History Music / Madonna

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* ADateWithRosiePalms: Her Blonde Ambition tour featured her mimicking masturbation during "Like A Virgin." "Secret" hints at this with the line "happiness lies in your own hand."

* BareYourMidriff: Especially in the '80s; was practically a Madonna trademark at the time.
** Also in the video for "Ray of Light."

* ShoutOut: "Hung Up" is a five-minute love song to the 1970s, with the video being based on ''Film/{{Saturday Night Fever}}'' and the song's hook being a sample from Music/{{ABBA}}'s "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A Man After Midnight."

Madonna is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the U.S., with 63 million RIAA-certified albums; she has sold over 200 million albums worldwide. She also has had 50 singles reach #1 on ''Billboard''[='=]s Dance Club Songs chart, the most for any artist on ''any'' ''Billboard'' chart. In 2007, Guinness World Records listed her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2008). Considered to be one of the most influential women in contemporary music, Madonna has been known for continually reinventing both her music and image and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry; she is recognized as an influence among numerous music artists.

[floatboxright:Influenced: Music/BritneySpears, Music/ChristinaAguilera, Creator/RuPaul, Music/LinkinPark, Liam Gallagher, Music/KylieMinogue, Music/SpiceGirls, Music/{{Pink}}, Music/GwenStefani, Music/LadyGaga and so much more

!!Madonna's Reinventions:
* ''[[Music/MadonnaAlbum Madonna]]'' (1983), A post-disco album with some pop-rock and funk influences.
* ''Music/LikeAVirgin'' (1984), A new-wave inspired album with quite a few nods to her previous album.
* ''Music/TrueBlue'' (1986), Pop-rock, R&B, and classical music thrown at Like A Virgin, with some Latin music bits.
* ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' (1989), Yet more pop-rock with some mentions of her first album in the post-disco style.
* ''Music/{{Erotica}}'' (1992), A complete renovation of her image with highly sexually charged house and dance with R&B and hip-hop influences.
* ''Music/BedtimeStories'' (1994), A lighter sex album with an inversion of Erotica's styles (R&B and hip-hop with dance and house influences).
* ''Music/RayOfLight'' (1998), A dark and dreary electronica album which contrasts highly with her flirty and sexual previous 2 albums.
* ''[[Music/MusicAlbum Music]]'' (2000), A fun album with electronica, folk, and modern pop mixed together.
* ''Music/AmericanLife'' (2003), An electronic, minimalistic album, notable for being credited as the downfall of the Queen of Pop due to some truly awful rap lyrics and a (total lack of) politically charged lyrics.
* ''Music/ConfessionsOnADanceFloor'' (2005), A highly Italo-disco and hi-NRG influenced dance-pop album.
* ''Music/HardCandy'' (2008), Generic hip-hop and R&B.
* ''MDNA'' (2012), Hip-Hop with some rock and some ingredients from her old cookbooks in the '80s.
* ''Rebel Heart'' (2015), A dubstep and hip-hop album.
* ''Music/MadameX'' (2019), a global album of sorts, inspired by trap, Latin (most importantly, Portuguese music) and art pop.

!!Soundtrack album discography

!!Compilation album

->''"I love you baby\\
But face it she's Madonna\\

* UnscaledMerfolk: The "Cherish" video.

* CulturallyReligious: Okay, she may dance provocatively in front of religious symbols but they're ''Catholic'' religious symbols. The symbolism in ''Like A Prayer'' is Catholic, and overall it probably takes a Catholic to pee the Church off so many times. She said in an interview that she's a lapsed Catholic: "there are certain things in Catholicism [...] that I can't get rid of." She also named her daughter (Lourdes) after a Catholic pilgrimage site.

Her third album, 1986's ''Music/TrueBlue'', saw the first of many re-inventions for Madonna, as she shed her "mall rat" persona and adopted a more sophisticated "sex kitten" image. The album also contained "Live To Tell," one of the most important songs Madonna ever put out. The ballad won critics (many of whom had dismissed Madonna as a teenybopper act) over and breathed new life to her career. Additionally, the single "Papa Don't Preach," about an impregnated teenage girl who wants to keep her baby, caused some controversy.

