Biography

1977. New York City. Madonna stepped out of a taxi in Times Square; she was a total stranger here; she had about $35 in her pocket; she had an ambition in her heart to become a professional dancer; and she had come to the Big Apple to succeed.[br /]
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Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan. She had two elder brothers and two younger brothers along with three younger sisters. The family was a typical large Italian - American one.[br /]
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[b]A Taste for Show Biz[/b][br /]
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Madonna’s father was an engineer in Chrysler, a company manufacturing automobiles. He insisted that each of his children learn to play a musical instrument. His third daughter showed a dislike for learning to play a musical instrument, but her lively and active demeanor did show an inclination towards dancing. She displayed a flair for show biz at a very tender age.[br /]
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[b]An Early Loss[/b][br /]
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She was only six years old when her mother succumbed to breast cancer. Being the eldest daughter, a certain amount of responsibility fell on the young girl’s shoulders. Madonna still has many beautiful memories of her mother, and her eyes still well up with tears when she speaks of her. Also unforgettable for her is the


depth of love her father had for her mother. Her father later married the formerhousekeeper so that the children had a mother, but Madonna never could love her as she loved her real mother.[br /]
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[b] The Best Report Card[/b][br /]
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Madonna attended various Catholic schools (Saint Andrews, Saint Fredericks, and Acadamie Du Sacre Coeur). She was a very good student. She says her father rewarded them with money for good grades, so she always got the best report card in the family. Madonna soon assumed much of the mothering role with her siblings. She says that all her adolescence was spent taking care of babies, changing diapers, and baby-sitting. She says that she resented it a little, for when everyone of her age was out playing, she was stuck with all these adult responsibilities. That resentment, however, formed an important catalyst for her future. She was always a rebel by nature, and was adamant on finding her way out of the Cinderella like drudgery. At this time, she had decided upon the city, which was going to get her out of it. [br /]
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[b]A Dream to Dance[/b][br /]
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Madonna’s family moved to Rochester, Michigan, where she eventually graduated from Rochester Adams High School in 1976. She managed to get to the University of Michigan with the scholarship she had earned from Rochester. At the University, she put her heart and soul into learning how to dance and she worked at it for three full semesters. It was during this time that she met Steve Bray, a songwriter, with whom she would later write worldwide hit songs. But at that time, her primary focus was dancing. She was a star pupil of Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, who admired the young girl’s enthusiasm and dedication. He saw enormous potential and talent in her and eventually encouraged Madonna, to go to New York. He was positive that she would emerge as a brilliant dancer there. Madonna then was indeed waiting for such an opportunity.[br /]
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[b]Desperately Seeking Jobs[/b][br /]
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After she came to New York, the struggle was hard. Although she auditioned for dancing jobs with the troupes of Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham, she had a hard time keeping up with the budget. She worked part-time at a series of low-paying jobs including as a waitress at the Times Square’s Dunkin’ Donuts. There came a time when she found herself extremely short on money and saw an advertisement in a journal for a nude model; a job, which she took reluctantly.[br /]
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[b]Going for the Spotlight[/b][br /]
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She did not want to remain just a nameless dancer in a group and realized that her current perspective was leading her nowhere to the fame she had always desired. She diverted her attention towards singing, having been complimented by friends for her voice. She joined a succession of small bands. During the early 80s, she began trying her hand at writing songs and gradually started learning to play the guitar and piano.[br /]
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People welcomed her voice. Madonna started getting jobs at dance clubs and discotheques. She was very charismatic on-stage. Her enthusiastic and naughty stage presence added appeal to her boogie-including tuns, and she became a favorite of the frequent disco-goers.[br /]
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[b]Parisian Error[/b][br /]
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In 1979, she got an offer to go to Paris as a backup singer and dancer for a discotheque singer, Patrick Hernandez, who was famous for his song Born to be Alive. There with Hernandez, she was treated with a sudden and welcome respite from her struggling lifestyle. Hernandez provided her with a luxurious apartment, a maid, a voice coach, and professional career guidance. But even with all these luxuries, she found herself very unhappy. After just six months in Paris, she decided to return to New York City.[br /]
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[b]A Goodbye to Breakfast[/b][br /]
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Back in New York, she met illustrator Martin Burgoyne (who later created the covers for her first singles). She and Burgoyne became good friends, and eventually shared an apartment on the Lower East Side. She developed an interest in writing songs and started writing songs with Dan Gilroy and his brother Ed. She recalls these times as the happiest times of her life. The group founded a band, The Breakfast Club, which performed in the local pubs of Lower East Side. But things began to sour between her and the Gilroy brothers. Apparently, they had different perspectives on music, and eventually after an argument on music, she left The Breakfast Club.[br /]
