
Madonna's Confessions Tour kicked off in late May 2006. The tour grossed a reported $260.1 million and set the record for the top-grossing tour ever by a female artist in history. Madonna's tour also had a global audience of 1.2 million. However, it also sparked controversy when she used religious symbols such as the crucifix and crown of thorns in her performance of "Live to Tell". The tour ended its 60-date run on September 21, 2006, in Tokyo. A CD+DVD of "The Confessions Tour - Live from London" special was released on January 29, 2007 internationally and January 30, 2007 in the US.
In October 2006, Madonna flew to Malawi to help build an orphanage, which she also funded, as part of the Raising Malawi initiative. While there, she adopted a baby boy, named David.
Madonna is about to start production on her next album. It has been announced that Madonna's entire back catalog is currently being remastered in 5.1 digital audio. Stuart Price, the main producer for her Confessions On A Dancefloor album, has confirmed to be working on her next album. Other hip hop and pop producers such as Timbaland have hinted that they could be working on her new album. Pharrell Williams and Felix Da Housecat have also been rumored to be signing onto the album.
In January 2007, Forbes Magazine reported that Madonna was the 4th wealthiest woman in entertainment (behind Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling and Martha Stewart) with a reported worth of between $350-$400 million dollars. Her "Confessions Tour" in 2006, netted her with a paycheck of $65 million dollars. The tour itself cost $100 million and netted $260 million.
Acting career
On screen
Madonna's success in acting has been mostly panned by critics. She was presented with a special Razzie award in the year 2000 as "Worst Actress of the Century" She has, however, had some successes, mainly with her star vehicle Evita.
In 1979, Madonna starred in low-budget feature A Certain Sacrifice. Its release in 1985 coincided with the success of her Like a Virgin album, and Madonna tried to prevent its release.
That same year, Madonna made a cameo as a club singer in the film Vision Quest (aka Crazy for You) and garnered commercial and critical success in Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan, a story of a housewife who is fascinated with a woman she only knows by reading messages in the personals section of a New York City tabloid. It was a commercial success and grossed $27 million in the United States alone.
Madonna then appeared in the adventure drama Shanghai Surprise (1986) with then-husband Sean Penn. The film was dismissed by moviegoers and received poor reviews, many of them calling her acting wooden. Subsequent films such as Who's That Girl (1987) and Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) failed to attract commercial or critical success.
In 1990, Madonna received good reviews for her turn as Breathless Mahoney in Dick Tracy, directed by Warren Beatty and based on Chester Gould's comic strip. Beatty would later surface again in the 1991 documentary Truth or Dare (aka In Bed With Madonna) which showed the behind the scenes to the 1990 Blond Ambition Tour.
In 1992, Madonna released two movies. The first was a cameo appearance as a trapeze artist in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog. The black and white film was an homage to German Expressionist cinema, backed by the music of Kurt Weill. She also starred in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own opposite Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Rosie O'Donnell. The film centered on a women's baseball team during World War II and earned Madonna good reviews. It was a big commercial success worldwide especially in North America.
Following the media backlash caused by her Sex book and its companion album Erotica, Madonna starred in the 1993 erotic thriller Body of Evidence with Willem Dafoe and Anne Archer. It was panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office. It caused great controversy in the media due to the explicit sexual content.
Later that year, she starred in Dangerous Game opposite Harvey Keitel and James Russo. Considered nihilistic and violent, it was released straight to home video. Madonna did however, recieve some good reviews. Madonna has remarked her dislike of the end result saying of the director Abel Ferrara: "He fucked me over... however, I am good in it." This was also the first movie production from Madonna's entertainment company Maverick.
Then, in 1995, Madonna played a singing telegram girl in Wayne Wang's Blue in the Face and a witch in Four Rooms. She also made a cameo appearance as a phone sex company owner in Spike Lee's Girl 6 in 1996.
In 1996, Madonna starred as Eva Perón in the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita. The film marked the first time in America since Desperately Seeking Susan that she was praised for her acting. Madonna had campaigned for the role for nearly ten years and, in December 1994, she wrote a four-page, handwritten letter to director Alan Parker explaining that she would be perfect to play the role.
Parker agreed and Madonna took voice lessons to extend her range and researched the life of her character. In January 1997, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but failed to receive a nomination at the Academy Awards, though the song "You Must Love Me" won the Oscar for Best Song. Both "You Must Love Me" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" were hit singles.
