1958–1978: Early life Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in
Bay City, Michigan, on August 16, 1958. Her father, Silvio "Tony" Ciccone, worked as an
optical and
military engineer, as well as a physicist, for
Chrysler Defense and later
General Dynamics Land Systems; her mother, Madonna Louise (
née Fortin), was an
X-ray technician. Tony's parents were Italian emigrants from
Pacentro, while her mother was of
French-Canadian descent. Since Madonna shared her name with her mother, family members referred to her as "Little Nonnie". Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of
Pontiac and Avon Township (now
Rochester Hills), alongside her two older brothers, Anthony and Martin, and her three younger siblings, Paula,
Christopher, and Melanie. When Madonna was five years old, her mother died of
breast cancer on December 1, 1963. In 1966, she adopted Veronica as a
confirmation name upon receiving the
sacrament in the Catholic Church. That same year, Tony married the family's housekeeper, Joan Gustafson. They had three children: Joey (who died shortly after his birth in 1967 from a
heart defect), Jennifer, and Mario. Madonna attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Catholic elementary schools, as well as West Middle School. She earned high grades—her father gave her a
quarter for every
A—and was notorious for her unconventional behavior. Madonna performed cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, hung upside down from the monkey bars during recess, and lifted her skirt in class to amuse the boys. In retrospect, Madonna described herself as a "lonely girl who was searching for something", explaining: "I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave under my arms and I didn't wear makeup like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades[...] I wanted to be somebody." Her father initially enrolled her in
classical piano lessons, but she eventually persuaded him to let her study
ballet instead. Her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, inspired her to pursue a career in dance. While attending
Rochester Adams High School, Madonna was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad. After graduating in January 1976, she received a dance scholarship to the
University of Michigan and spent the summer studying at the
American Dance Festival in
Durham, North Carolina. In 1978, Madonna left college and moved to New York City. She called the decision "the bravest thing [she'd] ever done"; it was the first time she had ever flown or taken a taxi, and she arrived with "$35 in [her] pocket". She settled in the
Alphabet City area of the
East Village and supported herself with limited means by working various jobs—including as a hatcheck girl at the
Russian Tea Room, an elevator operator at
Terrace on the Park, and a member of dance troupes. Madonna took classes at the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performed with the
Pearl Lang Dance Theater, and studied under dancer and choreographer
Martha Graham. One night, while returning from a rehearsal, two men held her at knifepoint and forced her to perform
fellatio. She later found the incident to be "a taste of my weakness, it showed me that I still could not save myself in spite of all the strong-girl show. I could never forget it."
1979–1983: Career beginnings, rock bands, and Madonna In 1979, Madonna entered a romantic relationship with musician
Dan Gilroy. During this period, she searched for job opportunities in publications such as
Variety,
Backstage, and
Show Business, leading to a successful audition as a backup singer and dancer in
Paris for French disco artist
Patrick Hernandez. With Hernandez's troupe, she traveled to Tunisia and several disco-oriented European countries before returning to New York that same year. Madonna relocated to an abandoned
synagogue in
Corona, Queens, where Gilroy and his brother Ed resided and practiced. The group slept in the basement and used its meeting space both to rehearse and record music for their band,
Breakfast Club, for which Madonna sang and played drums and guitar. Madonna made her acting debut in the low-budget indie film
A Certain Sacrifice, which was shot in two parts during 1979 and 1981. She unsuccessfully attempted to block its 1985 release through legal action against director Stephen Jon Lewicki. The film was primarily criticized for its explicit sexual and violent content. In 1980, after leaving the Breakfast Club and ending her relationship with Gilroy, Madonna reunited with drummer
Stephen Bray, whom she had previously dated in Michigan, and together they formed the band Emmy. She and Bray lived and rehearsed at
the Music Building in Manhattan, where they wrote songs and recorded a four-track demo tape. After Madonna left Emmy, Camille Barbone, who ran
Gotham Records in the Music Building, signed her to a contract with the label in March 1981, working as her manager until February 1982. Her creative partnership with Bray continued for many years. In 1982, Madonna visited nightclubs to persuade
disc jockeys (DJs) to play her demo, leading
Mark Kamins at
Danceteria to take an interest in her music and begin a romance with her. He arranged a meeting with
Seymour Stein, president of
Sire Records—a subsidiary of
Warner Bros. Records—after which she signed a two-single deal. Kamins produced her debut single, "
Everybody", which was released in October 1982 and promoted with television and nightclub performances. Her second single, the
double A-side "
Burning Up" / "
Physical Attraction", was released in March 1983. Both these singles reached number three on the
Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. During this period, Madonna was in a relationship with artist
Jean-Michel Basquiat and living in his
SoHo loft. Basquiat introduced her to art curator
Diego Cortez, who had managed several
punk bands. Cortez declined to manage Madonna when she requested that he do so. Warner hired
Reggie Lucas to produce her debut studio album,
Madonna. Madonna was dissatisfied with many of the tracks, prompting her to seek additional support. She enlisted DJ
John "Jellybean" Benitez to help complete the album, and the two began a brief romantic relationship. Benitez remixed most of the songs and produced "
Holiday", her breakthrough song.
