Lucky star
It’s time to strike a pose as the material girl turns 60. MARION McMULLEN looks back at six decades of pop icon Madonna
1958
MADONNA Louise Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, to Italian Catholic emigrants Madonna Louise and Silvio Anthony “Tony.”
She once said: “I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.” One of six children, she was just five when her mother died from breast cancer.
1968
HER relationship with her father became strained after he married family housekeeper Joan Gustafson and they had two further children.
“My father was very strong. I don’t agree with a lot of the ways he brought me up. I don’t agree with a lot of his values, but he did have a lot of integrity, and if he told us not to do something, he didn’t do it either,” she once explained.
1978
MADONNA moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue her dancing passion.
“When I first moved to New York, I wanted to be a dancer. I danced professionally for years, living a hand-to-mouth existence. I never tapped into nightlife. All I knew was dancers. We went to bed early and got up early and went to free concerts at the Lincoln Center and Shakespeare in the Park,” she remembered.
She signed with Sire Records in 1982 and brought out her debut self-titled album the following year. Holiday became a pop hit and Like A Virgin went on to sell more than 21 million copies worldwide.
She also appeared in movie comedy Desperately Seeking Susan in 1985 and married actor Sean Penn on her birthday the same year. Her 1986 album True Blue was dedicated to him and pop artist Andy Warhol was among their wedding guests.
1988
THE hits and the films kept coming but her marriage to Sean Penn ended in 1989 and her name became briefly linked with Warren Beatty and they starred together in 1990 movie Dick Tracy with Madonna playing Breathless Mahoney.
She topped the charts with tracks such as Vogue and Like A Prayer and brought out new album Erotica and coffee table book Sex.
Her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990 saw her in the headlines for her pink cone bra created by French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.
Movie roles continued with the lead role in Evita in 1996, which saw her go through 85 costume changes, 56 earrings, 45 pairs of shoes and 39 hats.
Her daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, with fitness trainer Carlos Leon, was born later the same year on
October 14.
1998
THE 1998 album Ray
Of Light won four Grammy Awards and the track Frozen became her first number one UK single.
She also met her future husband British film director Guy Ritchie and gave birth to their son Rocco John Ritchie on August 11, 2000.
He was christened at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland on December 20 and Madonna and Guy married the next day at nearby Skibo Castle.
Her then-friend Gwyneth Paltrow was her maid of honour and her wedding dress was designed by Stella McCartney. Madonna recorded the James Bond theme song Die Another Day in 2002 and also appeared in the movie as a fencing instructor.
Madonna caused a stir the next year when she kissed both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera during her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. She also brought out the first of her children’s books, The English Roses, in 2003.
2008
HER formal adoption of David Banda from Malawi was finalised in 2008 and her Hard Candy album track 4 Minutes with Justin Timberlake became a chart success.
Her marriage to Guy Ritchie ended and she adopted daughter Mercy from Malawi in 2009. She and her daughter Lourdes also launched fashion line Material Girl in 2010.
Madonna put on her director’s hat for feature film W.E. about King Edward and American divorcee Wallis Simpson and she adopted four-year-old twin girls Esther and Stella from Malawi in 2017. She once said: “Children always understand. They have open minds. They have built-in sh*t detectors.”
2018
MADONNA holds the Guinness World Record for the best-selling female recording artist and has sold more than 300 million records worldwide during her career. Her famous concert tours over the years have also made more than $1.4 billion. Never one to shy away from controversy, Madonna once said: “I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.”