Madonna's follow-up to Evita was another critically panned role as Abbie, a woman who decides to have a baby with her gay best friend, in the film The Next Best Thing (2000) directed by John Schlesinger. In America, the film started off strong on its opening week with $15 million, but this quickly diminished.
Swept Away followed in 2002, and was another critical and commercial failure. The remake of an Italian film by Lina Wertmüller in 1975 was the first big screen collaboration between Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie. It received seven Razzie Award nominations, winning five including Worst Actress for Madonna. The movie was only released to a few hundred cinemas in America and was released straight-to-video in Europe.
Later that year, Madonna had a short cameo appearance in the James Bond film Die Another Day, and also sang the theme song. In the movie, Madonna played a fencing instructor named Varity who taught at a British academy.
During the 2004 Re-Invention Tour, a documentary entitled I'm Going to Tell You a Secret was filmed by Jonas Akerlund, showing behind the scenes footage of the tour. It was premiered on MTV in November 2005.
In late 2004, she provided the voice of Princess Selenia in the animated film Arthur and the Invisibles, which was released in January 2007. It was directed by Luc Besson and has been a commercial success worldwide with two sequels already in the planning.
In March 2006, Madonna stated in an interview that she had given up acting because she feared her acting reputation would condemn any film she is a part of. She has also expressed her frustration with the process of filmmaking, with the comment "I've been unlucky with some of my films because it's difficult for me to be a brushstroke in someone else's painting." However, in 2007, photographer and frequent collaborator, Steven Klein, announced that he and Madonna would be working on a film together.
Awards
On stage
In 1988, Madonna made her Broadway debut in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. While generally receiving negative notes, the New York Times congratulated her for the "intelligent, scrupulously disciplined comic acting."
In 2002, she made a London West End theatre debut in a version of Australian plawright David Williamson's play Up For Grabs. The setting was relocated from Sydney to New York. Generally criticised for her lack of technical ability, a critic used in his review a line from the play: "If you think a big marketing budget will sell any old junk, you'd be wrong. It's got to be quality junk".
Documentaries
In 1991, Madonna released the documentary Truth or Dare (named In Bed with Madonna outside the U.S.). Directed by Alek Keshishian, the film followed Madonna on her Blond Ambition world tour. It featured black and white backstage scenes and live performances filmed in color.
Truth or Dare grossed more than $15 million in the U.S. alone. While criticized for being manufactured, the film offered insights into Madonna's relationship with then-boyfriend Warren Beatty and showed her admitting that ex-husband Sean Penn was the love of her life.
Her second documentary, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (2005), followed her and her family on the Re-Invention World Tour in 2004. Directed by long-time collaborator Jonas Åkerlund, it premiered commercial free on MTV in the US on October 21, 2005. It was released on DVD June 20, 2006 with a bonus audio CD.
In late 2006, after the adoption controversy Madonna announced that she was funding a documentary about Malawi and it was through viewing this footage that she first saw David Banda, who she now is fostering and hoping to eventually adopt. An excerpt from this can be found on Amazon.com
Books
Madonna has authored and co-authored a number of books, beginning in 1992 with Sex (ISBN 0-446-51732-1), which contained sexually explicit photographs of Madonna taken by noted photographer Steven Meisel. Later, in 1994 she released another coffee table book The Girlie Show to accompany the 1993 World Tour.
More recently, she has published several children's books:
* The English Roses (ISBN 0-670-03678-1)
* Mr. Peabody's Apples (ISBN 0-670-05883-1)
* Lotsa de Casha (ISBN 0-670-05888-2)
* The Adventures of Abdi (ISBN 0-670-05889-0)
* Yakov and the Seven Thieves (ISBN 0-670-05887-4)
* The English Roses Too Good To Be True (ISBN 0-670-06147-6).
see also Madonna bibliography
Influences
Madonna has cited her background as a Catholic as the major influence in her life and career. Her mother's death affected her.
The name "Madonna" is Catholic and references The Virgin Mary, who in the Roman Catholic Church is often referred to as "The Madonna". In a 1988 interview with Smash Hits magazine, Madonna said that some had assumed that her name is a stage name but that it is in reality her real name. She also described the name as being "very Italian", despite the fact that she was named after her French Canadian mother. The name "Madonna" is a combintion of the two Italian words "ma" and "donna" which means "my lady." Therefore, no matter the nationality of the person named "Madonna", the name itself is of Italian origin.