Madonna was released on July 27, 1983, to generally favorable reviews, and peaked at number eight on the US
Billboard 200. The album generated two US
Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles: "
Borderline" and "
Lucky Star". In late 1983, Madonna's new manager,
Freddy DeMann, arranged a meeting with film producer
Jon Peters, who offered her the role of a club singer in the romantic drama
Vision Quest (1985).
1984–1987: Like a Virgin, first marriage, True Blue, and ''Who's That Girl'' in 1985 In January 1984, Madonna gained further exposure with performances on
American Bandstand and
Top of the Pops. Wanting the material on her second studio album,
Like a Virgin, to be "stronger" than that of her debut, she selected all of the songs herself, five of which she wrote or co-wrote.
Like a Virgin was released on November 12, 1984, and became her first number-one album in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and the US. In the lattermost nation, the album remained atop the
Billboard 200 for three weeks and is the first album by a woman to sell over five million copies.
Like a Virgin has sold over 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the
best-selling albums of all time. The album's title track, "
Like a Virgin", was selected as its lead single. It was her first number-one on the
Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for six consecutive weeks. "Like a Virgin" attracted the attention of conservative organizations, who complained that the song and its accompanying video promoted premarital sex and undermined family values;
moralists sought to have the song and video banned. Madonna attracted significant media attention for her performance of the song at the inaugural
MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Dressed in a wedding gown and white gloves, she appeared atop a large wedding cake before moving across the stage in a provocative manner.
MTV News later described the performance as one of the most iconic in pop music history.
Like a Virgins next single, "
Material Girl", peaked at number two in the US. Madonna began a relationship with actor
Sean Penn while filming the music video for "Material Girl" and the two married on her twenty-seventh birthday in 1985. That same year, she starred as the titular character in the comedy
Desperately Seeking Susan, depicting a free-spirited
bohemian drifter whose path intersects with a bored housewife through personal ads. The film included the song "
Into the Groove", her first number-one single on the
UK Singles Chart.
Desperately Seeking Susan was named one of the ten best films of 1985 by
Vincent Canby, a
The New York Times film critic. In April 1985, Madonna began her first North American concert series,
the Virgin Tour. The tour coincided with the height of the
Madonna wannabe phenomenon, as many of her young female fans adopted
her fashion style. Styled by
Maripol, her look—which included lace tops, skirts over
capri pants,
fishnet stockings,
crucifix jewelry, stacked bracelets, and bleached hair—became widely associated with 1980s female fashion trends. In
Vision Quest (1985), Madonna appears as a nightclub singer and performs "
Crazy for You"—her second
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. Around this time, Madonna released two additional singles for
Like a Virgin, "
Angel" and "
Dress You Up", both of which reached the top five of the
Billboard Hot 100. In July 1985,
Penthouse and
Playboy published nude photographs of Madonna taken in 1978, when she worked as an
art model. She had posed for the images for modest pay, reportedly $25 per session; the photographs were later sold for up to $100,000. The publication caused significant media attention, though Madonna remained unapologetic. At the 1985
Live Aid concert, she referenced the controversy, and refused to remove her jacket when believing that the media "might hold it against me ten years from now". Madonna co-wrote and co-produced every track on her third studio album,
True Blue.
True Blue made Madonna the second female artist—following
Whitney Houston—to score three US
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from one album: "
Live to Tell", "
Papa Don't Preach", and "
Open Your Heart". Its two other singles, "
True Blue" and "
La Isla Bonita", peaked within the top five.
True Blue was the best-selling album of 1986, the best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist, and one of the best-selling albums of all time, with 25million copies sold globally. Madonna appeared in the film
Shanghai Surprise (1986) alongside Penn, which was critically unsuccessful and earned her the
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. She made her stage debut the same year in
David Rabe's
Goose and Tom-Tom, which also starred Penn. In 1987, she starred in the film ''
Who's That Girl'' and contributed four songs to
its soundtrack, including "
Who's That Girl" and "
Causing a Commotion", which peaked at numbers one and two on the
Billboard Hot 100, respectively. In June, she embarked on the
Who's That Girl World Tour, which broke several attendance records, including a performance near Paris attended by over 130,000 people—the
highest for a female artist at the time. In 1987, she released
You Can Dance, a
remix album with reworked versions of songs from her earlier releases. After a turbulent two-year marriage, Madonna filed for divorce from Penn on December 4, 1987, though she later withdrew the petition.
