Madonna (1958– )

US pop singer and actor. She is arguably the most successful female artist in popular music, due in part to her propensity for reinventing herself. Her first hit was ‘Like a Virgin’ (1984); others include ‘Material Girl’ (1985) and ‘Like a Prayer’ (1989). Her later albums Ray of Light (1998), Music (2000), and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), which were more influenced by dance and electronic music than her previous releases, were both immediate commercial and critical successes. Her films include Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) and Evita (1996).

Born in Rochester, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York in 1977 to establish her career. Her first chart success occurred in 1984, with ‘Borderline’. In the later years of her career, she frequently used Catholic trappings in her dress and stage show, to the horror of religious leaders. Her book Sex, a collection of erotic photographs and explicit fantasies, was published in 1992, coinciding with the release of the dance album Erotica.

Early films such as Dick Tracy (1990), the documentary In Bed with Madonna (1991), and A League of Their Own (1992) received negative reviews, but her role as Eva Perón in the film Evita in 1996 won much critical acclaim. She also published a number of popular children's books, for example The English Roses (2003), which became the fastest-selling children's picture book to date.

Madonna

Italian name for the Virgin Mary, meaning ‘my lady’.