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She and Steve Bray formed a new band. They continuously kept renaming it as Madonna, The Millionaires, Modern Dance, and eventually Emmy. The band was short-lived and eventually broke up, but Madonna and Steve Bray continued to work together.[br /]
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[b]Times of Desperation[/b][br /]
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It was during this period of scuffling and struggling that Madonna, finding herself really short of funds, decided to experiment with a couple of slightly different ways of making money. She posed naked for photographs, which turned up, after several years in magazine like Penthouse and Playboy. When asked to talk about it, she points out that the money was a lot better than what she could earn working behind the counter at Burger King, a place where she had worked part-time to make herself a few more dollars.[br /]
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In 1981, again finding herself in a financial predicament, she responded to an ad for an actress and met John Lewicki, a film-maker, who wanted an actress for a role in his movie, A Certain Sacrifice, a soft core sex film. Madonna took the role and made a lasting impression on John Lewicki, who later declared, “Madonna has more sensuality in her ear than most women have on their bodies.”[br /]
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[b]The Ups and Downs[/b][br /]
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Meanwhile, there were problems with her singing career. Madonna’s management Gotham Management wanted her to play rock music, but she was of the opinion that times had changed in view of the funky dance records being played by radio stations all over the country. She and Steve Bray began rehearsing and recording songs in that style, much to the distaste of Gotham Management. In 1981, Madonna once again decided to become independent and along with Steve Bray, she parted with the band and Gotham Management. She began a systematic tour of all the nightclubs and discotheques in New York City, looking for people in the music business who would help her make a record deal and make her the star that she dreamed of being. [br /]
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[b]The Wannabe Winner[/b][br /]
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She visited the famous nightclubs Roxy and Danceteria frequently among others, and it was the Danceteria where she met DJ Mark Kamins. She struck a very good friendship with star DJ Mark Kamins who was impressed by the young dancer-singer. Kamins was the best person to get in touch with for her, because apart from having an ear for the latest dance-floor music, he had contacts with several record companies. Madonna gave Kamins a tape of four songs that she and Bray had written and recorded. One of the songs was Everybody.[br /]
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Kamins played the song and noted the positive response of the people in the club as they danced happily to the number. Kamins decided that he should help this young talented singer, and the next step he took was to put in a word of this vibrant new talent to a record company. He immediately contacted Seymour Stein, boss of Sire Records.[br /]
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Stein was admitted to a hospital at that time, but he got an appointment for Madonna with him. The young singer made a good impression on Stein as he described later : “When she walked into the room, she filled it with exuberance and determination, I could tell, she had the drive to match her talent.” In 1982, her first single was released. Everybody, despite being very popular, failed to sell big. Her next single was Burning Up, which again was very popular but failed to soar up in the charts. Plans were accurately drawn up for the release of her first album.[br /]
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[b]The Bold Touch[/b][br /]
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Her first album, with a touch of characteristic boldness, was simply called Madonna and was released in July 1983. It was produced by Reggie Lucas and contained songs, written by Madonna herself. Several singles were released from the album of which Holiday (which was produced by her then boyfriend Jellybean) went to number one in the dance charts and reached number 16 in the Pop Charts. In quick succession, Lucky Star and Borderline followed the debut single’s trajectory. Both those tunes were boosted by music videos that introduced the world to Madonna’s intriguing look : layered mesh halter tops, exposed midriff, short skirts, and religious accessories, all topped off by a pointedly bad dye-job.[br /]
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[b]Silver Screen Ambition[/b][br /]
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Madonna had always fantasized about working in the movies for a long time. Having hit it big in the music world, she managed to meet the top Hollywood crowd, and by the end of 1984, Madonna had completed work on her first major movie role as Susan in Susan Seidelman’s New York comedy Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna had previously turned down a role in the film Footloose but Susan Seidelman’s film proved to be ideal for her. Desperately Seeking Susan gave her the opportunity to work alongside Rosanna Arquette while playing a role, which not only echoed her own rootless lifestyle, but also gave her room to express her satirical sense of humor. Madonna also claimed : “A few times I was so nervous…I opened my mouth and nothing came out.” When Desperately Seeking Susan hit the screens in mid 1985, her career exploded in all directions at once.[br /]
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[b]Newfound Love[/b][br /]
