Madonna is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur who was born in Bay City, Michigan, on August 16, 1958. Her enormous fame in the 1980s and 1990s gave her access to levels of power and influence in the entertainment world that were almost unheard of for a woman.
Born into a big Italian American family, Madonna studied dance at the University of Michigan, and then, in the late 1970s, she lived temporarily in Paris as part of Patrick Hernandez’s disco revue. She also studied dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. After coming back to New York City, she had many rock group appearances before joining Sire Records. Her 1983 breakthrough song, “Holiday,” served as the model for her subsequent releases; it had a lively dance club vibe, crisp production, and instant popularity. The lyrics of Madonna’s appealing pop melodies focused on love, relationships, and sex; examples of these themes include the carefree innocence of “True Blue” (1986), the sensual fantasy of “Justify My Love” (1990), and the spirituality of later songs like
The first female musician to properly utilize the possibilities of the music video was Madonna. Her work included collaborations with leading photographers (Steven Meisel and Herb Ritts), directors (Mary Lambert and David Fincher), and designers (Jean-Paul Gaultier). She drew inspiration from avant-garde and underground club culture to create unique, sexual, and satirical images, such as the controversial red-dressed “sinner” who kisses a black saint in “Like a Prayer” (1989) and the knowing ingenue of “Like a Virgin” (1984). By 1991, she had sold almost 70 million records worldwide and achieved 21 top 10 songs in the US, bringing in $1.2 billion in revenue. Devoted to maintaining complete control over her image and career, Madonna rose to the position of CEO of Maverick, a Time Warner division established by the entertainment mogul as part of
When Madonna released Sex in 1992, a soft-core pornographic coffee-table book that featured her in a range of “erotic” stances, she fully embraced her image as a sexual siren. She came under fire for being very calculated and manipulative, and author Norman Mailer claimed that she had turned into a “secretary to herself.” After a short while, Madonna left pop music to focus on her film career, which had started strong with her roles in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Dick Tracy (1990), and Truth or Dare (1991), which was also dubbed “In Bed with Madonna” and was a documentary about one of her tours, as well as A League of Their Own (1992). In 1996, she achieved enormous success in the lead role.
Ray of Light, Madonna’s first album of new music in four years, was released in 1998. It was a commercial and critical triumph, combining techno music with self-aware lyrics. The singer won her first musical Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Album (she had previously won for a video). The following year, she was awarded another Grammy for “Beautiful Stranger,” a song she co-wrote and sang for the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Her electronica experiments were carried out in Music (2000). With Confessions on a Dance Floor, her 2005 album that won the Grammy for best electronic/dance music, she went back to her roots.
Madonna maintained her independence even after her marriage to English director Guy Ritchie (divorced in 2008) and actor Sean Penn in the 1980s, both of whom she had a son with. (She eventually adopted four Malawian children.) She did, however, continue to recruit the biggest names in music to help on particular projects, despite her independent streak. This was evident in Hard Candy (2008), a hip-hop-infused song written, produced, and featuring vocals by Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, and Justin Timberlake of the hit-making group The Neptunes. With MDNA (2012), she demonstrated her ability to assimilate cutting-edge musical genres once again, this time with cameos from rappers M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj. Rebel Heart (2015) was a tribute to her career, with production by Diplo and Kanye West and guest appearances by Nicki Minaj and Chance the Rapper. 2019 saw the release of Madonna’s 14th studio album, Madame X, which had hip-hop, art pop, and Latin pop influences. The album was motivated by the singer’s 2017 move to Lisbon, Portugal. 2008 saw Madonna’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Madonna undertook work behind the camera in addition to performing motion pictures. She appeared in Ritchie’s Swept Away (2002) and the romantic comedy The Next Best Thing (2000). She also co-wrote and directed the plays Filth and Wisdom (2008), a comedy about three mismatched London flatmates, and W.E. (2011), a drama that combined the story of a fictional 1990s woman researching Wallis Simpson’s life with the historical romance of Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII.