Madonna's Catholic background and relationship with her parents were reflected in the 1989 album Like a Prayer, which featured songs about her parents and Catholic upbringing. The video for the title track contained Catholic symbolism, such as the stigmata. "Promise to Try" told of her sadness at the memory of her mother, while "Oh Father" told of a strict father who elicited fear in his child.
Madonna used the crucifix as a fashion accessory in the church setting of the "Like a Prayer" video, and in the stage design of her "Confessions" tour. In the The Virgin Tour, she wore the rosary around her neck. In the music video for "La Isla Bonita", she prays the rosary.
Madonna's Italian heritage has also been referenced in her work. The video for Like a Virgin, filmed in Venice, Italy, features her in Venetian settings. The "Open Your Heart" sees her boss yelling at her in Italian. In the "Papa Don't Preach" video, Madonna wears a shirt with the slogan, "Italians Do It Better".
The video release of her Who's That Girl Tour, titled Ciao Italia! - Live From Italy, was filmed mainly in Turin, Italy. In it, Madonna performs the song Papa Don't Preach while a portrait of the Pope appears on the screen behind her. "Papa" is the Italian word for "Pope".) In her 2005 documentary I'm Going To Tell You a Secret, she jokingly states that she has "big, fat, Italian thighs." In film, she achieved a rare good review for her portrayal of the Italian American character Mae Mordabito in A League of Their Own.
Madonna had both of her biological children baptised in a Roman Catholic Church. Yet, much of her career has seen rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church, In 1990, when Madonna toured Italy with the Blond Ambition Tour, the Pope encouraged citizens not to attend the concert. The Pope accused Madonna of blasphemy against the Catholic Church (a crime in Italy), and attempted to have her banned from stepping foot on Italian soil.
In response, in a 1990 press conference in Italy, Madonna declared, "I am Italian American and proud of it." In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Madonna said that the Pope's reaction hurt, "because I'm Italian, you know", but in another interview the same year stated that she had ceased to practice Catholicism because the Church "completely frowns on sex... except for procreation". In the summer of 2006, Madonna drew criticism from Vatican officials when she took her Confessions Tour to Rome. Vatican officials claimed that Madonna's performance while hanging off a cross and wearing a crown of thorns was an open attack on Catholicism and should not be performed in the same city as the pope's residence. In the documentary Italians in America - Our Contribution, author Gay Talese relates Madonna's rebellion against the Catholic Church to her Italian ancestry. Talese claims that Madonna's paternal ancestors come from a region of Southern Italy with a long tradition of rebellion against the Catholic Church.
In 1988, city officials in the town of Pacentro, Italy, planned to construct a 13-foot statue of Madonna in a bustier. The statue was intended to commemorate the fact that some of Madonna's ancestors had lived in Pacentro. The mayor of the city and the Pope intervened and prevented the project from coming to fruition, citing concerns that a statue of Madonna in their city would corrupt the morals of their youth.
Musical influences
In 1985, 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 take-charge 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 Chopin because she liked his "feminine quality". She has also acknowledged the impact of Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde saying they "paved the way" for her. In an interview with the Observer on October 29, 2006, Madonna professed a love for fellow Detroit natives The Raconteurs and The White Stripes, as well as New York band "The Jett Set". Madonna has also commented that she enjoys Frank Sinatra, and especially likes to sing, "My Way" in the shower.
Film stars
During her childhood, Madonna became fascinated by films and film stars, 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 Monroe's "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" number from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and she later studied the screwball comedies of the 1930s, particularly those of Lombard, in preparation for the Who's That Girl? film. The video for "Express Yourself" placed a femme fatale character alongside an androgynous figure in male attire, which was compared to Marlene Dietrich and was inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis movie. 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 those mentioned was Bette Davis, described by Madonna in a Rolling Stone interview as an idol, along with Louise Brooks and Dita Parlo.
Personal life
Relationships and family
Early relationships and marriage
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Madonna dated Dan Gilroy, with whom she formed the band Breakfast Club. In the early 1980s, she also dated musician Stephen Bray, who later co-produced songs such as "Into the Groove" and "Express Yourself", artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, DJ and record producer Mark Kamins, and musician Jellybean Benitez, who produced tracks and remixed her debut album Madonna.
While filming the music video for "Material Girl" in 1985, Madonna began dating actor Sean Penn. The two were married later that year on Madonna's twenty-seventh birthday. Their relationship was marred by Penn's frequent outbursts against the press, leading the couple to be dubbed the "Poison Penns". After filing and withdrawing divorce papers in December 1987, Madonna and Penn separated on New Year's Eve of 1988 after allegations of abuse on Penn's part, and were officially divorced in September 1989. Of her marriage to Penn, Madonna later told Tatler, "I was completely obsessed with my career and not ready to be generous in any shape or form."