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Madonna’s second album Like A Virgin, produced by Nile Rodgers sensationally hit the charts and sold an overwhelming 11 million copies worldwide. She also appeared in the movie Vision Quest and made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabe’s Goose and Tom-Tom. The play was unremarkable with one exception : it served to introduce Madonna to co-star Sean Penn and the two soon became hand in glove with each other. After some dates, the duo became the most gossip-targeted people in show-biz world.[br /]
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[b]Change of Image[/b][br /]
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From April through June 1985, Madonna took her Like A Virgin Tour through the United States, playing 38 concerts in 28 cities. This successful tour showcased Madonna’s improved abilities on stage. During this period of grueling concerts, Madonna was plagued by another problem : her early nude photographs. Nevertheless, she gave a stunning performance at the legendary Live Aid Benefit Concert. She performed the song Love Makes The World Go Round, which was also the world premier of a song from her next album. This time, Madonna showed the first signs of a change of image : she had dyed her hair from blonde to brown and wore a long jacket which she did not take off despite the sweltering summer heat, probably in wariness of sparking off further controversies.[br /]
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[b]Happy Birthday to Me[/b][br /]
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All through this time, she carried on with Sean Penn, and on her birthday, she decided to give herself the ultimate birthday present : Marriage. On August 16, she married Sean Penn in Malibu beach, California. The wedding, an elaborate affair was hampered by an unforeseen problem. The media decided to disturb the revelry of the marriage-goers by trying to get pictures of the wedding out of helicopters, managing to anger the bridegroom so much that he wrote angry remarks on the beach in front of the house. Madonna recalls : “It was like Vietnam - everywhere these big helicopters swirling above us and we couldn’t do anything. But in the end, we couldn’t stop laughing because this whole scenario felt so unreal to us.” The First Flop[br /]

Madonna and Sean Penn left the United States in early 1986 to film their first and last film together called Shanghai Surprise. According to Madonna, the shooting was a nightmare, and ironically it was no ‘surprise’ that Shanghai Surprise was a huge box-office flop.[br /]
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[b]Internationally True Blue[/b][br /]
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With the release of her third album in June 1986, Madonna changed her lifestyle from head-to-toe. Further to this, she produced an album called True Blue along with Steve Bray and Pat Leonard. True Blue topped the charts in 28 countries at the same time. Madonna started her first world tour, the Who’s That Girl tour, on June 14, 1987, in Osaka, Japan. She was met there with great enthusiasm. The sell out tour saw Madonna playing in Japan, England, France, Holland, Italy, Germany and the United States.[br /]
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[b]Prolific Year[/b][br /]
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The year 1987 was a very prolific year for Madonna : she not only toured the world, she also appeared in the movie Who’s That Girl, the soundtrack album of which included four songs performed by her. The movie as well as the soundtrack, also called Who’s That Girl were big hits, but surprisingly in the United States, despite the album being a great hit, the movie flopped. In November 1987, Madonna released her first compilation album which was called You Can Dance. It featured Madonna’s greatest dance hits sequenced into each other. The album also contained new track called Spotlight, which was previously released only as a single in Japan. The following year saw no releases as Madonna recharged her batteries, showing a little of the human face behind the seemingly inexhaustible performer. For the first time, Madonna appeared in a show on Broadway in the role of a secretary in David Mammeth’s play Speed The Plow - judging by the massive increase in attendance figures (rather than the critics’ opinion), it was a great success. The same year, Madonna began to work on her next studio album, which was slated to be released in early 1989.[br /]
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[b]A Change for A Change[/b][br /]
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The March release of Like A Prayer in 1989 showed again a different Madonna : more strong with a clear attitude and an invulnerability she never displayed before. By this time, she and Sean Penn were having problems with their marriage, so they mutually decided to end the relationship in 1989, officially.[br /]
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[b]Accusation By The Church[/b][br /]
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Back in the 1980s, Madonna’s videos were already considered provoking and sometimes shocking. With the release of Madonna’s title track video for Like A Prayer, the reaction from both the audience and fans was one of shock. The video featured the scantily clad singer cavorting in front of burning crosses, suffering Jesus-like wounds on her hands and kissing a saint-like statue that turns into a black man. The Church called the video blasphemous and a sacrilege. Religious groups were appalled and threatened to boycott soft drinks giant Pepsi, which ran a commercial with similarly theme as part of a $5 million sponsorship deal with Madonna. Pepsi broke ties with Madonna and withdrew the then current TV commercial. But Madonna was still the winner as she kept the millions from her Pepsi-deal and watched Like A Prayer rise in the charts.[br /]
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[b]Second Shock[/b][br /]