1988–1991: Like a Prayer, Dick Tracy, and The Immaculate Collection Madonna made her
Broadway theatre debut in the play
Speed-the-Plow at the
Royale Theatre, running from May to August 1988. According to the
Associated Press, she filed an assault report against Penn following an alleged incident at their
Malibu residence over New Year's weekend. Madonna filed for divorce on January 5, 1989, and reportedly requested the following week that no criminal charges be pursued. That month, Madonna signed an endorsement agreement with soft-drink company
Pepsi. In a commercial for the company, she premiered "
Like a Prayer", whose accompanying music video featured
Catholic imagery such as
stigmata and
cross burning, as well as a dream sequence depicting intimacy with a saint, prompting condemnation from the
Vatican. Religious organizations called for a boycott of Pepsi products, leading the company to withdraw the commercial and terminate her sponsorship deal. in 1990 "Like a Prayer" was released as the lead single from her fourth studio album, also titled
Like a Prayer. The song became her seventh number-one single on the
Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks atop the chart. Madonna drew inspiration from her turbulent relationship and divorce from Penn to create the album, co-writing and co-producing it alongside
Patrick Leonard, Stephen Bray, and
Prince. In the US,
Like a Prayer was released on March 21, 1989, to universal acclaim from critics.
Rolling Stones
J. D. Considine described it as "proof not only that Madonna should be taken seriously as an artist but that hers is one of the most compelling voices of the Eighties".
Like a Prayer spent six weeks atop the
Billboard 200—the longest of her albums—and eventually sold 15 million copies worldwide. The singles "
Express Yourself" and "
Cherish" both peaked at number two in the US, while "
Keep It Together" peaked in the top ten. In April 1990, she launched the
Blond Ambition World Tour.
Rolling Stone described it as an "elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza" and named it the best tour of 1990. It drew criticism from religious organizations, particularly for her performance of "Like a Virgin", in which she simulated
masturbation while being caressed by two male dancers.
The live recording of the tour earned Madonna the
Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. Her first documentary film,
Truth or Dare (titled
In Bed with Madonna outside North America), was released in May 1991. Chronicling her Blond Ambition World Tour, it became the highest-grossing documentary ever at the time, a record it held until it was surpassed eleven years later. Madonna portrayed
Breathless Mahoney in the film
Dick Tracy (1990), directed by and starring
Warren Beatty in the title role. The film
topped the US box office for two consecutive weeks, and
Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly praised Madonna's performance, saying that he wished she had been given more screen time. To accompany the film, she released the soundtrack album ''
I'm Breathless'', with songs largely inspired by 1930s music. It spawned the single "
Vogue", which topped the charts in more than 30 countries, including the US, where it peaked at number one on the Hot 100 for three weeks. During production, Madonna and Beatty began a relationship that ended shortly after the film's premiere. In October 1990, she recorded a
public service announcement supporting
Rock the Vote's voter registration campaign. Madonna's first
greatest-hits compilation album,
The Immaculate Collection, was released in November 1990. The album has sold 30million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist and one of the best-selling albums of all time. The set included two new songs, "
Justify My Love" and "
Rescue Me". Model
Tony Ward, Madonna's then-boyfriend, co-starred in the music video for "Justify My Love", which included imagery of
sadomasochism,
bondage, same-sex intimacy, and brief nudity. Considered too sexually explicit, the video was banned by MTV. The resulting controversy contributed to the song reaching number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming her ninth chart-topping single.
1992–1997: Maverick, Erotica, Sex, Bedtime Stories, Evita, and motherhood In 1992, Madonna appeared in the film
A League of Their Own as a member of an all-women's baseball team. The film reached
number one at the US box office in its second weekend of release. Madonna also recorded its theme song, "
This Used to Be My Playground", which became her tenth
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, the most for a woman at the time. In April 1992, Madonna established the entertainment company
Maverick, which included a record label, film production unit, and divisions for music publishing, television, book publishing, and merchandising. The venture was a partnership with
Time Warner and provided her with a $60 million advance and a 20 percent royalty rate—the highest in the industry at the time. Maverick went on to become one of the most successful
artist-run labels in history, signing successful acts such as
Alanis Morissette and
Michelle Branch. in 1993|alt=Madonna with short blonde hair, wearing a green bra and purple pants, singing to a microphone, held in her left hand. Later in 1992, Madonna co-sponsored the first museum retrospective of her former partner, artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, at the
Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. She released her fifth studio album,
Erotica, on October 20, 1992, in the US, and published her
coffee table book Sex a day later.
