Biography
Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie was born on August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan. She is the third of six children born to Madonna Louise, her mother of French-Canadian descent and Silvio “Tony” Ciccone, her father (Italian-American). Her father worked as a Chrysler/General Motors design engineer. Her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Paula, Christopher and Melanie. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was just 5 years old. Her father later married the family’s housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and had two children with her, Jennifer and Mario. At a young age, Madonna was already interested in the performing arts and convinced her father to let her take ballet lessons. She attended St. Frederick’s Elementary School and St. Andrew’s Elementary School and also West Middle School. She was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad during her high school days at the Rochester Adams High School. After graduating, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan. However, her dance instructor convinced her to pursue a dancing career instead. She left the university at the end of her sophomore year (1977) and moved to New York City. “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,” Madonna said. She supported herself by working at a Dunkin’ Donuts and with dance troupes.
It was during this time that she started in her musical career. She joined bands and got gigs at local dance bars. She and former boyfriend Stephen Bray wrote and produced dance songs that got the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein. She signed a singles deal with Sire Records in 1982 and released her first single, “Everyday”, on April 24, 1982. The song was a success and got heavy radio air time. The single reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Chart. Sire Records was convinced and gave Madonna the go-signal to produce a full album. Her self-titled debut album was a collection of dance songs and peaked at #8 on the U.S. albums chart. She began to be very influential among young girls and women during this time. Her look and manner of dress quickly became popular among the women and became an iconic female fashion trend in the 1980s. She released her follow-up album which became more successful than the previous one. “Like A Virgin” became her first #1 album on the U.S. album chart. The title track of that album “Like A Virgin”, reached #1 in the U.S with a 6-week stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. With hits like “Material Girl” and “Dress You Up”, the album sold 8 million copies in the U.S and another 4 million worldwide. At the very first MTV Video Music Awards, she performed the title song in the style that would become her trademark in the years to come. Madonna has started on her path towards becoming the pop super star she is today.
She first entered the film industry in 1985, when she appeared in her first movie, “Vision Quest”. The soundtrack of the movie featured her second #1 hit, “Crazy for You”, which was later nominated for a Grammy. She also appeared in “Desperately Seeking Susan” later that year. She started her first concert tour in the U.S. “The Virgin Tour” kicked off in 1985 with the Beastie Boys as her co-performers. It was also in that year when Penthouse and Playboy published several black and white nude photographs of Madonna which were taken in the late 1970s. She tried to block the publication of the pictures but was not successful. She openly criticized the media and capitalized on the popularity gained from the incident with the release of her first film, a low-budget production titled “A Certain Sacrifice”. She appeared nude in this movie that was filmed in 1979. It was around this time that she married actor Sean Penn.
In 1986, her third album, “True Blue”, was released. It boasted a number of wildly popular hits including the ballad “Live to Tell”, which was written for the movie “At Close Range”, starring her then-husband Sean Penn. Other singles in the album are: “Papa Don’t Preach”, “Open Your Heart”, “La Isla Bonita”, “True Blue”, and “Live to Tell”. Madonna’s music videos in this era openly displayed her methods of fusing music with cinematic style. She already made videos which expressed her sexuality. Now she added religious iconography, gender archetypes and social issues to the mix and these concepts would continue throughout her career. Her concert tours are becoming more and more like theater productions, highly elaborate and boasting performances from talented back-up singers and dancers.
“Like a Prayer”, her fourth album, was released in 1989. The album peaked at #1 on the U.S. album chart and sold 7 million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone magazine dubbed the album as “…as close to art as pop music gets”. The album produced five hit singles: “Like A Prayer”, “Express Yourself”, “Cherish”, “Oh Father”, and “Keep It Together”. Her first run-in with the Catholic Church occurred during this time as controversial videos kept coming for Madonna. Images of burning crosses created a stir among Catholics worldwide. This caused a major endorsement deal with big soda brand Pepsi to be pulled out. Her personal life was also rocky. By the end of that year, her marriage to Sean Penn ended in an official divorce.
Madonna starred alongside Warren Beatty in the 1990 movie “Dick Tracy” and was rumored to have had a relationship during the filming of the movie. The two denied the rumors after the release of the film. The pop star released “I’m Breathless” featuring her eighth U.S. #1 “Vogue”. The album was a success and sold 7 million copies worldwide. Later that year she released her first greatest hits album, “The Immaculate Collection” which also included two new songs: “Justify My Love” and “Rescue Me”. “Justify My Love” became her ninth U.S. #1. She also filmed her very successful tour “Blonde Ambition Tour” in 1990 and released her first documentary film, “Truth or Dare” which was about her tour and personal life. In 1991, she appeared in the film “A League of Their Own” and recorded the movie’s theme song “This Used to be My Playground” which went on to become her tenth U.S. #1.
