Madonna -- her life in pictures
Madonna,music,Film,celebrity love life,celebrity news
Madonna -- her life in pictures
by Natasha Aitken
It was 1982 and the world had become weary of Rubik\'s Cubes, leg warmers and rubbish disco. What it needed was a bad-attitude, gum-chewing wannabe star and someone, somewhere answered our prayers with the true innovator of girl power we came to know as simply ‘Madonna’. handbag.com takes a peek through its fingers at the Queen Of Pop’s rise to world domination.
Thanking her lucky stars
Madonna,careers,music
Early Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone, a dancer from Detroit, hit the big time when an early arm of Warner Bros Records signed her up and released her first single Everybody. A regular name on the ’80s New York party scene, before long she had homed in on Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jellybean Benitez, these men who could make a difference were just two of the hip-and-happening types who had a part in making Madonna’s lucky star – whether they knew it or not.
Borderline success
Madonna,celebrity style,music
Early Madonna
New York loved her, and before long the world loved her. Her first album Madonna featured the hits that would become anthems for a generation: Holiday, Borderline and Lucky Star. The hair got blonder and her look more defined. Lacy fingerless gloves, skirts over leggings and beauty spots were all adorning mini-Madonnas across the globe. Madonna\'s first UK TV appearance was a performance of Holiday for The Tube at Manchester\'s Hacienda club on 27 January 1984.
The very first time
Madonna,music
1984 Madonna
1984’s second album Like A Virgin, threw Madonna into the mega-sphere. Her blatant sexuality was of some concern for parents, as their teenage daughters were caught gyrating in front of bedroom mirrors wanting to be ‘touched for the very first time’. Self-love aside, the music hit the right notes and Madonna’s catchy pop-tunes were setting the score for a new generation.
Crazy for him
Madonna,weddings engagements,celebrity relationship
Madonna & Sean Penn
Event of 1985? The wedding of moody actor Sean Penn and Madonna. It was everything the media could have wanted and more. Helicopters filming the ‘secret’ cliff-top wedding, Penn beating up the paparazzi, domestic violence, court battles and then, unsurprisingly, divorce.
Bleach blonde
Madonna,celebrity style,music
Bleach blonde Madonna
In 1986 Madonna created a dramatic new look. She hit the bleach and went for the chop. It looked very, very cool and was the perfect promotion for her True Blue album, which proved a massive critical success for the singer.
Heaven help us
Madonna,music
Madonna Controversial
1989 and Madonna stops hitting the bleach and starts hitting the headlines. Her controversial Like A Prayer video somehow manages to squeeze in snogging a black ’Jesus’, bleeding palms and whirling like a banshee in a field of burning crucifixes. Her fans loved it – the media didn’t. Get used to it y’all – this was nothing…
The pointy bra
Madonna,celebrity style,music,Film,celebrity relationship
Madonna Pointy Bra
Always one to dip her toes into various pies, in 1990 Madonna became Breathless Mahoney in the film Dick Tracy. Her co-star Warren Beatty soon became her co-star in life, another relationship that ended up in the headlines rather than down the aisle. Her Blond Ambition tour saw the birth of the pointy bra and a bit of on-stage simulation of her ‘touching herself for the very first time’.
Evita in charge
Madonna,nudity,music,Film
Madonna Evita
The ’90s saw Madonna experiment with various outlets for her political, emotional and sexual beliefs. Her revealing ‘coffee table’ book Sex caused something of a stir among the tea cups and milk jugs. Yes, saucy, but a very beautiful collection that on reflection proves there’s a big difference between art and flashing your tuppence getting out of a car. Having got naked, Madonna got serious and took the lead role in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber\'s musical Evita, the story of the wife of Argentinian president Juan Peron - for once the critics loved it.
Losing her religion
Madonna,Film,celebrity news
Madonna Religion
Madonna becomes a fully-fledged member of Hollywood’s most fashionable religious circles and goes all Kabbalah on us. Well, it was either that or Scientology!
The immaculate connection
Madonna,pregnancy,music,celebrity relationship,celebrity baby
Madonna Ray Of Light
Like her namesake, the earthbound Madonna needed a controversial child and with the help fitness instructor Carlos Leon, the Material Girl gave birth to baby Lourdes in 1996. Motherhood and a bit of downtime clearly had a good effect on the singer and 1998’s Ray Of Light was a triumph. New age, new sound and new hair. This was a more grown-up and clearly more settled Queen Of Pop.
The people come together
Madonna,pregnancy,music,celebrity relationship,celebrity baby
Madonna & Guy Ritchie
The 2000 album
Music saw Madonna embrace the house style of the era and with a country look and twinkle in her eye, it was this year that she gave birth to her son Rocco. Proud father went on to be proud husband, as Madonna finally settled for English gent and film director
Guy Ritchie.
Bedtime Stories
Madonna,books,kids,celebrity
Madonna Childrens Books
Taking time out from the being the world’s most successful female singer, Madonna writes her first children’s book, The English Roses, and a new generation of fans are spawned.
Material Girl
Madonna,fashion advice,celebrity fashion,celebrity style
Madonna for H&M
Anyone who’s anyone in the mega-verse simply has to launch their own clothing range and Madonna with H&M is no exception - the
M by Madonna was launched in March 2006.
True Confessions
Madonna,celebrity style,music
Madonna Confessions On A Dance Floor
Her 2005 album, Confessions On A Dance Floor, saw Madonna throwing shapes in an über-skimpy purple leotard in the video for the first single Hung Up. Some say this was a step too far… we say, all hail Queen Madonna!
Beautiful Stranger
Madonna,kids,celebrity adoption
Madonna & David Banda
In the last few years Madonna has courted more controversy for her apparent acts of humanitarianism than for her stage acts. October 2006 saw the pop star
adopt a baby Malawian boy David Banda but her critics felt that she was succumbing to the Angelina Jolie buy-yourself-an-international-baby school of thought. Whatever the reasons, Madonna’s family swells to five.
We\'re hung up on her
Madonna,music,gigs,celebrity news
Madonna Live Earth
On 16 May 2007, Madonna blew the crowds away with an amazing performance for the Live Earth event. It’s hard to imagine any other star with such determination, energy and ability to keep their finger on the pulse of every new era. That’s why we love Madonna. She’s cool.
Immortality at last!
Madonna,celebrity style,celebrity,music awards,pop
Madonna and Justin Timberlake
Madonna was inducted into the
US Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in New York on 10 March 2008. The award was presented to her by Justin Timberlake who recently recorded a duet with her album, Hard Candy. In her acceptance speech Madonna said, "I have gone on to do so many things in my life, from writing children\'s books, to designing clothes, to directing a film. But for me it always does, and it always will, come back to the music, so thank you." She even thanked her early critics who said she was a one-hit wonder who couldn\'t sing!
