Language
Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in August 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. When she was 5 her mother died of breast cancer. After graduating from high school, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan, where her ballet teacher persuaded her to pursue a dance career, so at the end of 1977 she left the University of Michigan and moved to New York City. Madonna had little money and for some time lived in squalor, working at Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes. She has said "It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done". While performing as a dancer for French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour, Madonna became romantically involved with musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club. In it, she sang and played drums and guitar before forming the band Emmy in 1980 with drummer and then boyfriend Stephen Bray. They wrote and produced dance songs - DJ and record producer Mark Kamins was impressed by the demo recordings, and brought Madonna to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein - she signed a singles deal with Sire, and her first release was "Everybody" in April 1982. Her debut album, 1983’s “Madonna”, was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas, but it was follow up album, 1984’s “Like a Virgin” which brought worldwide success – it became her first number 1 album on the US Album chart, with the single of the same name reaching number 1 in the US and remainnig there for 6 weeks. “Like A Virgin” has sold over 12 million copies worldwide, 8 of which have been in the US.

In 1985, Madonna entered mainstream films, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in the film “Vision Quest”. Its soundtrack contained her second US number 1 single "Crazy for You". Later that year, she appeared in “Desperately Seeking Susan”. The film introduced the song "Into the Groove", which became her first number 1 single in the UK. Third album “True Blue” followed in 1986, an album which went on to produce 5 Billboard Top 5 singles - "Live to Tell" (written for the film “At Close Range” starring her then husband Sean Penn), "Papa Don't Preach", "Open Your Heart", "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita". In the same year, Madonna starred in the film “Shanghai Surprise” and made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabe's “Goose and Tom-Tom” (both co-starring Sean Penn). In 1987, Madonna starred in “Who's That Girl”, and contributed 4 songs to its soundtrack, including the title track and US number 2 single "Causing a Commotion". Later that year, Madonna released a remix album of past hits entitled “You Can Dance”.

In 1988, Madonna starred as Karen in a play by David Mamet called “Speed-the-Plow”, and in 1989 she released her fourth album, “Like a Prayer”, co-written and co-produced by Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray. The album climbed to number 1 on the US album chart, sold 7 million copies worldwide (4 million in the US), and produced 3 Top 5 singles – the title track (her seventh number 1 single in the US), "Express Yourself" and "Cherish". In 1990, Madonna starred as "Breathless" Mahoney in a film adaptation of the comic book series “Dick Tracy”, and to accompany the launch of the film in May 1990, released “I'm Breathless”, which features her eighth US number 1 single, "Vogue", her Academy Award winning song "Sooner or Later", and the single "Hanky Panky", which reached number 9 in the US.

In November 1990, Madonna released her first greatest hits compilation album, “The Immaculate Collection”, which included 2 new songs: "Justify My Love" (which became a number 1 dance hit in the US) and "Rescue Me" (which became the highest debuting single by a female artist in the US chart history at the time, entering at number 15 and peaking at number 9). In 1991, Madonna starred in her first documentary film, “Truth or Dare”, which chronicled her Blond Ambition Tour, as well as her personal life, and in 1992 she appeared in the baseball film “A League of Their Own” with a portrayal of Italian American Mae Mordabito, and recorded the film's theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground". Also in 1992, Madonna founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and also music publishing, television, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. It was a joint venture with Time Warner, and its first release was her first publication, “Sex”, a book consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images photographed by Steven Meisel, which sold 500,000 copies in the US. At the same time she released her fifth studio album, “Erotica”, which peaked at number 2 in the US, and the lead single of the same name made number 3 in the US Hot 100. During 1993, Madonna starred in 2 films, “Body of Evidence”, and the first production for Maverick Films, “Dangerous Game”.

In the spring of 1994, Madonna released the single "I'll Remember" which she recorded for Alek Keshishian's film “With Honors”, and also began dating rapper Tupac Shakur. Later that year , she released her sixth studio album, “Bedtime Stories”, from which the singles "Secret" (number 3 on the Hot 100) and "Take a Bow" (which became the biggest hit of her career on the Billboard Hot 100) were taken from. In November 1995, she released “Something To Remember”, a collection of her ballads featuring a cover of the Marvin Gaye song "I Want You" and the Top 10 song "You'll See". In 1996, Madonna’s most critically successful film, “Evita” was released, where she portrayed the main part of Eva Perón, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for “Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy”. The soundtrack album contained 3 of her singles, of which "You Must Love Me" won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for “Best Original Song From a Motion Picture”.

1998 album “Ray of Light” debuted at number 2 in the US, producing 2 US Top 5 singles, "Frozen" and "Ray of Light" (which won a Grammy for "Best Short Form Music Video”). She followed this with the single "Beautiful Stranger", recorded for the 1999 “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” soundtrack, and it reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 on airplay alone. In 2000, Madonna starred in “The Next Best Thing”, contributing 2 songs to the film's soundtrack, "Time Stood Still" and "American Pie" (a cover version of the 1970s Don McLean classic).

Madonna’she US album charts. Her second greatest hits collection, “GHV2”, followed, and in 2002 she starred in the film “Swept Away”, directed by her then husband Guy Ritchie, and in David Williamson’s play, “Up for Grabs”. Later that year, she released the title song "Die Another Day" to the 20th James Bond film, in which she had a cameo role – the song reached number 8 on the US Hot 100 and was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award (for “Best Original Song”) and a Golden Raspberry (for “Worst Song”).

Madonna released the album “American Life”, themed on American society, in 2003. Despite selling 4 million copies, it became the lowest selling album of her career. Later that year, she provided guest vocals on Britney Spears's single "Me Against the Music", and also released “Remixed & Revisited”, a remix EP including rock versions of songs from “American Life”, and "Your Honesty" (a previously unreleased track from the” Bedtime Stories” recording sessions).

Her tenth studio album, ”Confessions on a Dancefloor”, released in 2005, sold more than 8 million copies, and produced 4 singles. "Hung Up" reached number 1 in a record breaking 45 countries, "Sorry" became Madonna’s twelfth number 1 in the UK (making her the female artist with the most number 1 singles in the UK charts). It was also a number 1 US Dance hit. "Get Together", became her 36th number 1 dance hit in the US, and fourth single, "Jump" reached number 9 in the UK.

In May 2007, Madonna released the download-only song "Hey You", in anticipation of Live Earth. Later that year, she announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records, and a new 10 year contract with Live Nation (where she will be the founding recording artist for the new music division, Live Nation Artists). In December 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Madonna as one of the five inductees of 2008. She also directed her first film, “Filth and Wisdom”, in 2007, and produced and wrote”I Am Because We Are”, a documentary on the problems faced by Malawians directed by her former gardener Nathan Rissman.

In 2008, Madonna’s 11th studio album “Hard Candy” debuted at number 1 on the UK Album chart, sold 100,000 copies in the US on its first day of release, debuting at number 1 on the Billboard 200, and lead single "4 Minutes" reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the US Radio & Records Pop chart.

Madonna has sold over 200 million records worldwide, with 63 million in the US. In 2008, she surpassed Elvis Presley as the artist with most Top 10 hits in the history of Billboard Hot 100. She has also acted in 22 films.