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The next shock came in June 1989. Express Yourself, the second single from Like A Prayer was released. The video was directed by David Fincher, who later directed several other Madonna videos. The video showed Madonna in a reincarnation of Fritz Lang’s movie Metropolis. Apart from the out-of-the-way video, she initiated hand actions inspired by Michael Jackson.[br /]
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Madonna released several singles during 1989, including Cherish and Oh Father. Still on top with Like A Prayer, Madonna was signed to play a role opposite Warren Beatty in his new movie, a movie adaptation of the famous comic-book hero Dick Tracy. Madonna was set to play Breathless Mahoney, a raunchy nightclub singer. Shooting for the movie began in summer and soon there were rumors floating around of Madonna having a love affair with Warren Beatty - rumors, which later on turned out to be true. The movie role in Dick Tracy also gave Madonna the opportunity to record a new album called I’m Breathless with songs that were inspired by the film itself. Several of the songs were written by Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim, but the album also included Madonna’s own renditions along with her biggest hit until then : Vogue.[br /]
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[b]The Brunette’s Blond Ambition[/b][br /]
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The year 1990 started calmly. Filming for Dick Tracy was finished, the album was also recorded. The movie had mixed reviews and matching reviews were its box-office earnings. Madonna’s next project was a world tour - the biggest at that time called Blond Ambition. If anything ever put Madonna in the star heavens, it was Blond Ambition. This tour showed Madonna’s real talent as a performer and singer. She took the audience on a journey, which was provoking, sensual, and highly entertaining. The tour started in Japan on April 13, 1990. It was raining all throughout the show, but that was hardly a bad omen : Blond Ambition was sold out everywhere in the world. As a special treat, Madonna allowed a film-team to film her on stage and backstage - which ended as Truth Or Dare released in 1991. During tour in Canada, Madonna had squabbles with the Toronto Police Department who did not approve of some of her dance steps on stage, and she had to cancel a few shows in Italy as the Pope had called for a boycott of the show.[br /]
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[b]The Unstoppable[/b][br /]
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Madonna was unstoppable in 1990. After her successful Blond Ambition tour, Madonna did a special opening performance at the 1990 MTV Music Awards. Her performance of Vogue, in a full Marie-Antoinette dress, remains as one of her best performances ever. Using all her Blond Ambition dancers and back-up singers, Madonna not only gave a stunning performance - but also glorified the renaissance dress code in the eyes of the new generation. November 1990 saw the release of Madonna’s first ever-greatest hits compilation called the Immaculate Collection. The album, which was dedicated to the Pope, also included two new songs : Justify My Love and Rescue Me. Right after the release of the Immaculate Collection, came the video to the haunting first single release[br /]
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Justify My Love. Made by French director Jean-Baptiste Mondino and filmed at the famous Ritz in Paris, the video dealt with sexual fantasies, but what raised the controversy was Madonna kissing another woman in the video. The video was banned from MTV even as European TV stations stopped the video broadcast before midnight. Due to this, Madonna released it as a video single - which still ranks as the best selling video single of all times.[br /]
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[b]Music, TV and Movies[/b][br /]
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In March 1991, none other than Michael Jackson accompanied Madonna at the Annual Academy Awards, where her song Sooner Or Later, from the movie Dick Tracy, was nominated as the Best Song from a Motion Picture, which won her the award. Her performance of Sooner Or Later literally wrote a TV history, when Madonna did a hilarious interpretation of Marilyn Monroe. The performance was a success. After that, it was time for the international release of Madonna’s first concert/documentation movie : Truth Or Dare. This took place at the Movie Festival in Cannes, France. The release got extensive coverage on all TV-stations around the world. Fans and critics loved Truth Or Dare, which not only showed Madonna on stage, but also took a close look at her personal life off-stage during her Blond Ambition tour. In Truth Or Dare, Madonna admits, “I know I am not the best singer, I am not the best dancer, but that’s not what I am interested in - I want to push people’s buttons.” The rest of 1991 was spent working on a new film and a new album.[br /]
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[b]Of Her Own[/b][br /]
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She was signed to star opposite Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in a movie about the American Girl Baseball League called A League Of Their Own directed by Penny Marshall. The film was released at theaters across the US in the spring of 1992. Madonna also recorded a song for this movie called This Used To Be My Playground. Strangely, the song did not appear on the movie-soundtrack, but the single made it to number one on the US charts and at many others around the world.[br /]
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Prior to the release of Madonna’s new album in October 1992, she made a surprise appearance at Jean-Paul Gaultier’s couture show, which was another occasion depicting her shocking and provoking stage presence. In October 1992, it seemed that Madonna was everywhere. She not only released a new single, a new video, and a new album, but she also released her most controversial work of art Sex - The Book. The video for her first single Erotica had already raised furore for displaying nudity and was rarely shown on TV, but Sex sold out worldwide in a few days. Erotica, the album had to suffer under the gigantic Sex backlash and it did not sell good. Still, it is one of Madonna’s most stunning artistic efforts.