Sex featured sexually provocative and explicit images photographed by
Steven Meisel and drew strong negative reactions from both the media and the general public; initial interest propelled the book to the top of
The New York Times Best Seller list. A
Washington Post writer described it as an "oversized, overpriced, [and boring] coffee table book of hardcore sexual fantasies". The widespread backlash overshadowed
Erotica, which became her lowest-selling album at the time. It debuted and peaked at number two on the US
Billboard 200, and received favorable reviews from critics. The pair separated following the release of
Sex, with Vanilla Ice claiming he had been included in the book without his consent. Madonna extended her provocative themes in the 1993 erotic thriller
Body of Evidence, which featured scenes of sadomasochism and bondage, and was poorly received by critics. In September 1993, Madonna played an abused wife in a troubled marriage to a filmmaker in
Dangerous Game, though her performance in the film was met with negative reception. She launched
the Girlie Show that month, during which she appeared as a whip-cracking
dominatrix and performed alongside topless dancers. and later supported exhibitions of Basquiat's paintings at London's
Serpentine Gallery and
Cindy Sherman at
New York's
Museum of Modern Art. In February 1996, Madonna began filming the musical
Evita in Argentina. Having long aspired to portray Argentine political leader
Eva Perón, she wrote to director
Alan Parker to express her interest in the role. After being cast, she undertook vocal training and studied Argentina's history and Perón's life. During production, Madonna experienced several bouts of illness related to pregnancy and the emotional demands of the film. Upon its release in December 1996, her performance was met with positive reviews from critics.
Richard Corliss, writing for
Time, described the film as well cast and visually impressive, lauding Madonna's ability to exceed expectations. Her portrayal earned her the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The
Evita soundtrack, which peaked at number two on the
Billboard 200, contained songs primarily performed by Madonna. These included "
You Must Love Me" and "
Don't Cry for Me Argentina", the latter of which topped the
European singles chart. On October 14, 1996, she gave birth to her daughter,
Lourdes "Lola" Maria Ciccone Leon, with fitness trainer Carlos Leon. According to biographer
Mary Cross, Madonna—who had expressed concern that her pregnancy might jeopardize
Evita—fulfilled significant personal goals: "Madonna had at last triumphed on screen and achieved her dream of having a child, both in the same year[...] reinventing herself and her image with the public". Her relationship with Carlos ended in May 1997, and she stated that they were "better off as best friends".
1998–2002: Ray of Light, Music, second marriage, and touring comeback After the birth of Lourdes, Madonna developed an interest in
Eastern mysticism and
Kabbalah, introduced to her by actress
Sandra Bernhard. This change in perception influenced her seventh studio album,
Ray of Light. She collaborated with
electronic music producer
William Orbit to create a fusion of dance,
pop, and
British rock.
Ray of Light was released on February 22, 1998, to acclaim from critics.
Slant Magazine deemed it "one of the great pop masterpieces of the '90s", and
Los Angeles Timess
Robert Hilburn called it her most satisfying record.
Ray of Light debuted at number one in 17 countries. It opened at number two on the
Billboard 200 with highest first-week sales—371,000—by a woman at the time. The album's two highest-charting singles, "
Frozen" and "
Ray of Light", peaked at numbers two and five on the US
Billboard Hot 100, with the former becoming her first song to debut at number one in the UK. At the
41st Annual Grammy Awards, Madonna won four awards, including
Best Pop Album for
Ray of Light, and
Best Dance Recording and
Best Short Form Music Video for the title track. In 1998, Madonna established the
Ray of Light Foundation, a non-profit for women, education, global development, and humanitarian aid. She recorded the single "
Beautiful Stranger" for the film
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), which earned her a
Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. She starred as a yoga teacher in the comedy-drama
The Next Best Thing (2000), which received negative reviews and opened at number two at the US box office. For the soundtrack, she recorded a cover of
Don McLean's "
American Pie", her ninth UK number-one single. in 2001|alt=A blond woman sitting on a block of hay, playing guitar and singing in front of a microphone. On September 18, 2000, Madonna released her eighth studio album,
Music, to critical acclaim. She collaborated with French producer
Mirwais Ahmadzaï, saying that she preferred working with unconventional, lesser-known artists who "are making music unlike anyone else out there". The album reached number one in over 20 countries and sold four million copies within the first ten days of release. In the US,
Music debuted atop the
Billboard 200, becoming her first number-one album in eleven years since
Like a Prayer. The singles "
Music" and "
Don't Tell Me" peaked at numbers one and four on the
Billboard Hot 100, respectively; the former became her twelfth song to peak atop the chart. Madonna met director
Guy Ritchie in mid-1998 and gave birth to their son, Rocco John Ritchie, in Los Angeles on August 11, 2000. She and Rocco experienced complications during the birth due to her
placenta praevia. He was christened at
Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland on December 21, 2000, and Madonna married Ritchie the following day at nearby
Skibo Castle. In June 2001, she launched the
Drowned World Tour, her first tour in eight years. It visited cities across the US and Europe, becoming the highest-grossing tour of the year by a solo artist with $75 million in revenue. That same year, she released her second greatest-hits album,
