Madonna | biography

Madonna

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

The 48-year-old was recognised for a career which has spanned two decades and countless different looks.

Her constant reinvention has taken her from backcombed hair and fingerless gloves in the Eighties to her most recent incarnation as a leotard-clad disco diva.

She launches her new designs for high street store H&M next month.

The Elle magazine awards - billed as "the unofficial fashion Oscars" - were held at the Roundhouse in Camden, north London.

Presenters at the glamorous ceremony included Peaches Geldof, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Kelly Osbourne.

Full list of winners:

Style icon - Madonna
Best actor - Jude Law
Best actress - Thandie Newton
Best British music act - Amy Winehouse
Best British band - Razorlight
Best film - Volver
Best TV show - Ugly Betty
Best model - Naomi Campbell
Best British designer - Giles Deacon
Best international designer - Stella McCartney
H&M young designer - Gareth Pugh
H&M fashion photographer - Gilles Bensimon

A family affair for Madonna’s movie - Jan 26 2007
It was almost a full family affair when Madonna arrived at the premiere of her new film.

The Queen of Pop was flanked by director husband Guy Ritchie and their two excited children, Lourdes, 10, and Rocco, six, at the event.

But little David Banda, whose adoption from Malawi caused controversy after Madonna was accused of using her international stature to speed up the process, stayed at home "sleeping".

By bringing her film-maker husband on her arm to the UK premiere of Arthur And The Invisibles, the Material Girl scotched rumours of a marriage crisis.

Guy, 38, was happy to take a back seat and support the superstar as she walked down the green carpet to the clamour of her adoring fans.

Madonna, 48, whose most recent efforts in front of the camera have been panned by critics, voices the character of Princess Selenia in the new film.

She said: "It was great fun. I got to voice the character while sitting there in my tracksuit."

Asked what attracted her most to the character, pop’s most powerful woman answered: "I like how tough she is and that she knows how to use a sword."

She said of the film: "I like the fact that the good guys win in the end."

Asked how 15-month-old David was, she replied: "He’s wonderful thank you. He’s sleeping."

Madonna’s New York scare - Jan 16 2007
Madonna got a first-hand taste of Manhattan’s famously formidable traffic when she was reportedly involved in a high-speed car chase in the city late last week.

After taping her interview on the Late Show with David Letterman, in which she discussed her new adopted son and ex-pal Britney Spears, the material mum’s vehicle was apparently aggressively pursued by two others as she made her way home.

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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)
October 2007