Madonna continued with this attitude with the movie Body Of Evidence which was directed by Uli Edel and was released in theaters in early 1993. It did not run long in the cinemas as it was a huge flop and the critics hated the movie, but Madonna was praised for her acting prowess. Madonna again stepped out into the silver screen with Dangerous Game, which left people disturbed and confused. The year had not been good to Madonna, so she decided to do what she did best; Tour ! She chose another provocative title this time, The Girlie Show. She launched the tour from London on September 25, 1993. While Blond Ambition was very much a concert, The Girlie Show [br /]
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resembled a cabaret-show or something out of Moulin Rouge. The tour, like her previous one, had a lot of sensuality, sex, and entertainment, but was far more different than Blond Ambition. Madonna performed in Australia for the first time, but she had to cancel a few shows in other parts of the world because of nudity in her shows.[br /]
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After traveling from city to city for nearly five months, Madonna took a deserved break for a few months in early 1994. Madonna made a special appearance at the famous David Letterman Late Show. She managed to shock the country again, using bad language 13 times throughout the duration of the show, and making several politically incorrect jokes.[br /]
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[b]A Role Much Wanted[/b][br /]
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October 1994 saw the release of Madonna’s next album Bedtime Stories. She had had another image and style change - she changed her theme of sex to a theme of romance. But the most significant event during this time was Evita. Madonna had finally got the role of Eva Peron, the wife of Juan Peron, the dictator of Argentina. She had been speculated upon for the role for years. The movie was supposed to be based on the Andrew Lloyd Webbers musical Evita, and was going to be directed by Alan Parker. Madonna later admitted that she had sent a passionate handwritten note to Parker saying she very badly wanted this role. The filming of the movie was scheduled to begin in March 1996. During 1995, Madonna began a passionate affair with basketball star Dennis Rodman, but the relationship turned sour no sooner that it had begun as Rodman revealed some intimate details about his affair with Madonna in his book.[br /]
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[b]Tribute to Friendship[/b][br /]
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As a favor to her good friend, the late Gianni Versace, Madonna agreed to do a series of advertisements for Versace. She did two of them. The first series was shot in Gianni Versace’s home in Miami, Florida, and the next one in Milan, Italy. The pictures became very popular among fans and helped boost the Versace couture big time.[br /]
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In November 1995, Madonna released another compilation album called Something To Remember. It contained her greatest ballad hits and three new songs I Want You, You’ll See and One More Chance.[br /]
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[b]Problems in Argentina[/b][br /]
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In March 1996, the filming for Evita began in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Madonna ensured that she met people to know the real Evita. She then became confident to claim the right to portray Eva Peron on the silver screen. The film crew came to realize that shooting in Buenos Aires could be a real tough job, as many Argentineans were against Madonna playing their Saint Evita, and wanted her to leave the country. But things were eventually sorted out and the crew even got permission to shoot on the original Casa Rosada. The filming continued in Praha, Hungary and London.[br /]
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[b]Secret[/b][br /]
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While filming for Evita, Madonna learnt that she was pregnant from her boyfriend Carlos Leon, her former fitness trainer. She was quite concerned for the filming and kept her pregnancy a secret at first. After the filming was completed, her publicist Liz Rosenburg let the world know about the singer’s pregnancy. Madonna gave birth to her daughter Lourdes Maria on October 14, 1996, in Los Angeles. The Evita soundtrack was released in October 1996 and included such classic hits as Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina, Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Buenos Aires and the new You Must Love Me written and recorded especially for the film. Evita was premiered in the famous Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in December 1996.[br /]
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[b] Madonna[/b] attended the ceremony with the father of her child and then-boyfriend, Carlos Leon. The movie was a box office hit and even the critics were enthusiastic about the film. Evita got nominated several times for the prestigious Golden Globe Awards in early 1997. Madonna herself won award for the Best Actress. Although she was not nominated for an Oscar, her song You Must Love Me got the Academy Award. Madonna even performed the song on stage.[br /]