GHV2, featuring a selection of her successful songs from the 1990s onward. It debuted at number seven in the US and sold seven million copies worldwide. In 2002, Madonna starred in Ritchie's
Swept Away, a remake of
Lina Wertmüller's
1974 film. The film was commercially unsuccessful and universally panned, with
A. O. Scott, writing for
The New York Times, stating that "a role like this one requires the surrender of emotional control, something Madonna seems constitutionally unable to achieve". In May 2002, she appeared in the
West End play
Up for Grabs at the
Wyndhams Theatre, which was poorly received by critics. Later that year, Madonna released "
Die Another Day", the theme song for the
James Bond film of the same name, in which she also had a
cameo role that
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian described as "incredibly wooden". The song reached number eight on the
Billboard Hot 100,
2003–2006: American Life and Confessions on a Dance Floor in 2004|alt=Madonna and her backup dancers in military costumes performing onstage with their right hands held upright into a fist. In 2003, Madonna worked with fashion photographer
Steven Klein on an exhibition installation titled
X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS. The project was presented from March to May at New York's
Deitch Projects gallery and was later shown internationally in a revised version. Madonna reunited with Ahmadzaï to produce her ninth studio album,
American Life—a reflection of her views on American society. The record, released on April 21, 2003, was met with mixed reception and debuted atop the US
Billboard 200.
American Life became her lowest-selling release, with worldwide sales of four million copies by 2005. Four singles were released from the album: "
American Life", "
Hollywood", "
Nothing Fails", and "
Love Profusion". "American Life" was its only track to enter the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 37. while "Nothing Fails" and "Love Profusion" reached number one in Spain. "American Life" and "Hollywood" both reached number two in the UK. The original music video of "American Life" caused controversy due to its violence and
anti-war movement imagery, and was withdrawn after the
2003 invasion of Iraq began. Madonna voluntarily censored herself due to the political climate of the country. Her performance at the
2003 MTV Video Music Awards—in which she kissed singers
Britney Spears and
Christina Aguilera while performing "Hollywood"—was highly publicized. She then released
Remixed & Revisited, an extended play featuring new remixes of songs from
American Life and the unreleased "Your Honesty". Madonna signed a contract with
Callaway Arts & Entertainment to write five children's books. The first, titled
The English Roses, was published in September 2003 and tells the story of four English schoolgirls struggling with envy and jealousy. The book became the fastest-selling children's picture book at the time, with all proceeds donated to a children's charity. In March 2004, Madonna and Maverick filed a lawsuit against
Warner Music Group and its former parent company, Time Warner, alleging financial mismanagement and poor accounting practices that resulted in significant losses. Warner countersued, claiming Maverick had incurred substantial losses independently. The dispute was settled when Warner acquired the Maverick shares held by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music. Madonna remained signed to Warner under a separate recording contract. She launched the
Re-Invention World Tour in May, performing across North America and Europe. The tour became 2004's highest-grossing, earning over $120 million, and was later chronicled in her documentary ''
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret'' (2005). In November 2004, she was inducted into the
UK Music Hall of Fame as one of its five founding members. in 2006 In January 2005, Madonna performed
John Lennon's "
Imagine" at
Tsunami Aid and appeared at the
Live 8 benefit concert in London six months later. She initially worked with Ahmadzaï to produce her tenth studio album,
Confessions on a Dance Floor, but later turned to
Stuart Price to attain the sound she was seeking. Structured like a continuous
DJ mixed club set, the album was released in the US on November 15, 2005, to critical acclaim.
Confessions on a Dance Floor topped the charts in a record-breaking 40 countries, won Madonna the
Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the
49th Annual Grammy Awards, and sold over 10million copies worldwide. The lead single, "
Hung Up", reached number one in a record-breaking 41 countries. It sampled
ABBA's "
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", marking the second time the band permitted such use. ABBA songwriter
Björn Ulvaeus called it "a wonderful track—100 per cent solid pop music". The album's second single, "
Sorry", became Madonna's twelfth number-one single in the UK. During the performance of "Live to Tell", she used religious imagery, including a crucifix and a
crown of thorns, prompting the
Russian Orthodox Church and the
Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia to call for a boycott. While touring, Madonna founded the charitable organization
Raising Malawi and helped fund an orphanage in the country. There, she decided to adopt a boy named David Banda in 2006. The adoption provoked public debate, as Malawian law required prospective parents to reside in the country for one year before adopting, a condition Madonna did not meet. Malawi's Minister of Women and Child Development,
Kate Kainja, had also blocked officials from traveling to meet Madonna and Ritchie as potential adopters. Speaking on
The Oprah Winfrey Show, Madonna explained that Malawi had no formal adoption laws for foreigners and described how Banda had been suffering from
pneumonia after surviving
malaria and
tuberculosis. Banda's father, Yohane, defended the adoption, saying he understood and supported the arrangement. The adoption was finalized in May 2008.
