Madonna
Real Name: Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone
Date of Birth: 16 August, 1958
Place of birth: Rochester, Michigan
Profession: Singer – Actress – Producer – Composer
Madonna - the very mention of her name brings to mind images of her musical and acting success and above all, her sexuality and distinctive lifestyle. Named after her mother, she is the third child of 7 siblings. Childhood proved to be a struggle for Madonna as her mother died of breast cancer when she was only five. She chose a Hebrew, Esther for herself in 2004. During her interview with ABC’s 20/20, she stated: “I was named after my mother. She died when she was young. I wanted to attach myself to another name, so I read about all the women in the Old Testament and I loved the story of Queen Esther.”
Young Madonna, dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer and moved from Michigan to New York to pursue choreography and modeling. She traveled around the US and Europe honing her talent and making friends in the entertainment world. She returned to New York and became a drummer and lead singer in the Breakfast Group, a pop singing/dancing band. From there, she joined various dance troupes and bands and struggled with her career until 1983 when she released her debut album Madonna that sold 3 million copies. She created a huge impact with her 1984 album, Like A Virgin that sold 7 million copies in just 6 months! This success story was followed by a number of albums including Vision Quest, True Blue, You Can Dance, Like A Prayer, I’m Breathless, The Immaculate Collection, Erotica, Bedtime Stories, Something To Remember and more. She has currently sold more than 250 million records.
In 1984 she married actor Sean Penn and divorced in 1988. She gave birth to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon (Lola) in 1996 whose father is Carlos Leon. In 2000, she married British director Guy Ritchie and gave birth to a son, Rocco John Ritchie. She also adopted a baby boy, David Banda, during her 2006 trip to a Malawi orphanage.
Although many people criticized it, her photo-book, Sex was a tremendous success. She also made an impact as an actress in films such as Desperately Seeking Susan, Shanghai Surprise, Body of Evidence and the documentary, Truth or Dare.
Madonna has won numerous MTV Music Awards, Five Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe for her performance in Evita and an Academy Award for her song, You Must Love Me. She was voted the 36th greatest artist of all time in Rolling Stone magazine. She was named People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People of 1991” and “25 Most Intriguing People of 2001.”
In 1992, she signed with Time Warner to create her own Record Label, Maverick, which she sold to Warner Music after a dispute. A fan of Katharine Hepburn, she secured her international success by clever promotion in media and image-making. Besides singing and dancing, she has also written some children’s stories starting with The English Roses in 2003. According to the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records, she is the highest earning female singer of all time. The fact that she truly loves and enjoys her image as a star can be seen with her following quote: “If I was a girl again, I would like to be like my fans, I would like to be like Madonna.”
