By far, the most talked about, most influential, most successful female solo-artist of all-time, Madonna Louise Ciccone is the absolute definition of a Music Icon.

 

After 40 years, the Queen of Pop is still challenging the system, pushing back boundaries, standing up for women’s, children’s & LGBTQI+ rights, fighting misogyny and highlighting the hypocrisy of ageism against women in the music industry…whilst preparing for her 83-date, first-ever greatest hits world tour, The Celebration Tour, to commemorate over four decades in music which kicks of in Canada in July and ends in Mexico City in January 2024!

 

Madonna, not just a singer but a dancer, an actress, a performer, a producer, an author, a charity fund raiser (including the Ray of Light Foundation & Raising Malawi) and…the biggest selling female artist of all-time with record-breaking sales in excess of 300 million units, and such massive global hits as “Holiday”, “Like A Virgin”, “Into The Groove”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, “La Isla Bonita”, "Like A Prayer”, “Vogue”, “Frozen”, “Ray Of Light”, “Music”, “Hung Up”, “4 Minutes”…the list goes on and on; one of the most extensive back catalogues of any artist ever!

 

Originally from Bay City, Michigan, USA, Madonna moved to New York City in 1979 with a reported $35.00 in her pocket to pursue a career in modern dance after quitting a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan. Madonna did study dance in New York, taking dance classes and eventually performing with the famous Pearl Lang Dance Theatre, amongst others, before dropping out, going on a European Tour with French one-hit wonder, disco star Patrick Hernandez (“Born To Be Alive”) as his backing dancer in Paris for three months, before dropping out again, going to Tunisia and then heading back to New York!

 

Back in NYC, she formed numerous bands including The Breakfast Club, which she left in 1980 with boyfriend Stephen Bray to form Emmy and the Emmys. It was then that Madonna and Bray started writing music together which resulted in a 4-track demo tape being recorded towards the end of 1980.

 

However, Madonna decided to promote herself as a solo artist and, in the spring of 1981, after frequenting nightclubs in New York City to get her demos played, Danceteria DJ Mark Kamins liked what he heard and arranged for Madonna to meet with (the recently deceased) Stephen Seymour, President of Sire Records which was a subsidiary of Warner Bros Records. As Seymour himself said on many occasions, he saw something in Madonna, and so she was signed initially for three singles with the option of an album! Well, as we all know now, it didn’t stop there and the rest, as they say, is history, or should that be HERstory!

 

Madonna’s story, her achievements, her contribution to the worlds of music, fashion, video and performance far exceed the space we have here so let’s just list a few of those musical successes from the The Queen of Pop and leave it at that shall we? There simply isn’t enough time however, there is definitely time to express our gratitude to Madonna and say a MASSIVE thank you for all the amazing music she has given us! In the UK alone, Madonna has enjoyed 63, yes, 63 Top Ten singles, she is the female artist with the most No.1 singles (13) and she is also the artist with the most No. 2 singles (12)! All Hail The Queen Of Pop!

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DISCOGRAPHY

 

SINGLES: UK No.1s

 

“Into The Groove”

“Papa Don't Preach”

“True Blue”

“La Isla Bonita”

“Who’s That Girl”

“Like A Prayer”

“Vogue”

“Frozen”

“American Pie”

“Music”

“Hung Up”

“Sorry”

“4 Minutes” (ft. Justin Timberlake)

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SINGLES: UK No.2s

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“Crazy For You”

“Holiday ’85”

“Borderline ’86”

“Live To Tell”

“Hanky Panky”

“Justify My Love”

“Crazy For You ’91”

“Ray Of Light”

“Beautiful Stranger”

“American Life”

“Hollywood”

“Me Against The Music” (with Britney Spears)

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ALBUMS: UK Top Ten

 

Madonna No.6

Like A Virgin No.1

True Blue No.1

You Can Dance No.5

Like A Prayer No.1

I’m Breathless No.2

The Immaculate Collection No.1

Erotica No.2

Bedtime Stories No.2

Something To Remember No.3

Evita OST No.1

Ray Of Light No.1

Music No.1

GHV2 No.2

American Life No.1

Confessions On A Dance Floor No.1

The Confessions Tour No.7

Hard Candy No.1

Celebration No.1

MDNA No.1

Rebel Heart No.2

Madame X No.2

Finally Enough Love No.3

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*UK Chart Position (OCC Official Chart Company)