2007–2011: Filmmaking, Hard Candy, and business ventures '' in 2008|alt=Madonna wearing a loose dress with black and brown prints on it. She is looking to the right and smiling. In July 2007, Madonna released and performed "
Hey You" at the London
Live Earth concert. She subsequently announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records and signed a ten-year, $120 million
360 deal with
Live Nation. She produced and wrote
I Am Because We Are (2008), a documentary directed by Nathan Rissman that addressed social issues in Malawi. That same year, she directed her first feature film,
Filth and Wisdom, which follows three friends pursuing their ambitions. Reviews were largely negative, with
The Times describing it as a commendable debut and
The Daily Telegraph calling it a promising but imperfect first effort. On March 10, 2008, Madonna was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during her first year of eligibility. Madonna worked with
Justin Timberlake,
Timbaland, and
Pharrell Williams to produce her eleventh studio album,
Hard Candy. Released on April 29, 2008,
Hard Candy debuted atop the charts of 37 countries, including the US
Billboard 200. The lead single, "
4 Minutes", peaked at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming her thirty-seventh top-ten entry in the US and surpassing
Elvis Presley's record for the most top-ten songs. In the UK, "4 Minutes" extended her record as the female artist with the most number-one singles.
Rolling Stones Caryn Ganz described
Hard Candy as "an impressive preview of her upcoming tour", while
BBC correspondent Mark Savage criticized it as "an attempt to capture the urban market". She launched the
Sticky & Sweet Tour in August 2008, her first major venture with Live Nation. Grossing over $408 million, it became the second
highest-grossing tour of all time and the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist. In July 2008, Madonna's brother Christopher published the book
Life with My Sister Madonna, which created a rift between the two due to its unauthorized release. In October, Madonna filed for divorce from Ritchie, citing
irreconcilable differences. Two months later, her spokesperson confirmed that a settlement had been reached, granting Ritchie between
£50–60 million ($– million), including the couple's
London pub, residence, and
Wiltshire estate. The marriage was formally dissolved through a
decree nisi at the Principal Registry of the Family Division in
High Holborn, London. Custody of their sons, Rocco and David, then aged eight and three, was shared between Ritchie's London home and Madonna's residence in New York, where they lived alongside Lourdes. In May 2009, Madonna applied to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James from Malawi, but the country's High Court denied the request on the grounds that she was not a resident. She appealed the decision, and in June, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling and granted her permission to adopt her. in 2008 Madonna concluded her contract with Warner Records with the release of her third greatest-hits album,
Celebration, in September 2009. The compilation included two new tracks, along with thirty-four songs spanning her career with the label. The album reached number one in multiple countries, including Canada, Germany, Italy, and the UK. She appeared at the
2009 MTV Video Music Awards to deliver a tribute to the deceased singer
Michael Jackson. By the end of the decade, Madonna was recognized as the most successful singles artist of the 2000s in the US and the most-played artist of the decade in the UK.
Billboard ranked her as the third highest-grossing touring artist of the 2000s, with earnings exceeding $801 million, over 6.3 million attendees, and 244 sold-out performances out of 248 shows. In January 2010, Madonna performed at
Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief concert. Madonna's third live album,
Sticky & Sweet Tour, was released in April 2010, debuting at number ten in the US. That year, she authorized the television series
Glee to feature her entire music catalog, leading to
an episode composed exclusively of her songs. She also collaborated with her daughter Lourdes to launch the
Material Girl clothing line, inspired by her 1980s fashion. In October 2010, she founded the global fitness chain
Hard Candy Fitness, and in November 2011 introduced a second lifestyle brand,
Truth or Dare, offering footwear, fragrances, lingerie, and accessories. Her second directorial feature was
W.E. (2011), a biographical drama about the relationship between
King Edward VIII and
Wallis Simpson. The film received an unfavorable critical and commercial response.
