Born: August 16, 1958, Bay City, Michigan, U.S.
Madonna is an American pop singer and actor, one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s. Born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in Bay City, Michigan, she started acting and dancing when she was a child. She won a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan but dropped out after two years to seek a music career in New York City. In New York Madonna formed a band and began to write songs. Her first album, Madonna (1983), generated three successful singles that reached the top of the pop music charts in 1984.
The showing of Madonna’s music videos on MTV, a cable television music channel, was a major factor in her tremendous success in the pop music scene over the next few years. Other successful albums include Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), Like a Prayer (1989), Bedtime Stories (1994), and Ray of Light (1998). Madonna has had several major concert tours, including the 1990 “Blonde Ambition” tour.
Madonna has taken an active business role in shaping her career, which has branched out beyond music. Her early motion-picture appearances included roles in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Who’s That Girl? (1987), and Dick Tracy (1990). The documentary Truth or Dare (1991) gave a behind-the-scenes look at the “Blonde Ambition” tour.
In 1992 Madonna signed a contract with Time Warner Inc. (now AOL Time Warner) to create her own record, publishing, and motion-picture company. That same year, her book Sex, containing controversial erotic photographs of herself, was published. Madonna later appeared in the films Shadows and Fog (1992), directed by American filmmaker Woody Allen; A League of Their Own (1992); Body of Evidence (1993); Evita (1996), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress in a musical or comedy film; and The Next Best Thing (2000).
