Madonna

Biography of Madonna

Madonna was born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan.

Eldest daughter of Silvio Anthony Ciccone and Madonna Louise Fortin, immigrants from Pacentro, Italy, her mother was of French-Canadian descent.

Her father worked as an engineer at Chrysler and General Motors. She has two older brothers, Anthony (born 1956) and Martin (born 1957), and three younger siblings, Paula (born 1959), Christopher (born 1960), and Melanie (born 1962).

Upon receiving confirmation from her in 1966 she adopted the name Veronica.

She grew up in Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills) suburbs of Detroit. When she was six years old, her mother died of breast cancer. In 1966, her father married family nanny Joan Gustafson, and they had two children: Jennifer (born 1967) and Mario (born 1968).

She attended St. Fredericks and St. Andrews Catholic Elementary Schools, and West Middle School.

She was recognized as a good student and for her unconventional behavior. She used to do cartwheels, do handstands in the aisles and hike up her skirt so guys could see her underwear.

Madonna attended Rochester Adams High School where she became a member of the cheerleading squad. Upon graduation, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance.

She convinced her father to allow her to take ballet classes and was persuaded by Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, to allow her to pursue a career in dance.

In 1978 she dropped out of college and moved to New York City, where she worked as a waitress.

She started in the world of music in the 70's and is a composer, singer and producer.

Her career as a musician goes through different phases full of ups and downs. She devoted herself especially to disco, pop, dance and electronic music.

In New York where she studied and danced with Alvin Ailey and Pearl Lang, she also acted in some erotic films. She worked as a photographic model and soon after she created her own band with a friend of hers: The Breakfast Club, in which she played guitar and drums.

She went through various groups and continually changed representatives, she released her first single, Everybody in 1983, with which she began her path to fame.

Her albums Madonna (1983) and Like a Virgin (1984) sold millions of copies.

Her third album, True Blue, was released in 1986 and was a huge sales success. In 1989 she released Like a Prayer, with which she broke all sales records.

She starred in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). She worked on Broadway with a play titled Speed the Plow, with notable success. Together with Sean Penn (whom she married on August 16, 1985), she starred in a new movie, Shanghai Surprise, which was a flop.

In 1988 she released Whos that girl followed by You can dance. She started a new tour with great success. Recognized worldwide for the provocation that her video clips and shows arouse, as well as for the versatility of her shows.

In 1990 she starred in the movie Dick Tracy, alongside Warren Beatty, with whom she had an affair, she also released the Dick Tracy soundtrack. Two years later she participated in the film A League of Their Own.

During 1992 she released Erotica and in 1994 Bedtime Stories, with which she turned her career around as well as achieving great sales success.

In 1996, she starred in Evita, along with Antonio Banderas, with which she won the Golden Globe for best actress. She released the album with the soundtrack of the film and in October of the same year her daughter Lourdes María Ciccone was born, the result of her relationship with the Cuban Carlos León.

In 1998 Ray of Light appeared and in 2000 Music.

His performances in the cinema, with the exception of Desperately Seeking Susan and Evita, did not achieve great notoriety.

Her appearance on movie screens was a hit at the box office in the United States in 2002. Swept Away, the high-budget film in which she starred and directed by her husband, Guy Ritchie, did not find favor with the public. .

Produced by Madonna herself and Mirwais Ahmadzai, at the beginning of 2003 the album American Life was released, which was once again involved in controversy. A few days before the release of the first single, she withdrew the video for its war content and criticism of the US.

In November 2003, she released Remixed and Revisited, an EP with seven tracks, including her collaborations with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott, as well as various remixes and a previously unreleased track, Your Honesty.

In June 2004, the controversial pop star changed her name to Esther -of Hebrew origin-, thus assuming a new public image of modesty, more in line with that of a young Jewish girl than with that of a materialistic girl. Raised in a Catholic background, she claimed in an interview with ABC News' 20/20 program that her identification with the biblical queen is due in part to her study of Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah.

In March 2012, her album titled MDNA was released, which seems to play with words, halfway between her name, Madonna, and the English name of the drug MDMA (ecstasy). In April, the singer launched the Thruth or Dare perfume that she designed in memory of her mother's scent and with which she culminates one of her oldest projects.

The album, Rebel Heart, was presented on March 10, 2015, and from August to December of the same year it was dedicated to its promotion.

On April 14, 2019, she revealed that Madame X would be the title of her next studio album. The first single, a collaboration with Colombian singer Maluma, titled Medellín, was released on April 17.

On May 18, 2019, Madonna performed in front of 200 million people from all over the world at the Eurovision gala. She appeared on the stage of the Expo pavilion in Tel Aviv (Israel) to present Future, together with the American rapper Quavo, one of the songs from his new album Madame X.

In addition to Lourdes María, she had another child born on August 11, 2000, Rocco Ritchie, son of film director Guy Ritchie, whom she married in December 2000. She also has four adopted children: Chifundo Mercy James, David Banda Mwale and the twins Estere and Stella.