Post-divorce relationships, motherhood, and remarriage
During 1988, Madonna had relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr.. After the divorce from Penn was made official in 1989, Madonna began a highly-publicized relationship with Warren Beatty while working on the film Dick Tracy early in 1989. Despite rumors that the two had become engaged in May 1990, the couple's relationship seemed to have ended by the summer. In a 1991 interview with Vanity Fair, Madonna said, "I'd go, 'Warren, did you really chase that girl for a year?!?' And he'd say, 'Nah, it's all lies.' I should have known better. I was unrealistic, but then, you always think you're going to be the one."
In late 1990, Madonna dated Tony Ward, a young model and porn star who starred in her music videos for "Cherish" (1989) and "Justify My Love" (1990). Their relationship ended by early 1991, and Madonna later began an eight-month relationship with rapper Vanilla Ice, who appeared later in her Sex book.
In 1992; Madonna dated actor John Enos, her bodyguard James Albright, and in 1994 went out with basketball player Dennis Rodman for four months.
In September 1994, while walking in Central Park, Madonna met Cuban fitness trainer Carlos Leon who became her personal trainer and lover. On October 14, 1996, Madonna gave birth to the couple's child, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon. The couple ended their relationship in 1997.
After Madonna's relationship with Leon ended in mid-1997, she began dating Andy Bird, who sold his story to the newspapers in a tell-all about their 18-month relationship shortly after Madonna's marriage to English director Guy Ritchie.
On August 11, 2000, Madonna gave birth to a son, Rocco John Ritchie, with Guy Ritchie, whom she had met in 1999 through mutual friends Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler. On December 22, 2000, Madonna and Ritchie were married in Scotland. As of 2007, Madonna resides in London and her country estate in Wiltshire, with Ritchie and their children.
Over the span of her lengthy career, Madonna also has been rumored to be romantically linked to numerous men and women including Sandra Bernhard, Prince and Esai Morales in 1988; Lenny Kravitz in 1990; Michael Jackson in 1991; José Canseco, Ingrid Casares and Big Daddy Kane in 1992; Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Kiedis in 1993; Charles Barkley and Tupac Shakur in 1994; Chris Paciello in 1997; Billy Zane in 1998; David Blaine and Jenny Shimizu in 1999 before her marriage with Ritchie. But most of these affairs are unconfirmed so far.
David Banda adoption
On October 10, 2006, Madonna filed adoption papers for a Malawian baby boy named David Banda, whom her family renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie, born September 24, 2005, during her trip to an orphanage in Malawi.
After a passport and visa were issued for the child, Banda was flown out of Malawi on October 16. The adoption raised public controversy about whether special treatment was given to Madonna considering the fact that Malawian law normally requires one year of residence for potential adoptive parents. However, adoption rights groups pointed out that only three visas were issued in 2005 for adopted children to leave Malawi.
Madonna appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on October 25, 2006, to refute the allegations. During the half-hour interview, the singer claimed that there are no written adoption laws in Malawi that regulate foreign adoption and that she had been planning to adopt for two years. She also claimed that Banda had been in critical condition and was suffering from pneumonia after surviving malaria and tuberculosis when she had found him in the orphanage. In addition, Madonna blamed the media for "doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa, period, not just the orphans of Malawi", by discouraging people from adopting children from African nations. She stated, "I wanted to go into a Third World country—I wasn't sure where—and give a life to a child who might not otherwise have had one."
On October 22, 2006, it was reported that Yohane Banda, David Banda's birth father, did not understand what "adoption" meant and that he had not realized that he was giving up his son "for good." He had assumed that this arrangement was more like a fostering agreement. A few days later, after the Winfrey interview, he said, "These so-called human rights activists are harassing me every day, threatening me that I am not aware of what I am doing." He was also reported to say, "They want me to support their court case, a thing I cannot do for I know what I agreed with Madonna and her husband." On November 1, 2006, Madonna responded to Banda's comments on an Dateline NBC interview with Meredith Vieira by saying that Yohane Banda had known what he was doing, having refused to accept her offer to financially support him and the child without adopting the child.
Because of Malawi laws, Madonna and Guy Ritchie remain David Banda's foster parents for the required eighteen-month period.
