Madonna

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (born August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, United States), known simply as Madonna, is an iconic dance-pop singer-songwriter, record and film producer, dancer, actress, author, philanthropist and fashion icon known as the Queen of Pop. She is noted for her ambitious music videos and stage performances as well as using political, sexual, and religious themes in her work. Throughout her nearly three-decade career, most of her songs have hit number one on the record charts, including Like a Virgin, Papa Don't Preach, Like a Prayer, Vogue, Frozen, Music, Hung Up and 4 Minutes. Madonna has been praised by critics for her diverse musical productions while at the same time serving as a lightning rod for religious controversy. In 2000, Guinness World Records listed Madonna as the most successful female recording artist of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of 200 million albums; in 2005, her record company credited her as having sold over 200 million albums worldwide. Madonna is the highest earning female singer of all time according to both the 2007 Guinness Book of Records and Billboard Magazine. Forbes magazine has named her one of the smartest business women. In addition, according to Rolling Stone, Madonna remains one of the greatest pop acts of all time. Furthermore, Madonna’s 2008/2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour holds the record for the highest-grossing concert tour ever by a female artist or solo with gross of $US408 million, surpassing the title previously held by her own Confessions Tour. After signing to Sire Records in 1979, her debut single Everybody was released in October of the same year. One year later, her debut album Madonna followed, and since then hits such as Holiday, Like a Virgin, Papa Don’t Preach and Like a Prayer catapulted her to massive success. By the 1990s, her commercially successful albums, constantly reinvented image, groundbreaking music videos and controversial nature would earn her the title “Queen of Pop.” According to the aforementioned Guinness Book of World Records, Madonna is the most successful female solo artist of all time. Apart from achieving 12 No.1 singles, 37 top 10 singles and 48 top 40 hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, Madonna also maintains the record for the most separate calendar weeks as a female artist with a charting single in any position (853+ weeks). She has also garnered 21 MTV Video Music Awards - the most by any artist (including the special Video Vanguard Award) - eight Grammy Awards, as well as a Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) Golden Globe Award for her performance in “Evita”. Two soundtrack cuts performed by Madonna, Sooner or Later and You Must Love Me, were awarded with Oscars. On the United World Chart, Madonna is the Most Successful Singles Artist of All Time and has a record of 13 number one singles. Madonna also holds the record of 40 #1 Hot Dance Club Play hits in the US, the most for any artist ever. Her seventh studio album Ray of Light reflected a change in her perception and image. . It also won her four Grammy Awards the same year. Ray of Light has been ranked number 363 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Madonna followed the success of Ray of Light with the single “Beautiful Stranger”, recorded for the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’s soundtrack. which topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100. Madonna’s eighth studio album, Music, was released in 2000 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The following year music won a grammy was ranked number 452 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Madonna released her ninth studio album called American Life. It was themed on the American society and received mixed reviews. American Life debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, it was her second consecutive number one debut The 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor, co-written & produced by Stuart Price previously known best for his remixes and as band member of Les Rythmes Digitales and Zoot Woman by set a new world record by going to No. 1 in a total of 40 countries, the most ever for an album. The lead single, Hung Up, also set a record for going to No. 1 in 41 countries. Hung Up has become one of Madonna’s best selling singles ever with a total sales of 4.7+ million from digital, ring tones and single sales. It uses a sample from ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! after begging to use it the Swedish group finally allowed her to. Madonna released her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy, in April 2008. The album debuted at #1 in a record breaking 37 countries. It was lauded by Rolling Stone as an “impressive taste of her upcoming tour.” The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and the Billboard 200, with over 280,000 copies sold in its first week . Its lead single 4 Minutes reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The single scored Madonna her thirty-seventh Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit, thus surpassing Elvis Presley as the artist with the most top-ten hits. In the United Kingdom, she retained her record for the most number one singles for a female artist, this being her thirteenth. To further promote the album, Madonna embarked on the Sticky & Sweet Tour, which was her first major venture with Live Nation and became the highest-grossing concert tour ever by a solo artist.