Madonna

From Michigan to Danceteria

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan, on 16 August 1958. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was five, and she grew up in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township. A ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, inspired her to pursue dance, and she won a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan. In 1978 she left college and moved to New York City with 35 dollars in her pocket. There she played drums, guitar and sang in two rock bands, Breakfast Club and Emmy, the second with Stephen Bray, who went on writing with her for years.

In 1982 she took her demo to nightclub DJs. Mark Kamins at Danceteria took an interest and arranged a meeting with Seymour Stein, president of Sire Records, and she signed a two-single deal. Her debut single Everybody came out that October. The album Madonna followed on 27 July 1983. John "Jellybean" Benitez produced Holiday, her breakthrough song, and the album reached number eight on the Billboard 200.

Pop stardom

Like a Virgin (1984), made with Nile Rodgers, gave her a first number one album on the Billboard 200. Its title song held the top of the Hot 100 for six weeks, and Material Girl reached number two. She began her first North American tour, the Virgin Tour, in April 1985. True Blue (1986) was co-written and co-produced by her in full, with Patrick Leonard and Bray. It topped the charts in 28 countries and sold more than 25 million copies.

Like a Prayer to Ray of Light

Like a Prayer (1989) drew on her Catholic upbringing, her family and her failing marriage to Sean Penn. Its title song and video, with burning crosses and a kiss with a black saint, drew condemnation from the Vatican and ended her Pepsi sponsorship. The album spent six weeks at number one in the United States. Rolling Stone's J. D. Considine called it as close to art as pop music gets. Her Blond Ambition World Tour followed in 1990, and Vogue reached number one in more than 30 countries. The Immaculate Collection arrived that November and has sold more than 30 million copies.

She founded the entertainment company Maverick in 1992. Erotica came in October 1992 and her book Sex a day later, and in 1994 she released Bedtime Stories, whose single Take a Bow spent seven weeks at number one. After starring in Evita and the birth of her daughter Lourdes in October 1996, she worked with the electronic producer William Orbit on Ray of Light (1998), which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with the biggest first week for a woman at the time and won four Grammys, among them Best Pop Album.

Music and after

Music (2000), made largely with the French producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï, sold four million copies in ten days and went to number one in the United States. The Drowned World Tour in 2001 was her first tour in eight years and the highest-grossing by a solo artist that year, at 75 million dollars. American Life (2003) met a mixed reception. For Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), a continuous club set made with Stuart Price, she won the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.

She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2008, in her first year of eligibility. Hard Candy, MDNA, Rebel Heart and Madame X followed, and the Celebration Tour of 2023 and 2024 ended with a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro that drew 1.6 million people. Confessions II, again with Price, was released on 3 July 2026 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.