Madonna - The Picture Encyclopedia of Cultural Images

Madonna - The Picture Encyclopedia of Cultural Images

Madonna is a singer, songwriter, and actress of the 1980’s, 90’s, and 2000’s. She is most famous for her career as pop singer, and for the many reinventions of her image. Madonna is often referred to as “the queen of pop.”

Madonna was born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in 1958 in Bay City. Her Italian-American father insisted on his children taking music classes, but Madonna managed to chose ballet instead, and proven to be a talented dancer. She abandoned the University of Michigan where she had been studying with a dance scholarship, and moved to New York to pursue a dancing career. Between 1977 and 1982 she worked her way up slowly, first taking low-payment jobs, then playing instruments and singing in various small bands. By the time her first single was released in 1982, Madonna already had some minor fame in New York clubs.

The early singles made Madonna successful enough to release her first album (entitled “Madonna”) in 1983. Her second album, “Like a Virgin” in 1984 gave her career a significant boost. The album reached first place on the Billboard album charts, and featured many songs that became top 10 singles later on. Madonna became more and more successful until the late 90’s. She renewed her image many times, starting from a mixture of punk and pop in the 80’s, and ending up with more mature songs and looks by the mid-90’s.

Madonna also started pursuing an acting career in 1985. Out of her many movies, the most famous are Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), her major role in the musical Evita (1996), and her guest appearance as fencing trainer in the James Bond movie Die Another Day (2002). Madonna’s work in the movie industry is much more significant as a composer than as an actress.

In 1996, Madonna briefly retreated from the music business, and gave birth to her daughter, Lourdes Maria. After her pregnancy, she started exercising, took yoga classes, and turned towards the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), which led to another renewal of the Madonna image. In 1998 she released her 7th album, “Ray of Light”, which continued her series of successes. It was followed by “Music” (2000), and “American Life” (2002). The latter divided Madonna’s fans, as many of the songs of the album and the related music videos expressed Madonna’s strong anti-war and anti-Bush views. Because of this, “American Life,” and the singles from the album did not became as successful in the USA as Madonna’s previous albums, but still sold well around the world. The latest, 10th album of Madonna, “Confessions on a Dance Floor” came out in 2005, and became a huge success again.

Madonna also played a significant role as a sex symbol. Many of her videos in the late 80’s and early 90’s established an erotic image of her, which was further strengthened by her book, entitled Sex, which was released in 1992. Ever since her song Vogue she is also idolized by the gay community. Despite she renounced her erotic image with “Music” in 2000, the elder generations still remember her as a sex idol of the 80’s and 90’s.

Throughout the years Madonna became known of her love affairs with the people she worked with. She married British director Guy Ritchie in 2000. She is also famous for many minor scandals, such as the kissing with Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears on the 2003 MTV Music Awards. Lately, she has been expressing her political views and openly opposing George W. Bush and his policies.

Picture 1: Madonna