MEMORABLE MONDAYS: Remembering Madonna

 What if I told you Madonna was not on the trajectory to be a singer at all? That she was the background of someone else's careers? Here is where we will begin with the acclaimed, famed great known as Madonna. She was born into a very Catholic family. Her confirmation name is actually Veronica. Her mother died when she was around 5 years old, and her father later remarried. This led to a strained relationship between them, and also to some song inspiration.

In school, this rebel was known for having a high GPA but unconventional behavior. She did promiscious and attention seeking actions in her Catholic schooling, which she herself suggests had more to do with her being lonely and seeking something. She wanted to be somebody. 

Madonna's father put her into classical piano lessons, but this did not last long as she convinced him to allow her to do ballet. With the encouragement of her instructor, she decided to pursue a career in dance. She was a straight A student and a cheerleader during her time in high school, and received a scholarship to the university of Michigan.

She eventually dropped out of college and relocated to New York, where she got a small apartment while working in small dance troupes and Dunkin Donuts. She began working as a backup dancer for other established artists. During this time she sadly faced an incident of sexual assault as well, as she was held at knifepoint after a rehearsal by two men who forced her to perform sexual acts. 

Her real career beginnings for music begin in 1979, a now 21 year old Madonna began to be romantically involved with musician Dan Gilroy (lead singer for the Breakfast Club). She also successfully auditioned to be a backup dancer and backup singer to French-disco artist Patrick Hernandez. She became part of Dan Gilroy's group as a drummer, but it brought her into the music world more. She also got a role in a small indie film titled "A Certain Sacrifice". Madonna was now a triple threat.

Madonna later left the band and went on with her new boyfriend, creating "Emmy and the Emmys". A 4 seong demo tape was recorded in 1980, but she chose to leave this behind and promote herself as a solo act instead.

In 1981, Gotham Records approached Madonna and worked as her management until 1982. Madonna was known at this time for frequenting clubs and attempting to get discjockeys to play her songs. This led to Sire records approaching her, and offering her a small deal. It offered 3 songs with the potential of an album release.

"Everybody" was Madonna's debut single, released in late 1982. The second single was a double of "Burnin Up" and "'Physical Attraction", released early 1983. The songs performed very well, which led to Sire getting her a producer for a full album. She did not like the producer and enlisted help of John "Jellybean" Benitez, which created yet another romance for her. In this time, she was also enlisted to play a singer in the movie "Vision Quest". Madonna's self titled debut released in 1983, and peaked at number 8 on the billboard 200 chart.

Madonna had gained further popularity by performing on "American Bandstand" and "Top of the Pops". Her fashion became a staple of 1980s female fashin trends, including layers and crucifixes. In 1984, Like a Virgin was released to major acclaim. It became her first number one album, and also was the first female album to sell over 5 million copies in the US. It has since sold 21 million copies worldwide and is certified diamond.

"Like a Virgin" the song and video attracted controversy for "promoting premaritial sex and undermining family values". During this saga of her life, she began dating Sean Penn, who she married in 1985. She played the title role in "Desperately Seeking Susan". She embarked on her first tour, with the Beastie Boys as her opening act. Around this time, Playboy and Penthouse magazines obtained some nude photos of Madonna from around 1978, where she moonlighted as an art model for money. She did not let this stop her. 

Madonna's release of "True Blue" in 1986 was dedicated to her then husband Sean Penn, and reached the top charts in 28 countries. It was unprecedented at the time and is still her highest selling album to date at 25 million copies. 

Madonna starred in the critically panned "Shanghai Surprise" which led to her first golden raspberry award for worst actress. She also made her way to the theatre stage with "Goose and Tom-Tom", which co-starred Sean Penn. She was then part of the movie "Who's That Girl" and did 4 songs for the soundtrack. This led to another tour, which broke many attendance records at the time. 

A difficult time hits when Madonna files for divorce from Sean Penn after two years of marriage, before withdrawing the petition a few weeks later in 1987. Another incident came in 1989 when she filed an assault report, then filed for divorce again and asked no charges come of the assault report. These allegations would follow them both for years to come. 

For her fourth studio album, she signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi, which she utilized to debut the lead single "Like a Prayer". The video was met with controversy from religious groups and caused Pepsi to cancel her endorsement deal with her. Despite this, the song topped the charts in multiple countries. Her next album included help from Patrick Leonard, Stephen Bray, and Prince. It was critically acclaimed for being as close to art as pop could be, and solidified her status as an artist even moreso than a performer. She was named the artist of the decade by MTV, Billboard, and Musician magazine for the 1980s. 