Madonna started her own company called Maverick Entertainment. It consisted of a record company and has television, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. In 1992, she released “Erotica”, her most sexually-charged album and also published her first book, SEX, consisting of sexually provocative images. The book caused a huge media controversy but went on to sell 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone. She appeared in two films, “Body of Evidence” and Maverick’s first film production “Dangerous Games”. She met fitness trainer Carlos Leon and he became her personal trainer and lover. The couple had a child, Madonna’s first, daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon. Her most successful film was “Evita”, released in November 1995. She won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture for her song “You Must Love Me”. She also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role as Eva Peron in this critically-acclaimed film.
Her 1998 album “Ray of Light” debuted at #2 on the U.S. albums chart. The album won three awards at the 1999 Grammy Awards and was described as “her richest, most accomplished record yet”. The success of the album was followed by the single “Beautiful Stranger” which was recorded for the movie “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” in 1999. She appeared in the movie “The Next Best Thing” and the movie featured another hit song, “American Pie”, a dance-infused cover of the Don Maclean original. Her eighth studio album was released in 2000. “Music” continued to showcase Madonna’s entrance into the world of electronic she started in her previous album and this time her music featured dance and house influence. The album debuted at the U.S. and U.K. album charts at number one. She met English screenwriter and film producer Guy Ritchie and Madonna gave birth to son Rocco John Ritchie in August 2002. Later that year, the couple married in Scotland.
“American Life”, her ninth studio album, was released in 2003. The album sold four million copies, becoming the lowest selling album of her career. She starred in the movie “Swept Away”, directed by Guy Ritchie and also embarked on the highest-grossing tour of the year, Re-Invention Tour, in 2004. A year later, the ever-active and charitable Madonna performed for two benefit concerts, “Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope” and “Live 8” in London. She performed a cover of John Lennon’s hit song “Imagine” on the televised U.S concert “Tsunami Aid”.
In 2005, Madonna recorded her tenth album, “Confessions on a Dance Floor”. The album was received with good reviews and was considered a return to form after the relatively low popularity of “American Life”. Confessions sold around eighth million copies worldwide and Madonna continued to rake in number one singles, both in the U.S. and the UK. This album produced many hit singles including “Hung Up”, “Get Together” and “Sorry”. She now has the most number of hit dance songs in the U.S a record of 37 #1 Hot Dance Club Play hits. Her “Confessions Tour” became the highest grossing tour ever by a female artist. The tour continued to feature religious symbols as part of the performances and again caused controversy with the Catholic Church. A year passed and saw Madonna become more involved in the global fight against poverty when she traveled to Malawi to help build an orphanage. On October 10, 2006, she filed adoption papers for a boy named David Banda Mwale. The adoption caused public controversy because of irregularities in the adoption process. It was speculated that Madonna got special treatment because of her celebrity status. Fellow musician Bono defended Madonna’s actions and said, “Madonna should be applauded for helping to take a child out of the worst poverty imaginable and giving him a better chance in life. Baby David is lucky to have been adopted by someone who can give him a chance of survival in this world and I don’t think it’s fair that people are criticising her.”
On December 13, 2007, Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with fellow musicians John Mellencamp and Leonard Cohen. The pop superstar went on to produce her eleventh album, “Hard Candy”. The album features collaborations with artists Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, and Danja. The album is scheduled to be released in the latter part of April this year. The first single from the new album is “4 minutes” and is Madonna’s highest charting single since her 2000 chart-topper “Music”.
Madonna summed her influence in the music industry as a wide range including Karen Carpenter, Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde. She also likes The Raconteurs and The White Stripes. Frank Sinatra also has a place in the star’s heart as she claimed she loves to sing the song “My Way” in the shower. As a young child, she was also fascinated by films and film stars. Her Catholic and Italian background has always been a part of her music, including her tours and videos. Some of her work is also influenced by the work of some of the greatest artists in the 20th century like Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo. She confesses she has a personal collection of works by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger and Man Ray. But her younger brother Christopher may be her biggest influence because he has been with her in all aspects of her life and career, giving advice to her in everything from clothes to music, to home design and even in her personal life.
Madonna has been involved with different persons during the course of her illustrious career and is now presently with husband Guy Ritchie. As of now, the couple resides in Marylebone, London and her country estate in Tollard Royal, Wiltshire with their three children. Past relationships include Sean Penn, Warren Beatty, Dennis Rodman, and Vanilla Ice.
Madonna’s star has truly shined for more than 20 years now, and she has shown no signs of stopping. Her music has turned her into a celebrity known globally. Her films, although admittedly not her forte, has still been duly recognized the world over. Although highly controversial because of her sexual and political views, Madonna is still dear to the hearts of her legions of fans. Her influence has stretched all over the world. A new water bear species has even been named after her. Echiniscus madonnae was named after the celebrity. The authors’ justification for the name was: “We take great pride in dedicating this species to one of the most significant artists of our times, Madonna Louise Veronica Ritchie.”