Its soundtrack included the
ballad "
Masterpiece", which earned Madonna a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
2012–2016: Super Bowl XLVI halftime show, MDNA, and Rebel Heart and a
marching band, performing during the
Super Bowl XLVI halftime show on February 5, 2012|alt=A group of performers onstage, with Madonna and Cee Lo Green at the front. They are all wearing black costumes with red and white stripes. In February 2012, Madonna headlined the
Super Bowl XLVI halftime show at
Lucas Oil Stadium in
Indianapolis, Indiana. Produced in collaboration with
Cirque du Soleil and choreographer
Jamie King, the performance featured guest appearances by
LMFAO,
Nicki Minaj,
M.I.A. and
CeeLo Green. The broadcast drew 114 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show at the time, surpassing the viewership of the game itself. Madonna primarily produced her twelfth studio album,
MDNA, with Orbit and
Martin Solveig. It was released on March 26, 2012, to generally favorable critical reception.
MDNA was Madonna's first release under a three-album agreement with
Interscope Records, signed as part of her 360 deal with Live Nation, which could not distribute recorded music.
MDNA became her fifth consecutive studio album to debut at number one on the
Billboard 200. The lead single, "
Give Me All Your Luvin'", became her record-extending thirty-eighth top-ten single on the
Billboard Hot 100. She promoted the album with
the MDNA Tour, which began in May 2012 and addressed themes such as violence, human rights, and politics. Grossing over $305 million from 88 sold-out shows, it was the highest-earning tour of 2012 and became one of the most profitable at the time. Madonna collaborated with Steven Klein and directed a seventeen-minute film,
secretprojectrevolution, which was released on
BitTorrent in September 2013. With the film, she launched the Art for Freedom initiative, which promotes art and free speech to combat global persecution and injustice. The project's website garnered over 3,000 submissions by January 2014. in 2016|alt=Madonna looking to her right while singing onstage, with her right hand on her waist. By 2013, Madonna's Raising Malawi had built ten schools educating 4,000 children in Malawi worth of $400,000. During her April visit, President
Joyce Banda accused her of exaggerating her contributions, prompting Madonna to issue a statement saying she would not be distracted by the "ridiculous allegations"; the statement was later revealed to have been issued without Banda's approval. In May 2014, she donated to her
bankrupt hometown of Detroit, and that year launched her
MDNA Skin care line in Tokyo. Madonna released her thirteenth studio album,
Rebel Heart, on March 10, 2015, three months after thirteen demos leaked online. She collaborated with a large range of producers, including
Avicii,
Diplo, and
Kanye West. The central theme of the album was introspection along with "genuine statements of personal and careerist reflection". Music critics responded positively towards
Rebel Heart, calling it Madonna's best effort in a decade. She began her
Rebel Heart Tour in September 2015, which visited North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and grossed $169.8 million from 82 shows. While touring, Madonna became involved in a legal dispute with Ritchie regarding custody of their son Rocco. The conflict arose when Rocco chose to remain in England with Ritchie rather than continue traveling with Madonna. Court proceedings were held in both New York and London, but after several hearings, Madonna withdrew her custody application and opted to settle the matter privately. In October 2016,
Billboard named her its
Woman of the Year. Her candid and outspoken speech addressing
ageism and
sexism garnered extensive media attention. In November 2016, she performed an impromptu acoustic concert at
Washington Square Park in support of
Hillary Clinton's
2016 presidential campaign. After
Donald Trump's election victory, Madonna delivered a speech at the
2017 Women's March on Washington, where a remark about "blowing up the White House" drew controversy. She later clarified that her comments had been taken out of context and emphasized that she was not advocating violence.
2017–2021: Move to Lisbon and Madame X In February 2017, Madonna adopted four-year-old twin sisters, Estere and Stella, from Malawi, and relocated to
Lisbon, Portugal, later that year with her children. That July, she inaugurated the
Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi, a hospital established by her Raising Malawi foundation. Her live album
Rebel Heart Tour was released in September 2017 and won Best Music Video for Western Artists at the 32nd
Japan Gold Disc Awards. That same month, she launched her skincare brand MDNA Skin in selected US stores. Earlier in the year, the auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll attempted to sell Madonna's personal items, including letters from Tupac Shakur. Although she sought legal action to halt the sale, the court ruled in favor of art dealer Darlene Lutz due to a 2004 agreement authorizing the sale of the items. in 2020|alt=Madonna singing onstage in front of a greenish backdrop, while wearing black costumes and an eye-patch. While residing in Lisbon, Madonna met Portuguese musician
Dino D'Santiago, who introduced her to local artists performing
fado,
morna, and
samba music. She frequently attended their informal "living room sessions", which inspired her fourteenth studio album,
Madame X. The album was released on June 14, 2019, and Madonna produced it with various musicians, primarily her longtime collaborator Mirwais and
Mike Dean.
