  Madonna (Louise Ciccone) was
born on August 16, 1958, in Michigan. Madonna
grew up in a suburb of Detroit with her
father, step-mother and 7 siblings -
Madonna's mother died of cancer when Madonna
was 5. In the mid-80s, Madonna burst onto the
worldwide music scene and remains one of the
biggest music personalities in the world.
Although often criticized for less than
supreme vocals, Madonna continues to amaze
and entertain fans with her dancing,
imaginative videos, and captivating antics.
The world has watched Madonna's
"metamorphism" over the years: pop
queen, struggling actress, MTV maven, record
company developer, successful actress, and
mother. Whatever role Madonna has played, it
can not be disputed that she has always put
110% into her craft. Madonna is able to
portray her sexuality and femininity while
still maintaining an empowering image of
control (which is rare in music and set the
framework for other powerful female artists).
In the late 70s, Madonna began her
entertainment career modeling and dancing
with the Alvin Ailey dance troupe in New York
with hopes of becoming a ballet dancer.
Madonna then worked with Patrick
Hernandez and became a member of the
Breakfast Club for a short time playing drums
and then singing lead.
 After leaving the Breakfast Club
and forming a short-lived band named Emmy,
Madonna recorded some dance tracks that
eventually led her to being signed with Sire
Records 2 years later.
 With a record deal with Sire
Records, Madonna's music finally hit the club
scene with the track "Everybody."
 # 149
Singles Artist of the Year
Madonna's club hits continued
with the track "Physical
Attraction."
 The 3rd dance song released,
"Holiday," was crossing
over onto pop radio, and Madonna's debut LP, Madonna, was released. Even
though the LP got off to a slow-start, it
went on to sell millions copies and was later
named one of Rolling Stone
magazine's 100 Best Albums of the 80s.
Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Holiday."
 # 10
Singles Artist of the Year
 Madonna had begun her domination
of pop radio and MTV with her first Top 10
hits: "Borderline" and "Lucky
Star."
Madonna was certified gold.
Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Borderline."
 Madonna hit the Top 10 with "Borderline."
Madonna was certified
platinum.
 Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Lucky
Star."
Madonna was nominated for MTV Video Music
Awards for Best New Artist and Best Direction ("Borderline"), and gave a
memorable performance of "Like A Virgin" at the ceremony.
 Madonna released Like
A Virgin, which gave her the first of
many #1 songs, "Like A Virgin" and sold over 10
million copies in the U.S. Additional hits on
the LP included "Material Girl,"
"Angel," and "Dress You
Up."
Madonna was certified 2x
platinum.
Madonna appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
 # 1
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1
Female Artist of the Year)
 Like
A Virgin was certified 2x platinum.
Madonna was nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.
Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Material
Girl."
Like
A Virgin was certified 3x platinum.
 Madonna hit the Top
10
with "Crazy For You."
Like
A Virgin was certified 4x platinum.
 Madonna appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
Madonna had 2 additional #1
hits, "Crazy For You" from the film
Vision
Quest, and "Material
Girl,"
as well as three Top 3 hits. The same year,
Madonna made her acting debut in the hit Desperately
Seeking Susan.
 Madonna also had to contend with
7 year-old nude photos of her published in Penthouse
and Playboy magazines, along with a
low-budget film she had done 6 years
previously, A Certain Sacrifice.
Although Madonna did not want the photos
published, there was little impact on her
rising popularity.
Madonna's success had expanded
worldwide, and she appeared at Live Aid in
Philadelphia, toured worldwide with The
Virgin Tour, and married actor Sean Penn (the
couple was divorced 4 years later) - all by
the end of the summer.
 The single "Crazy For
You" was certified gold and Like
A Virgin was certified 5x
platinum.
Madonna's video for
"Material Girl" was nominated for a
MTV Video Music
Award for Best Female Video and Best Choreography, and the video for
"Like A Virgin" was nominated
for Best Cinematography, Best Choreography and Best Art Direction.
 Madonna was certified 3x
platinum.
Like
A Virgin was certified 6x platinum.