Expanding on the use of religious imagery with ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' (1989), Madonna received positive critical reception for her diverse musical productions, while at the same time receiving criticism from religious conservatives and the Vatican. The video for the title track gained massive controversy, costing Madonna a hefty contract with Pepsi for use of the song in its commercials. Madonna's marriage to Sean Penn also collapsed under accusations of spousal abuse, which Madonna addressed (for the first and only time) in the song "Till Death Do Us Part."

Madonna made her Broadway debut in 1988 in Creator/{{David Mamet}}'s ''Theatre/SpeedThePlow'', but her acting career took off again in 1990's ''Film/DickTracy'', which also spawned one of her biggest hits, the song "Vogue." As the 1990s began, Madonna founded the Maverick corporation (the name is a portmanteau of "Madonna" and "Veronica," her confirmation name), a joint venture between herself and Time Warner, and released ''Music/TheImmaculateCollection'', a "best of" album that featured the controversial single "Justify My Love." The video for the song was [[MoralGuardians banned on MTV]], kicking up more controversy as Madonna entered into her "Sex" period.

1994 saw the release of ''Music/BedtimeStories''; besides featuring a collaboration between Madonna and Music/{{Bjork}} (the album's title track) and the commercially successful video/song "Take a Bow," the album was released as Madonna landed the lead role in the 1996 film version of the musical ''Music/{{Evita}}''. Winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, the film was a turning point as Madonna began the transition towards a more respectable mother image, which was enhanced with the birth of her firstborn child.

Departing from Sire/Warner, Madonna signed an unprecedented $120 million dollar contract with Live Nation in 2008. Her eleventh album ''Hard Candy'' was released the same year; it received a pretty mixed reaction from hardcore fans and casual listeners alike for its hip-hop / RAndB sound because many thought she was trying to pander to listeners of urban music. In any event, it did feature some interesting collaborations with Music/JustinTimberlake, Music/KanyeWest, Music/PharrellWilliams, and Timbaland.

Madonna is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the U.S., with 63 million RIAA-certified albums; she has sold over 200 million albums worldwide. In 2007, Guinness World Records listed her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2008). Considered to be one of the most influential women in contemporary music, Madonna has been known for continually reinventing both her music and image and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry; she is recognized as an influence among numerous music artists.

* EthicalSlut: The subject of many songs like "Erotica" and "Human Nature," which provides the page quote.

** "God Control" and "I Rise" from ''Madame X'' lyrically discuss the failed gun control of America. The former also includes gunshot sounds, while the latter features a sample of Emma Gonzalez’s speech on demanding stricter gun control, following February 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

Madonna made her Broadway debut in 1988 in Creator/{{David Mamet}}'s ''Theatre/SpeedThePlow'', but her acting career took off again in 1990's ''Film/DickTracy'', which also spawned one of her biggest hits, the song "Vogue." As the 1990s began, Madonna founded the Maverick corporation (the name is a portmanteau of "Madonna" and "Veronica," her [[RaisedCatholic confirmation name]]), a joint venture between herself and Time Warner, and released ''Music/TheImmaculateCollection'', a "best of" album that featured the controversial single "Justify My Love." The video for the song was [[MoralGuardians banned on MTV]], kicking up more controversy as Madonna entered into her "Sex" period.

* RaisedCatholic: Okay, she may dance provocatively in front of religious symbols but they're ''Catholic'' religious symbols. The symbolism in ''Like A Prayer'' is Catholic, and overall it probably takes a Catholic to pee the Church off so many times. She said in an interview that she's a lapsed Catholic: "there are certain things in Catholicism [...] that I can't get rid of." She also named her daughter (Lourdes) after a Catholic pilgrimage site.

+ Creator/MarilynMonroe, Creator/SylviaPlath, Nancy Sinatra, Music/{{Carpenters}}, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheSupremes, Martha Graham, Rudolf Nureyev, Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Music/FryderykChopin, Creator/CaroleLombard, Creator/JudyHolliday, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/RitaHayworth, Creator/BetteDavis, Frida Kahlo, Creator/AndyWarhol, Guy Bourdin

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone on August 16, 1958) is an American recording artist, actor and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}}, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in 1977, for a career in modern dance. After performing as a member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her self-titled debut album in 1983 on Creator/SireRecords, a division of Creator/WarnerBrosRecords. The album was a hit, as well as a few of its singles, and with it Madonna started her rise to fame.

