1986-1988 : Who's that Girl ? .....................................................................................................................................

Madonna began collaborating with Patrick Leonard at the beginning of 1986; Leonard would co-write most of her biggest hits in the '80s, including "Live to Tell," which hit number one in June of 1986. A more ambitious and accomplished record than her two previous albums, True Blue was released the following month, to both massive commercial success (it was a number one in both the U.S. and the U.K., selling over five million copies in America alone) and critical acclaim.
"Papa Don't Preach" became her fourth number one hit in the U.S. To date, this multiplatinum album, which was expressively dedicated to Sean, sold more than 19 million copies worldwide -- her highest so far -- with seven million sold in the US alone. While her musical career was thriving, her film career took a savage hit with the November release of Shanghai Surprise. Starring Madonna and Sean Penn, the comedy received terrible reviews, which translated into disastrous box office returns.

At the beginning of 1987, she had her fifth number one single with "Open Your Heart," the third number one from True Blue alone. "La Isla Bonita" was another Top Five hit. 1988 was a relatively quiet year for Madonna, as she spent the first half of the year acting in David Mamet's Speed the Plow on Broadway. In the meantime, she released the remix album You Can Dance.

 1989-1991: Immaculate Madonna ........................................................................................................................

After withdrawing the divorce papers she filed at the beginning of 1988, she divorced Penn at the beginning of 1989. Madonna’s marriage to Sean Penn officially ended on January 10,1989 when Madonna - for the second time - filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. She has not been married since.
Like a Prayer, released in Released in March 1989, was her most ambitious and far-reaching album, incorporating elements of pop, rock and dance. It was another number one hit and launched the number one title track and "Express Yourself," "Cherish," and "Keep It Together," three more Top Ten hits. Like A Prayer, Madonna's sixth and most far-reaching album to date, provided a conduit for the singer to express the pain and heartaches that had afflicted her since childhood. This album, which combined elements of pop, rock, dance and classical balladry, was once again co-produced and co-written by Ms. Ciccone, with ace collaborators like Patrick Leonard, Steven Bray and Prince By 1989, Madonna had released over 20 Top 40 singles and her fame was even greater than Tina Turner's or Whitney Houston's. She was by far the most famous female singer in the world. She had released five albums, and had seven #1 hits on the charts.

In April 1990, she began her massive Blonde Ambition tour. A true hybrid of theatrical, rock-'n'-roll and Broadway synergy, the new show boasted four great themes: love, religion, Dick Tracy and dance. The tour ran throughout the entire year. "Vogue" became a number one hit in May, setting the stage for her co-starring role in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy; it was her most successful film appearance since Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna released a greatest hit album, The Immaculate Collection, at the end of the year. It featured two new songs, including the number one single "Justify My Love," which sparked another controversy with its sexy video; the second new song, "Rescue Me," became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in U.S. chart history, entering the charts at number 15.

Truth or Dare, a documentary of the Blonde Ambition tour, was released to positive reviews and strong ticket sales at the end of 1991.

 1992-1993: Girlie Madonna ..................................................................................................................................

Madonna returned to the charts in the summer of 1992 with the number one "This Used to Be My Playground," a single featured in the film A League of Their Own, which featured the singer in a small part.

In 1992, Madonna cemented her superstardom with a seven-year, $60 million deal with Time Warner. Under the pact, she became head of her own label, Maverick, which she formed with longtime manager Freddy DeMann. Initially dismissed as a vanity studio, Maverick has succeeded beyond even the Material Girl's most ambitious dreams, thanks largely to best-selling artists Alanis Morissette and the English techno band Prodigy.

Later that year, Madonna released Sex, an expensive, steel-bound soft-core pornographic book that featured hundreds of erotic photographs of herself, several models, and other celebrities -- including Isabella Rossellini, Big Daddy Kane, Naomi Campbell, and Vanilla Ice -- as well as selected prose. Sex received scathing reviews and enormous negative publicity, yet that didn't stop the accompanying album, Erotica, from selling over two million copies.

In fall 1993, Madonna started another world tour, The Girlie Show. Her dancing crew was composed by androgen dancers. This remarkable show mixes several themes from the circus to the S&M and cabaret atmosphere to the homage to Marlene Dietrich. The Girlie Show is rich in emotions, it is pure enjoyment. Madonna proved one more time that she is a master in the show business industry. The Blonde Ambition Show and the Girlie Show influenced the world of concerts, settling the concepts of Show, costume changes, choreography, mise en scene.

 1994-1995 : I have No Regrets .............................................................................................................................

Bedtime Stories, released two years later, was a more subdued affair than Erotica. Initially, it didn't chart as impressively, prompting some critics to label her a has-been, yet the album spawned her biggest hit, "Take a Bow," which spent seven weeks at number one. It also featured the Bjork-penned "Bedtime Stories," which became her first single not to make the Top 40; its follow-up, "Human Nature," also failed to crack the Top 40. Nevertheless, Bedtime Stories marked her seventh album to go multi-platinum.