 Madonna helped out Jellybean
with backing vocals on his Top 40 hit
"Sidewalk Talk."
Madonna had the Top Music
Videocassette of the Year (Madonna).
Madonna ended the year with the
Top Single of the Year ("Like A Virgin").
 # 1
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1
Female Artist of the Year)
 Madonna was nominated for 3 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Like
A Virgin), and Favorite Pop/Rock Female
Video Artist.
Madonna was nominated for a Grammy
Award for Best Vocal Performance - Female ("Crazy For
You").
 Madonna hit #1 with "Live
To Tell."
Madonna released True
Blue, which gave her three more #1
hits, "Live To Tell," "Open
Your Heart," and "Papa Don't
Preach." The LP also gave Madonna
critical success in addition to the 7 million
copies sold in the U.S.
 The track "Papa Don't
Preach" drew controversy over the lyrics
by religious groups, even though the intent
of the song was giving birth instead of
aborting a baby.
Madonna's golden touch did not
help her next movie with her husband, Sean
Penn: Shanghai
Surprise.
Madonna appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
 The single "Angel / Into
The Groove" was certified gold.
Madonna hit #1 with "Papa
Don't Preach" for 3 weeks.
 True
Blue was certified 2x platinum.
Madonna was honored with the MTV
Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music
Awards. Her videos for "Dress You
Up" and the live version of "Like A Virgin" were nominated
for Best Choreography.
True
Blue was certified 3x platinum.
 Madonna had the Top Music
Videocassette of the Year (The Virgin
Tour).
 # 1
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1
Female Artist of the Year)
 Madonna hit the #1 with "Open Your
Heart."
Madonna won an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female
Video Artist and was nominated for for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Single ("Live To
Tell").
True
Blue was certified 4x platinum.
Madonna was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance - Female ("Papa Don't
Preach").
 Songs from True
Blue continued to dominate pop
radio, but Madonna had another commercial
disappointment with the film Who's
That Girl - the title song however went
to #1 and the Who's That Girl Tour was
successful.
Like
A Virgin was certified 7x platinum.
 True
Blue was certified 5x platinum.
Madonna hit the Top
10 and
#1 (for 1 week) with "Who's That
Girl."
The Who's
That Girl soundtrack was certified
platinum.
Madonna appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
Madonna's video for "Papa
Don't Preach" won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Female Video, and was nominated for
Best Overall
Performance and Best Cinematography, and "Open Your
Heart" was nominated for Best Female Video, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction.
 Madonna released the dance remix
LP, You
Can Dance. No singles were released from
the LP, but the track "Spotlight"
did receive moderate radio play.
Madonna appeared on Broadway in Speed-The-Plow
to mixed reviews and filed for divorce from
Penn.
 # 125
Singles Artist of the Year
 You
Can Dance was certified platinum.
Madonna was nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.
Madonna was certified 4x
platinum.
 # 5
Singles Artist of the Year
 Madonna released her 4th LP, Like
A Prayer, and during the year had three
more #1 hits: "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," and "Cherish." The LP showed
that Madonna was getting more comfortable
experimenting with her musical styles,
incorporating more rock, R&B, and adult
contemporary elements into her music.
Madonna appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
Madonna's soda commercial for
Pepsi began airing on TV only to be pulled
off the air within a few days due to the
controversy over the "Like A
Prayer" video and accompanying religious
images.
Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Like A Prayer."
 Madonna hit the Top 10 and #1 for 3 weeks with
"Like A Prayer."
Like
A Prayer was certified 2x platinum and
the single "Like A Prayer" was certified
platinum.
 Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Express Yourself."
Madonna hit the Top 10 and #1 for a week with "Express Yourself."
The single "Express Yourself" was certified
gold.
Madonna hit the Top 40 with
"Cherish."
 Madonna appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
Madonna hit the Top 10 and #1 for a week with "Cherish."
Madonna's videos won 4 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Direction (David Fincher), Best Art Direction (Vance Lorenzini), and
Best Cinematography (Mark Plummer) ("
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