Madonna | Marden's Keys To Success

Madonna (1958-present)

Madonna's life shows the drive and ambition that have made her one of the most talked about -- and wealthiest -- entertainers in the world.

Madonna was born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in Bay City, Michigan, on August 16, 1958, to parents Silvio "Tony" Ciccone and Madonna Fortin.

Her father was the son of Italian immigrants, and the first of his family to go to college, where he earned a degree in engineering. Madonna's mother, was an x-ray technician and former dancer, and of French Canadian descent.

Her parents' strict observation of the Catholic faith played a large part in Madonna's childhood. "My mother was a religious zealot," Madonna explains. "There were always priests and nuns in my house growing up."

An influence on Madonna's early life was the death of her mother. Madonna was only five years old at the time. But her mother's death had a profound effect.

Haunted by the memories of her mother's frailty during her final days, Madonna was determined to make her own voice heard. "I think the biggest reason I was able to express myself and not be intimidated was by not having a mother," she says. "For example, mothers teach you manners. And I absolutely did not learn any of those rules and regulations."

She hated the rules imposed by her stepmother, Joan Gustafson, who often made her take care of the younger children in the household, a task she did not like. "I really saw myself as the quintessential Cinderella," Madonna later said. "I think that's when I really thought about how I wanted to do something else and get away from all that."

She rebelled against her traditional upbringing by turning her conservative clothing into revealing outfits, frequenting underground gay nightclubs, and rejecting her religious background.

But Madonna counteracted this side of her personality with a drive for perfectionism and high-achievement. She was a straight-A student and disciplined dancer who graduated from high school a semester earlier than her peers. In 1976, her hard work earned her the attentions of the University of Michigan, which offered her a full scholarship to their dance program.

In 1977, during her undergraduate studies at Michigan, Madonna was awarded a six-week scholarship to study with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City, followed by a rare opportunity to perform with choreographer Pearl Lang in 1978.

Then, due to the insistence of her dance instructor, the budding star dropped out of college after only two years of study in order to move to New York and further her dance career.

Once in New York, Madonna survived by nude art modeling, serving at the Russian Tea Room, and performing for the American Dance Center.

In 1979, Madonna began dating Dan Gilroy, a singer with a pop-punk band. Gilroy introduced Madonna to the head of a vaudeville review in Paris, and she spent some time in France working as a showgirl. During this trip she discovered her love of singing and performing. When she returned to the States in 1980, she joined Gilroy's band as its drummer and later became its lead singer.

Madonna later formed several different bands of her own over the next few years, including Madonna & The Sky, The Millionaires and Emmy.

In 1981, Madonna decided to go solo. Madonna used her brash business style to get a record deal with Sire Records. "Everybody" hit number one on the dance charts in 1982.

Using the success of the song as leverage, Madonna convinced Sire to produce the full-length album, Madonna, in 1983. The album was a slow but steady success, and included the hit singles "Borderline", "Lucky Star", and "Holiday."

Soon, girls all over the country were imitating Madonna's distinct sense of fashion, which included fishnet stockings, lace lingerie, fingerless gloves and large crucifix necklaces. The song "Holiday" also earned the singer an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1984. During that interview on the show, she told Clark that her main ambition was "to rule the world."

This intensity and determination was apparent in her 1985 follow-up album, Like a Virgin, which hit number one and went platinum within a month. She also starred in her first mainstream feature film, Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), and performed its title track, "Crazy for You", which became an instant number-one hit.

She then started her first music tour, The Virgin Tour and watched 17 consecutive songs climb into the Top Ten on the Billboard Chart.

In the next five years, Madonna's life was a whirlwind of activity. On August 16, 1985, she married actor Sean Penn and co-starred with him in the film Shanghai Surprise (1986). She then went on to star in three more movies.

She always seemeed to mix her drive for success with her penchant for scandalous behavior. It started with her controversial 1985 performance of her hit single "Like a Virgin" on the MTV music awards, which involved writhing around suggestively on stage. Because of this, the Pope John Paul II urged fans not to attend her concerts in Italy and Pepsi pulled their endorsement of the star.

Despite all this, she became more popular than ever. By 1991, she had achieved 21 Top Ten hits in the United States and sold more than 70 million albums internationally, generating $1.2 billion in sales. Committed to controlling her career, Madonna helped found Maverick Records, a label under the Warner Music Group, in April of 1992.She continued to gain attention by pushing social boundaries.

By 1996, Madonna had proven her versatility as a star in both film and music. She starred in the critically acclaimed film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita (1996). She won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, and the song, "You Must Love Me," earned her an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. She also became a mother that same year, giving birth to Lourdes Maria (Lola) Ciccone Leon, whom she had with her lover and personal trainer, Carlos Leon.

She solidified her reinvention as the more mature, family-friendly Madonna when she married British director Guy Ritchie in 2000. She gave birth to their son, Rocco John Ritchie, the same year. She then made the move from the big screen to the London West End stage in the play Up for Grabs (2002), and wrote her first children's book, The English Roses, in 2003. Madonna was inducted into the inaugural UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. With the release of her 2005 album Confessions on a Dancefloor, Madonna became the artist with the most gold certified singles in the US, beating the Beatles' long-standing record.

Her professional life continues to boom: She was named the world's wealthiest female musician by Forbes magazine, with estimated earnings of more than $72 million in the last year alone.

Madonna earned much of this income from her H&M clothing line, a deal with NBC to air concert footage, and her Confessions tour-the highest-grossing tour for a female artist to date.

But it was her determination and ambition to be successful that got here where she is today.

Why not take a look at the other "Success Masters" on this site by checking out the links at the foot of the index page - Success Leaves Traces - and you may well find that spark of inspiration you need to take the next step to success in your own life.

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