Madonna | biography

Madonna

Profession: Singer
Place/Date of Birth: Michigan USA
Associated with: Guy Ritchie

Emerging from a huge projection of a glitter ball, the material girl kicked off the show with an energetic performance of current hit single ’Hung Up’. Wearing a leather jacket, dark glasses and purple boots Madonna delivered a five song set and told the crowd: "Last time I played here was 22 years ago. It was my first show in London and it is so f***ing good to be back."

Madonna belted out four tracks from her latest album ’Confessions of a Dancefloor’ and danced throughout. At one point she said, slightly breathlessly: "I feel like I’m really out of shape right now, I don’t like falling off horses." The beautiful singer finished the set with ’Everybody’, her first ever single - which she played at her first show at the venue. The gig was filled with star fans, including fashion designer Stella McCartney, a close friend of Madonna, former Spice Girl Mel C and singer Will Young.

Madonna and her marriage to Sean Penn - Nov 09, 2020
Madonna has admitted her marriage to Sean Penn broke down - because she was too self-obsessed. The pop superstar wed the Oscar-winning actor in a lavish cliff-top ceremony in 1985, but the couple divorced four years later. Madonna now claims she was too selfish and absorbed in her career to give the time and effort their romance needed.

The sexy singer, who is now happily married to second husband Guy Ritchie, said: "I just wasn’t ready to be married before. I was completely obsessed with my career and not ready to be generous in any shape or form." Despite the breakdown of her marriage to Sean, Madonna says it didn’t put her off walking up the aisle again.

She added to the Tatler magazine: "I wasn’t scared at all, not the first or the second time. That is the domain of men. "When you live with someone you don’t really respect the union completely. There isn’t the same sense of responsibility. You can leave whenever you like."

Madonna married Guy Ritchie to make her "look good" - Nov 08, 2020
Madonna has admitted she only married husband Guy Ritchie to make her "look good". The pop superstar wed the English film director in December 2000 and she now says she tied the knot with him for all the wrong reasons. She said: "I went into the marriage saying, ’He’s fantastically talented, very witty, very smart. He’s going to make me laugh and look good because he’s so successful and, of course, he’s gorgeous, sexy and handsome."

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Biography

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Michigan USA in 1958., the third of eight children. During her school years she was a cheerleader, excelled in dance and drama classes which gave her the love of performing that she is famous for. Moving to New York in 1977 to pursue her dream, (with a rumoured $35 dollars to her name) Madonna worked as a model and studied dance under notorious choreographer Alvin Ailey. Two years later she formed a band, The Breakfast Club and met boyfriend Steve Bray who recognised her talents immediately and helped her to create the solo dance tracks which saw her signed by Sire Records, releasing her first single, Everybody, with DJ Mark Kamins, in 1982.

The following year Madonna broke away from Kamins and recorded Holiday which went straight in to the American top 20 and was a hit across Europe. She cemented her raunchy image with Like A Virgin, her first US number one, and Material Girl with it’s iconic video. By this time Madonna was becoming one of the most emulated and best loved artists in the world and she became even more popular thanks to her part in Live Aid and a high profile marriage to Sean Penn.

The pop diva followed up her success with several singles from the True Blue album and turned her hand to acting for the first time in the poorly received A Certain Sacrifice and of course, Desperately Seeking Susan. Her first real flop was alongside her husband in the laughable Shanghai Surprise. Her failure’s in the film department didn’t stop David Mamet from casting her in a Broadway production of Speed the Plow - by this time talent or no, Madonna’s was name that guaranteed attention.

1989 saw the singer court controversy with the video for Like A Prayer, featuring a black Jesus, which outraged and shocked the Catholic church and caused Pepsi to cancel a sponsorship deal. But far from ruining her career, this stunt saw her become the icon that we know today. The 1990s were the pinnacle of Madonna’s success, her divorce from Sean Penn pushing her further in to the lime light, beginning with a part in Dick Tracy opposite Warren Beatty and a fantastic soundtrack album alongside featuring hit song Vogue. Documentary film Truth or Dare and her Blonde Ambition tour (with that pointy bra) followed with further controversy.

In 1992 she signed a multi million pound deal with Time Warner guaranteeing the release of music, films and books through her own record label, Maverick. She made the most of the deal with picture book Sex, which caused another controversy but rocketed up the bestsellers charts nonetheless. Erotica was her first album for years though not to generate a US number one. People thought that perhaps Madonna had gone too far with her need to shock, and perhaps she had realised it too as her next album was far mellower and a part in Evita in 1996 made her bankable again.

Later that year she fell pregnant with Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, daughter of her personal trainer. But far from slowing her work, having a child only seemed to spur Madonna on, she released the runaway success, Ray of Light which produced hit after hit and recorded Beautiful Stranger for the second Austin Powers movie. she also starred alongside Rupert Everett in romantic comedy The Next Best Thing.

It was around this time that Madonna met British director Guy Ritchie - the man who would change her life. They had son Rocco in 2000 and they married in 2002 after Madonna moved permanently to England, took to wearing flat caps and drinking tea. The title track of her album Music gave her a transatlantic number one hit. Collaborations with Ritchie, especially their film Swept Away, have generally been unsuccessful but Madonna’s music career continues to go from strength to strength, her latest album American Life has been a worldwide hit and she has even found time to pen a children’s book, The English Roses. Now, an honorary Brit and devout follower of Kaballah, Madonna lives with her family in Marylebone and Wiltshire. She also owns a ?4 million Spanish-style villa in Beverly Hills, a house in Miami and a duplex overlooking Central Park in New York.
(Updated April 04)
December 2007