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Madonna
(Louise Veronica Ciccone) was born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City,
Michigan to Madonna Fortin and Sylvio Ciccone. She was the oldest
female, and one of eight children (Martin, Anthony, Christopher,
Paula, Melanie, Mario and Jennifer). Her mother passed away when she
was five years old and she was raised mostly by her father. She was
raised in a strict Christian household and attended church daily.
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At an early
age she began to sing and dance and took ballet lessons. Her family
eventually moved to Rochester, New York where she was a cheerleader
at the Rochester Adams High School. After graduating in 1976, she
decided to go into a career in dance. She wanted to attend the dance
school at the University of Michigan, and won a dance scholarship to
the school. College really was not her thing and left after three
semesters.
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In 1977 she
moved to New York to pursue a career in classical ballet. She
eventually became part of the prestigious Alvin Ailey Dance Troop.
She also did some modeling on the side to make money.
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She continued
to sing as well while in New York. She performed with several bands
around the city and Europe, including the Patrick-Hernandez Revue,
Emmy and The Breakfast Club [Note: she originally played drums for
the band].
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In 1982 she
signed a record contract with Sire Records. Her first album
released, Everybody was an instant hit at the dance clubs. A year
later, she released her self-titled debut album Madonna. Her
song “Holiday” broke the top fourty in Billboard and a few months
later (in 1984) broke the top-ten list with “Borderline” (the first
of 17 consecutive top-ten singles).
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Not only did
she make a big splash on the music scene, but also starred in a
movie the following year as the character Susan in Desperately
Seeking Susan. 1985 became a big year for her in music again
with the release of her second album Like a Virgin. The album
was a huge international success and gave her top ten hits,
including the number one singles “Like a Virgin” and “Crazy for
You.”
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Her success in
1985 was dragged down slightly when a low budget very soft-porn
movie named A Certain Sacrifice she appeared in 1979 was
released followed by nude photos in Penthouse and Playboy from when
she modeled after arriving in New York
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She also found
love in 1985 and married actor Sean
Penn in August. The marriage lasted longer than most expected
and they were divorced in September 1989.
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True Blue, her
third album released in 1986 was another success and reached number
one on Billboard’s album chart in both the U.S. and the U.K. with
three more number one hits (“Live to Tell,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” and
“Open Your Heart”). On the other hand, her movie career was taking a
down-turn. In Shaingai Surprise, she co-starred with her
husband Sean, but it turned out to be a flop.
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In 1987, her
music career was still going strong, but in her third attempt at
starring in a film was a dismal failure in Who’s That Girl?
Since her acting career on the big screen was floundering, she
brought her talents in 1988 to the lights of Broadway and appeared
in Speed the Plow (by David Mamet).
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In 1989, she
released Like a Prayer, another number one album. The title
track, “ Like a Prayer” went straight up to number one followed by
“Vogue. She also took to the road and performed around the world to
sold-out performances during her Blonde Ambition Tour. A Video of
the Tour was released a year later, which won Madonna her first
Grammy Award (for Best Music Video, Long Form).
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She hit
success again in the movies in 1990 as a support actress in the
movie Dick Tracey, which did exceptionally well at the box office.
She also released a greatest hits album (The Immaculate
Collection), which sold very well. She included two new
singles, “Justify My Love,” which was another number one hit and
“Rescue Me” a top-ten hit which debuted at number 15.
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Another number
one hit, “This Used to Be My Playground” was released in 1992 as
part of the soundtrack to A League of Their Own, a movie in
which she appeared as a female baseball player. Later that year she
released a hit album Erotica, and a controversial photo book
of that same title in which she and other models and celebrities
posed in erotic positions, sometimes fully nude. It was panned by
critics calling it pornographic – but still sold fairly well. In
1992, she also formed her own record company, Maverick.
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In 1993 she
appeared in a few more movies such as Body of Evidence and Dangerous
game without much critical acclaim. However, that same year, she
released another album, Bedtime Stories which although not as
successful as her previous undertakings, still went platinum and
included another number one hit (“Take a Bow”).
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In 1995 she
began on a movie project unlike any others in the past, portraying
Evita Perone in the movie Evita. Her role did bring her some
critical acclaim and was awarded a Golden Globe award for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical.
The soundtrack for the album included songs that were not her usual
“pop-rock” style, but more ballard like and was only moderately
successful including the hit “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” She also
had her first child in 1996,
Lourdes
Maria Ciccone Leon, with her fitness trainer Carlos Leon.
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Madonna
released her next album, Ray of Light in 1998. The Album was another
hit. She won three Grammy Awards for this effort including: Best
Dance Recording, Best Pop Album and Best Short Form Music Video.
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Madonna won
her fifth Grammy Award for Best Song Written For a Motion Picture,
Television or Other Visual Media (shared with William Orbit) for the
song “Beautiful Stranger” from the soundtrack to the motion picture,
Beautiful Stranger.
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In 2000, she
also had her second child, Rocco Ritchie, with film maker Guy Richie.
Later that year, her and Guy Richie were married in a ceremony in
Scotland.
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Madonna has
also become an author and has been writing books for children since
2003.
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American Life
was released in 2003 and was another success for this pop diva. In
2003 she was awarded the International Artist of the Year Award by
the AMA. She followed this in 2004 with the spectacular sold-out
Reinvention Tour.
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This busy pop
diva, actress, dancer, author and mommy is still on the move. She
just released her new album and will appear in yet another movie in
2006.
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Madonna was hurt while
horseback riding in early August 2005. She received a few
broken bones (ribs and collar bone).
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She released the album
Confessions on a Dance Floor in November 2005, which takes
listeners back to her origins with rythmatic dance tunes.