Kabbalah Center
Since the late-1990s, Madonna has become a devotee of the Kabbalah Centre and a disciple of its controversial head Rabbi Philip Berg and his wife Karen. Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie attend Kabbalah classes and have been reported to have adopted a number of aspects of the movement associated with Judaism. The media has reported that Madonna has taken on the Biblical name of Esther and has donated millions of dollars to Kabbalah Centres in London, New York, and Los Angeles. She no longer performs on Friday nights because this is the time when the Jewish Sabbath begins. Madonna wears a red string and has visited Israel with members of the Kabbalah Centre to celebrate some of the Jewish holidays. She also studies personally with her own private-tutor, Rabbi Eitan Yardeni, whose wife Sarah Yardeni runs Madonna's favorite charitable project, "Spirituality for Kids", a subsidiary of the Kabbalah Centre. Madonna reportedly donated $21 million towards a new Kabbalah school for children.
Controversy erupted again well before the release of her most recent album Confessions on a Dance Floor. Many Israeli rabbis condemned Madonna and the forthcoming song "Isaac" (tenth on its track listing) because they believed the song to be a tribute to Rabbi Isaac Luria, also known as Yitzhak Luria (1534–1572), one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time, and claimed that Jewish law forbids using a holy rabbi's name for profit. In interviews, Madonna had called this song: "The Binding of Isaac" and rumors spread that it was based on the major episode in the life of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac. Despite continued accusations that the song is about Isaac Luria, Madonna has repeatedly denied such accusations, claiming she could not think of a title for the song and, therefore, named it after Yitzhak (Isaac) Sinwani. In the song, Madonna sings with Sinwani, an Israeli singer, who is chanting a Yemenite Jewish song. Said Madonna: "The album isn't even out, so how could Jewish scholars in Israel know what my song is about? I don't know enough about Isaac Luria to write a song, though I've learned a bit in my studies."
Madonna has openly defended her Kabbalah studies by stating, for example:
“ I wouldn't say studying Kabbalah for eight years goes under the category or falls under the category of being a fad or a trend. Now there might be people who are interested in it because they think it's trendy, but I can assure you that studying Kabbalah is actually a very challenging thing to do. It requires a lot of work, a lot of reading, a lot of time, a lot of commitment and a lot of discipline. ”
Furthermore, Madonna said in a BBC interview that she believes Christianity is intolerant of questioning, whereas Kabbalah is not. Madonna has also defended Kabbalah against detractors who claim it is a cult designed to extort money from followers.
Political views
Madonna does not support United States President George W. Bush. She endorsed Wesley Clark's Democratic nomination for the 2004 United States presidential election in an impassioned letter to her fans, saying at the time that "the future I wish for my children is at risk." In the autumn of 2006, she expressed her support for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election
She also urged her fans to see Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.
Diet and exercise
Madonna has stated that she doesn't eat dairy and is on a macrobiotic diet, consisting primarily of whole grains, fish and fresh vegetables. Furthermore, she has a personal Japanese chef and says that she does yoga and pilates to stay in shape.
Discography
Main article: Madonna discography
Criticism
Despite her career achievements, Madonna has been the target of criticism since the beginning of her career. Reviews about her body of work have generally been mixed and many music critics have put her artistry in doubt, while some have proclaimed her the "Queen of Pop".
A common criticism against Madonna regards her singing voice and vocal range, which some consider to be weak, limited and mannered. She has also been criticised for egocentrism, publicity stunts and a tendency to generate controversy. Joni Mitchell once declared, "She has knocked the importance of talent out of the arena. She's manufactured. She's made a lot of money and become the biggest star in the world by hiring the right people". Other popular entertainers like Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey have expressed disapproval of her artistic abilities, disdain, or criticism against her image and work.
Moments of her career in which Madonna has been heavily criticised include her 1989 music video for "Like a Prayer", the publication of the book Sex and album Erotica in 1992, her 2006 performance of "Live to Tell" during the Confessions Tour, and her adoption of Malawian infant David Banda in 2006.
Madonna has received criticism from animal rights groups for wearing fur coats and in the past, was criticized for renting out her house for hunting parties.
Madonna's lyrics have also been panned as simple or even dull by some.
Many critics, however, see Madonna as a talented vocalist and songwriter. She received good reviews for "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" cover on which her performance was described as a "heartfelt vocal". Her vocals on "Live To Tell" were considered her best at the time by some, and the song's lyrics have been described as "poignant".
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