Madonna Louise Ciccone (born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Referred to as the ‘Queen of Pop’ she is regarded as one of the most influential figures in popular culture. Madonna is noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, song writing, and visual presentation. Additionally she is recognised for pushing the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music while remaining completely in charge of every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both critical acclaim and controversy. Madonna is often cited as an influence by other artists.
Born and raised in Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she rose to solo stardom with her debut studio album, Madonna (1983). She followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986) as well as Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). Madonna has attained many number-one singles throughout her career, including Like a Virgin, La Isla Bonita, Like a Prayer, Vogue, Take a Bow, Frozen, Music, Hung Up, and 4 Minutes..
Madonna’s popularity was further enhanced by roles in films such as Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996). While Evita won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, many of her other films received poor reviews. As a businesswoman, Madonna founded an entertainment company called Maverick (including the label Maverick Records) in 1992. Her other ventures include fashion brands, children’s books, health clubs, and filmmaking. She contributes to various charities, having founded the Ray of Light Foundation in 1998 and Raising Malawi in 2006.
With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Madonna is certified as the best-selling female music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. She is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. With a revenue of U.S. $1.4 billion from her concert tickets, she remains the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time. Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, her first year of eligibility. She was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1 in 2012, and as the greatest music video artist of all time by Billboard in 2020. Rolling Stone also listed Madonna among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
Musical style and songwriting
Madonna’s music has been the subject of much analysis and scrutiny. Robert M. Grant, author of Contemporary Strategy Analysis (2005), commented that what has brought Madonna success is “certainly not outstanding natural talent. As a vocalist, musician, dancer, songwriter, or actress, Madonna’s talents seem modest.” He asserts Madonna’s success is in relying on the talents of others, and that her personal relationships have served as cornerstones to the numerous reinventions in the longevity of her career. The author believed that Madonna’s approach was far from the music industry wisdom of “Find a winning formula and stick to it”. Her musical career has been a continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and new images and a constant quest for new heights of fame and acclaim. Grant concluded that “having established herself as the queen of popular music, Madonna did not stop there, but continued re-inventing.” According to Thomas Harrison in the book Pop Goes the Decade: The Eighties, Madonna was “an artist who pushed the boundaries” of what a female singer could do, both visually and lyrically.
Throughout her career Madonna has been involved in writing and producing most of her own music. Stuart Price, one of her past collaborators, said that “You don’t produce Madonna, you collaborate with her. She’s a really good producer herself and obviously a great writer too. She has her vision and knows how to get it.” Madonna’s early songwriting skill was developed during her time with the Breakfast Club in 1979. According to Carol Gnojewski, her first attempts at songwriting are perceived as an important “self-revelation”. Madonna later became the sole writer of five songs on her debut album, including Lucky Star which she composed on synthesiser. As a songwriter, she has registered a total of 287 songs to ASCAP, including 18 songs written entirely by herself. Rolling Stone has named her “an exemplary songwriter with a gift for hooks and indelible lyrics.”
According to Freya Jarman-Ivens, Madonna’s talent for developing “incredible” hooks for her songs allows the lyrics to capture the attention of the audience, even without the influence of the music. Despite having worked with producers across many genres, Rolling Stone writes that Madonna’s songs have been “consistently stamped with her own sensibility and inflected with autobiographical detail.” She has criticized “songwriting camps” which she had to undergo during album cycles for Rebel Heart and MDNA, due to the fact that people are always in a hurry. She clarified her preference for writing material with other artists “from beginning to the end” of a record, and described her songs as “meant to be ironic and not taken literally, and some are just straight-up, ‘Open my veins, this is who I am’.”
Madonna has been nominated for being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame three times, for 2014, 2016 and 2017 ceremony. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Madonna at number 56 on the “100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time” list.