After the uproar surrounding Sex subsided, Madonna, realizing she was seriously overexposed, slipped out of the limelight and into a handful of low-key film roles in such indie fare as Blue in the Face and Four Rooms (both 1995). When she reemerged, she embodied two new personae: mother-to-be and serious actress

 1995-1997: Eva Madonna ......................................................................................................................................

Beginning in 1995, Madonna began one of her most subtle image makeovers as she lobbied for the title role in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita. Backing away from the overt sexuality of Erotica and Bedtime Stories, Madonna recast herself as an upscale sophisticate, and the compilation Something to Remember fit into the plan nicely. Released in the fall of 1995, around the same time she won the coveted role of Evita Peron, the album was comprised entirely of ballads, designed to appeal to the mature audience that would also be the target of Evita. As the filming completed, Madonna announced she was pregnant and her daughter, Lourdes, was born late in October 14^th 1996, just as Evita was scheduled for release. The movie was greeted with generally positive reviews and Madonna began a campaign for an Oscar nomination that resulted in her winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy), but not the coveted Academy Award nomination. The soundtrack for Evita, however, was a modest hit, with a dance remix of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and the newly-written "You Must Love Me" both becoming hits.

She waited a full year after winning the Golden Globe for her Evita turn before signing to head the indie family drama The Red Door, the story of two estranged siblings shattered by their abusive upbringing who rebuild their relationship after the brother contracts AIDS

1997-1999: A Ray Of Light ......................................................................................................................................

During 1997, she worked with producer William Orbit on her first album of new material since 1992's Erotica. The resulting record, Ray of Light, was heavily influenced by electronica, techno, trip-hop and drum-n-bass, thereby updating her classic dance-pop sound for the late '90s. Ray of Light received uniformly excellent reviews upon its March 1998 release and debuted at number two on the charts. Within a month, the record was shaping up to be her biggest album since Like a Prayer.

At the time Madonna is living in Miami, Coconut Groove, but she has houses in New York and in Hollywood too. (She’s also house hunting in London). On the October 14th, 1996 Madonna’s and Carlos Leon’s child was born. In Good Samaritian Hospital in L.A. at 16.01 p.m. Madonna named little girl: Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon.

Soon after Lourdes' birth, the world saw a more spiritual Madonna. A Madonna that we have never seen before. She is now a single mom trying to raise her child away from the cameras and managing her record company.

1999 is the year of recognition. Madonna won all kinds of awards during year 1998, from Best Female to Most Fashionable Artist. But the most rewarding for her are her 5 Grammy Awards. And a World Tour starting on September 1999 has been confirmed by the Lady herself. SHOW US WHAT YOU'VE GOT !

1999-2000 : MAMA Madonna .................................................................................................................................

La Madone returns with the MUSIC album and single. A hit single once again with a Mirwais collaboration.
Madonne gave birth to Rocco John Ritchie on 11th August 2000, 3 weeks prematurely. And said yes to Guy on 9th October 200. What a program !

2001-2004: Music and books .....................................................................................................................................

With Ritchie as director and Madonna as star, the pair released a remake of the film Swept Away in 2002. It tanked at the box office, failing to crack seven digits, making it one of the least profitable films of the year.

Her sober 2003 album, American Life, fared a little better but was hardly a huge success. That same year, on September, she released a successful children's book, The English Roses, which was followed by four more over the coming years.
Motherhood has inspired her to write a number of critically-acclaimed children's books: "The Adventures of Abdi", "The English Roses", "Lotsa de Casha", "Mr. Peabody's Apples" and "Yakov and the Seven Thieves". All have become international best-sellers and earned her praise for the morals woven into the stories.

Re-Invention Tour was the #1 world tour of 2004 grossing over $125 million. 55 of 56 shows were sold-out. (Billboard Boxscore)

2005-2006: Flirting with success again ......................................................................................................................

Madonna was briefly hospitalized on her 47th birthday (16 August 2005) after breaking her hand and collar bone, and cracking three ribs after falling off a horse on her country estate.

The album Confessions on a Dance Floor from 2005 was her return to music and to the dance-oriented material that had made her a star.
"Hung Up" jumped seven places to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December 2005. Consequently the pop icon matches Elvis Presley's tally for top 10 hits - 36, the most for any artist in the rock era.

No time for a rest, Madonna is already for her Confessions tour. Tickets for the tour sold out within minutes of going on sale at many venues in North America and Europe, and new dates were immediately announced - included five new dates at Wembley Arena and new dates in New York, Paris and Los Angeles.
The tour, which is expected to gross $200 million, may become the biggest ever tour in history by a female artist according to Billboard magazine.


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