Madame X debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200, her ninth to do so. Its four singles—"
Medellín", "
Crave", "
I Rise" and "
I Don't Search I Find"—each reached number one on the
Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, further extending her record for the most chart-topping entries. Madonna appeared as the interval act at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 and performed "Like a Prayer", and then "
Future" with rapper
Quavo. Her
Madame X Tour, an all-theater concert series held in select cities across North America and Europe, began in September 2019 and grossed over $51.4million in revenue. The tour later faced multiple cancellations due to Madonna's recurring knee injury and concluded prematurely on March 8, 2020, after the French government prohibited large gatherings because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Later that month, she drew criticism for posting a now-deleted video on
Instagram and
Twitter; in it, she sat naked amid rose petals and candles, calling COVID-19 "the great equalizer" that makes everyone equal regardless of status. In April 2020, Madonna announced financial contributions to the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, led by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the
Wellcome Trust, and
Mastercard, and donated an additional $1 million to vaccine research. A month later, Madonna revealed she had
tested positive for
coronavirus antibodies. She and
Missy Elliott contributed guest vocals to
Dua Lipa's single "
Levitating", featured on Lipa's 2020 remix album
Club Future Nostalgia. Madonna then began developing a biographical film about her life, which she planned to direct. Screenwriters
Erin Cressida Wilson and
Diablo Cody worked on the script at different stages, and actress
Julia Garner was cast in the lead role before the project was postponed. In October 2021, Madonna released
Madame X, a
documentary film about her concert tour of the same name, through
Paramount+.
2022–present: Remix albums and Confessions II In August 2021, coinciding with her 63rd birthday, Madonna announced her return to
Warner Records—the rebranded successor to Warner Bros. Records—in a global partnership. The deal granted the label rights to her entire recorded music catalog, including her three most recent albums originally released under Interscope. As part of the agreement, she began a series of catalog reissues in 2022 to mark the fortieth anniversary of her recording career. The remix album
Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones was released in August, following a 16-track abridged edition made available for streaming two months prior. Featuring her 50 number-one songs on
Billboards Dance Club Songs chart, the album celebrated Madonna's long-standing connection to dance music and became her 23rd top-ten entry on the
Billboard 200. in 2023 Between 2022 and 2023, Madonna issued several standalone singles, including "
Back That Up to the Beat", a previously unreleased demo from the
Rebel Heart sessions that went viral on social media. She also contributed to three tracks on
Christine and the Queens' album
Paranoïa, Angels, True Love (2023), and collaborated with
the Weeknd and
Playboi Carti on the single "
Popular", featured on the soundtrack to the television drama
The Idol. In January 2023, Madonna announced
the Celebration Tour, her first greatest hits concert tour. The tour was to begin in July, but a month prior, she was hospitalized after being found unresponsive at her New York City residence. She spent five days in intensive care and was placed in a medically induced coma for 48 hours due to a serious bacterial infection following a low-grade fever. The Celebration Tour commenced in October 2023 in London, receiving widespread critical acclaim. It concluded the following May with a free concert on
Copacabana Beach in
Rio de Janeiro, which drew an audience of 1.6 million—setting records for both the
largest standalone concert in history and the highest attendance ever for a female artist. The tour grossed over $225million across eighty shows, making Madonna the first woman to surpass $100million in earnings from six separate concert tours. Her younger brother, Christopher, died in October 2024, two weeks after that of their stepmother, Joan. In July 2024, Madonna resumed development on the biopic, and later expressed frustration with producers who urged her to downscale the project. She began considering adapting it into a television series instead. Around the same time, Madonna began refocusing on music, collaborating with Price. She described the creative process as "medicine for my soul" and how the songwriting allowed her full artistic freedom without having to "ask anyone for their permission". During the next year, Madonna confirmed that she was working on a follow-up to
Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), also produced by Price, scheduled for release in 2026 through Warner Records. That May,
Deadline Hollywood reported that Madonna had partnered with Netflix and producer
Shawn Levy to develop a separate television series based on her life. In 2025, she released the remix album
Veronica Electronica, which included original versions of songs unreleased from the
Ray of Light era. She also released the extended play
Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the parent album,
Bedtime Stories (1994). In January 2026, Madonna became the face of the One, a
Dolce & Gabbana fragrance. She covered
Patty Pravo's 1968 single "
La bambola" as part of the campaign, which included a short film and photographs. In April 2026, she announced that her fifteenth studio album,
Confessions II, will be released on July 3. She also previewed a new song titled "
I Feel So Free." That same month, she joined
Sabrina Carpenter at the
Coachella festival to perform "Vogue", "Like a Prayer", and a new duet, "
Bring Your Love." == Artistry ==