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After a short hiatus, Madonna returned to the spotlight after a break with her new album Ray Of Light in March 1998. This album was considered her most personal work till date. Critics were skeptical because of the new electronica sound, but the album was a worldwide success. Madonna visited Europe for a promotional tour. She performed in Italy, France, England, Spain, and Germany. By early 1999, the Ray Of Light era was over, but Madonna stayed in the spotlight with her appearance in a new line of cosmetics commercials for Max Factor.[br /]
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[b]Rumors[/b][br /]
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In June 1999, the shooting started for her next movie The Next Best Thing, while her song Beautiful Stranger from the movie Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me was still on the top of the charts. By the year end, she started recording her new album in London. Rumors gained currency of a new man in her life, but her prime concern was a house-hunt in which she failed to find a place that satisfied her needs, and she eventually had to stay in rented places.[br /]
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The new millenium approached and everyone was thrown in a frenzy of making it at the top ten lists for various reasons. Michael Jackson’s Thriller got named the Number One Video Of All Time by MTV, while Madonna had two videos in the Top 10.[br /]
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The British tabloids picked up rumors about Madonna and Guy Ritchie (a young and successful movie director), even though they had not been seen together officially, and Madonna seemed busy with recording her new album and getting ready for the promotion of The Next Best Thing.[br /]
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In early February 2000, Madonna and Guy Ritchie made their first public performance together at the Evening Standard Awards in London, and very much projected the image of a couple in love. After this appearance, they were not seen in public together. In March 2000, The Next Best Thing opened in US theaters. The premier in New York again gave the couple a chance to show people they were serious about each other. The reviews of the movie were not very good and the movie started to drop at the US box office after a fairly good start. The story was not appealing to the critics and audiences alike, who were having a problem with the comedy to a drama plot.[br /]
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All this time, Madonna remained in England to complete her albums there. In March itself, she confirmed being three months pregnant by boyfriend Guy Ritchie. The couple released a press statement asking the press to respect their privacy during Madonna’s pregnancy. Meanwhile, she continued working on her album, declaring the title Music.[br /]
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Madonna admits using the Internet frequently but she has also learnt a new side of the technology. The title track from her album Music had leaked onto the internet. Madonna and Warner Bros. took legal action against sites offering the track, including Napster. Thus Madonna had her hands full with net piracy topping the table. The Next Best Thing was released in European theaters in early June. While appearing for the European premier, she joked that she found it hard deciding on a dress as she was six months’ pregnant.[br /]
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On August 11, 2000, just five days from her birthday, she delivered a baby boy approximately one-month prior to her due date. When initially no details of the birth date were made public, tabloids as well as respected newspapers started to issue articles based on rumors that there had been complications which required an emergency cesarean section to save the baby’s life. Madonna’s publicist soon released a statement denying the rumors and confirming that there had been no life-threatening situations to either mother or child who was named Rocco Ritchie.[br /]
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Her album Music was released in September, and was a hit bigger than anyone had expected. Music entered the album sales chart at number one, not only in the United States but in 22 other countries as well.[br /]
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[b]A Dream Fulfilled[/b][br /]
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In the midst of overwhelming publicity, Madonna and Guy Ritchie decided to get married. The wedding took place in December 2000 in a fairytale Scottish castle. The singer had at last fulfilled her Cinderella-like dream.[br /]
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[b]The Ultimate Icon[/b][br /]
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Madonna is the ultimate icon. The musical masterpieces, groundbreaking videos, starring film roles, charitable causes, and the greatest role of all - motherhood. Through the chameleon-like changes, all the controversies and clamor, and now the joys of motherhood, it seems that this modern woman of legend has done it all - singer, composer, producer, author, actor, model…you name it. Not only can she do it all; there is nothing it seems she hasn’t tried…at least once. But it is finally her glorious music that matters to us the most; her triumphant personal style that excites our admiration; her vision that inspires us, her courage that calls to us, and her grit that encourages us to dare and to dream.[br /]
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