Madonna's seventh studio album ''Music/RayOfLight'' (1998) became her big comeback album, as it was one of her most critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. The album mixed dance music with introspective lyrics about motherhood and religion, as Madonna became involved in Kabbalah. With ''Music'' (2000), Madonna returned to dance music full-time, the album also introduced Creator/SachaBaronCohen, whose Ali G character was featured in the video for the title track, to American culture. Sadly, Madonna's decision to try her hand at rap caused her 2003 album ''American Life'' to flop. However, she rebounded with ''Music/ConfessionsOnADanceFloor'' (2005), a hugely successful album.

Departing from Sire/Warner, Madonna signed an unprecedented $120 million dollar contract with Live Nation in 2008. Her eleventh album ''Hard Candy'' was released the same year; it received a pretty mixed reaction from hardcore fans and casual listeners alike for its hip-hop / RAndB sound because many thought she was trying to pander to listeners of urban music. In any event, it did feature some interesting collaborations with Music/JustinTimberlake, Music/KanyeWest, Pharrell, and Timbaland.

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone on August 16, 1958) is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}}, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in 1977, for a career in modern dance. After performing as a member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her self-titled debut album in 1983 on Creator/SireRecords, a division of Creator/WarnerBrosRecords. The album was a hit, as well as a few of its singles, and with it Madonna started her rise to fame.

* CelebrityResemblance: Has done this often in her career. Her music videos from the 1980s have her dressed in glamorous shout-outs to famous movie actresses of the past, most notably Creator/MarleneDietrich and Creator/MarilynMonroe.

** ''Vogue'' references glamorous Hollywood actors and actresses: Creator/GretaGarbo, Creator/MarilynMonroe, Creator/MarleneDietrich and Monroe's husband baseballer Joe [=DiMaggio=], Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/JamesDean, Creator/GraceKelly, Creator/JeanHarlow, Creator/GeneKelly, Creator/FredAstaire, Creator/GingerRogers, Creator/RitaHayworth, Creator/LaurenBacall, Creator/KatharineHepburn, Creator/LanaTurner, Creator/BetteDavis (''we love you'')

** Some have speculated that this was done to avoid comparison with the Cher single "Bang Bang," [[OneMarioLimit which contains similar themes and a nearly identical title]].

* OneMarioLimit: There is no possible association for the name "Madonna" other than her.

By this time, Madonna landed a supporting cast role in ''Film/DesperatelySeekingSusan'' (1985), playing the title character Susan. The film was a commercial and critical hit and was the first of many movie roles for Madonna. Unfortunately, her follow-up films ''Shanghai Surprise'' (1986, with then-husband Creator/SeanPenn) and ''Film/WhosThatGirl'' (1987) didn't fare as well.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Subverted. While Madonna generally runs full steam ahead and crushes the radar like a semi-truck on the freeway, she won't let the original version of "Human Nature" appear on her "best of" albums lest she get stuck with a "Parental Advisory" warning (even though the album that contains the song doesn't have said sticker). Also, her big NBC concert special opted to use alternate angles and screen cutaways to avoid showing Madonna [[CrucifiedHeroShot mock-crucified]] during "Live To Tell."
** Getting the videos for "Like a Prayer" and "Justify My Love" played at all certainly counts, though.
** In the video for "Open Your Heart," one of her stripper's many admirers is a military woman. In 1986, being homosexual in the military was grounds for a dishonorable discharge.

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%%* ZettaiRyouiki: Madonna pulls off a nice Grade B in the music video for "Celebration."

[floatboxright:Influenced: Music/BritneySpears, Music/ChristinaAguilera, Creator/RuPaul, Music/ChesterBennington, Liam Gallagher, Music/KylieMinogue, Music/SpiceGirls, Music/SpiceGirls, Music/{{Pink}}, Music/GwenStefani, Music/LadyGaga and so much more