The music video for Justify My Love created more controversy and began building a bridge to the next era of Madonna. MTV had to ban the music video from the network due to being too explicit, as it included scenes of same-sex kissing, bondage, and even brief nudity. In 1991, she released her first documentary film, In Bed with Madonna, documenting her Blond Ambition tour.

in 1992, Madonna starred in acclaimed film "A League of Their Own". In this time she also founded her own entertainment company, Maverick. It was a joint deal with Time Warner which led to the most successful artist run label, bringing in acts later such as Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch. 

This led to the release of her next album, Erotica, along with the very explicit coffee table book "Sex". The backlash from the book caused Erotica to be Madonna's most underperforming album to date. Madonna also went on to star in two other movies at this time. Madonna went on to cause even more controversy with her TV antics, and many began labelling her as a sexual renegade. She briefly dated Tupac and Dennis Rodman during this time.

The controversy led to Madonna's team pushing her to tone down her image in the next era, which led to "Bedtime Stories" in 1994. It did help her public image although the album did not reach the number one spot. She also went on to star in "Evita", one of her most beloved roles. Her musical renditions were released as a double album. In 1996, she gave birth to her child, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, child with Carlos Leon. Their romance ended in 1997.

After Lourdes birth, Madonna grew an interest in eastern mysticism, which led to musical inspiration in her next album. "Ray of Light" reflected a change in her sense of image and perception of herself. She desired to still be within the trends of the time, but in a more singer-songwriter soft type of light. It was met with critical acclaim, and inspired the name of her foundation promoting women's empowerment and global humanitarianism. 

In 2000, Madonna released her album "Music" to more critical acclaim, keeping up with the pack of new popstars taking the scene and expanding her electronica influences from Ray of Light. Another Madonna music video was banned from MTV for depicting vandalism. Her son, Rocco John Ritchie, was born in 2000 as well. They suffered from complications due to placenta praevia. She married Guy Ritchie the day after Rocco's christening. 

Madonna's next album would cause her career to take a bit of a low dive again with "American Life". Inpsired by negative feelings related to the political climate and 9/11, the album received mixed feedback and sold very poorly. It led to Madonna censoring herself to protect her children as she received backlash for anti-war messaging. She also faced controversy for the kissing of singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera during a "Hollywood" performance. Madonna also ended up suing Time Warner for mismanagement of resources. They countersued stating Maverick lost tens of thousands of dollars on its own. This was resolved by her and Dashev bought the other shares, making them the sole owners. Madonna would release another documentary titled "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret" after embarking on her Re-Invention World Tour. 

She would regain the critic graces with her next release in 2005, "Confessions on a Dancefloor", meant to be an album that played like a long DJ mix. She embarked on a tour for this album in 2006, seen as a return to form for her as an artist. During this time she also adopted a boy named David Banda. She started an organization caused "Raising Malawi" which partly funded an orphanage. This also led to her documentary "I Am Because We Are", which she produced to show the problems Malawi people face. 

Madonna following trends once more would release Hard Candy in 2008, which leaned on more urban and R&B influences for the music. The album received decent acclaim, but was viewed as lacking the innovation they were used to from the pop songstress. She had never been a follower.

During this time, Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone wrote a biography without talking to her about it, which caused a rift between the two. She filed for divorce from husband Ritchie. She had to settle in court her adoption of Chifundo "Mercy" James from Malawi. This woman truly seems to represent never taking a break. 

Madonna's catalog remains expanisve even to this day. MDNA gave her the 38th top ten single of her career in 2012, a recording breaking stat. She was enlisted to perform in the Superbowl this same year, and she enlisted help from Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., showing she retains respect even from the next generation of stars. Her Raising Malawi at this time managed to build 10 schools and raise even more funds. Her album "Rebel Heart" in 2015 received critical acclaim and was considered her best output in a decade. 

In 2016, Madonna was named as Billboard's "Woman of the Year". Next year she would go on to adopt twins Estere and Stella from Malawi. Her charity opened a pediatric hospital in Malawi. She moved to Lisbon, Portugal. The relationships in the new country inspired her most recent release, Madame X. She is currently embarked on her "Celebration tour", celebrating her long legacy in the music business and her image as an "artist here to disturb the peace."

If you have never tried her expansive catalog, I highly recommend it. Madonna is not just a dumb blonde - she is intelligent, provocative, and has shown great integrity over her whole career. She is one of the few left who seems to be unafraid what the internet - or anyone for that matter - says about her.