Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone (born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.

Known as the "Queen of Pop", she has been widely recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting and visual presentation.

Madonna's works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim.

A prominent cultural pop icon spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries, she remains one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age", with a broad array of scholarly reviews, literature, and art works about her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her called Madonna studies.

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, to Catholic parents Madonna Louise (née Fortin) and Silvio Anthony "Tony" Ciccone.

Her father's parents were Italian emigrants from Pacentro while her mother was of French-Canadian descent.

Tony Ciccone worked as an optics engineer for Chrysler Defense and its successor, General Dynamics Land Systems, on military projects.

Since Madonna had the same name as her mother, family members called her "Little Nonnie".

Her mother died of breast cancer on December 1, 1963.

Madonna later adopted Veronica as a confirmation name when getting confirmed in the Catholic Church in 1966.

Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills), alongside her two older brothers—Anthony and Martin—and three younger siblings; Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.

In 1966, Tony married the family's housekeeper Joan Gustafson.

They had two children, Jennifer and Mario.

Madonna resented her father for getting remarried and began to rebel against him, which strained their relationship for many years afterward.

Madonna attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Catholic Elementary Schools, and West Middle School.

She was known for her high grade point average and achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior.

Madonna would perform cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangle by her knees from the monkey bars during recess, and pull up her skirt during class—all so that the boys could see her underwear.

She later admitted to seeing herself in her youth as a "lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms or legs, and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades... I wanted to be somebody."

Madonna's father put her in classical piano lessons, but she later convinced him to allow her to take ballet lessons.

Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, persuaded her to pursue a career in dance.

Madonna later attended Rochester Adams High School and became a straight-A student as well as a member of its cheerleading squad.

After graduating in January 1976, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan and studied over the summer at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina.

In 1978, Madonna dropped out of college and relocated to New York City.

She said of her move to New York, "It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done."

Madonna soon found an apartment in the Alphabet City neighborhood of the East Village and had little money while working at Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes, taking classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and eventually performing with Pearl Lang Dance Theater.

Forbes has named her the annual top-earning female musician a record 11 times across four separate decades (1980s–2010s).

She rose to stardom with her 1983 eponymous debut studio album.

Madonna followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990), as well as acclaimed Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005).

Throughout her career, she has amassed many chart-topping singles, including "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Take a Bow", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up" and "4 Minutes".

Madonna's popularity was enhanced by roles in films such as Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992) and Evita (1996).

While the lattermost won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, many of her other films were not as well received.

As a businesswoman, she founded the company Maverick in 1992, which included Maverick Records, one of the most successful artist-run labels in history.

Madonna's other ventures include fashion brands, written works, health clubs and filmmaking.

She contributes to various charities, having founded the Ray of Light Foundation in 1998 and Raising Malawi in 2006, and advocates for gender equality and LGBT rights.

With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Madonna is the best-selling female recording artist of all time.

She is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and has achieved the most number-one singles by a woman in Australia (11), Canada (24), Italy (23), Spain (21), and the UK (13).

One of the highest-grossing touring artists in history, she became the first ever woman to accumulate US$1 billion in concert revenue.

Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, her first year of eligibility.

She was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1, and as the greatest music video artist ever by MTV and Billboard.

She was also listed among Rolling Stone's greatest artists and greatest songwriters of all time.