Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. In 1977 Madonna dropped out of college to move to New York to study with Alvin Ailey for a career as a dancer.

Sire Records signed Madonna in late 1982. Her first dance single "Everybody" hit #3 on the dance chart. After two more dance hits, her third single, "Holiday” became a pop as well as dance hit.

The years 1985 and 1986 were years of phenomenal success for Madonna on a number of fronts. Her album Like a Virgin, released at the end of 1984, included the title single, one of the biggest hits of 1985. During 1985 she appeared in her first movie Desperately Seeking Susan, embarked on her first concert tour in support of the Beastie Boys, appeared in the Live Aid concerts to raise money to relieve famine in Africa.

Madonna's next album True Blue continued the string of major pop hits including "Open Your Heart," "Live To Tell," and "La Isla Bonita."

In March, 1989 Madonna released Like a Prayer, one of the most artistically accomplished albums of her career: the album topped the charts and included "Like a Prayer," and "Express Yourself," two of the biggest hits of Madonna's career.

The new decade became one of ongoing controversy sparked by Madonna's sense of artistic independence. From her book Sex to

notorious tv appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman, Madonna rocked traditional notions of appropriate behavior for a pop star. Among major successes through the period were the songs "Justify My Love" and "Take a Bow," as well as her film role in Evita.

In 1998 Madonna released the album Ray Of Light which received the best critical reviews since Like a Prayer. The album embraced the sound of techno in dance music and spawned massive pop hits such as the title track and "Frozen." Madonna won 3 Grammy Awards for this album.

Madonna entered the new millennium with Music, another successful album featuring collaborations with French dance music producer Mirwais, followed by 2003's American Music, not as successful as the previous.

With the resilience that has become a trademark of her career, Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention tour in 2004 and had the highest grossing concert tour of the year. She remained in the spotlight with her devotion to Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism, and success as an author of children's books. While working on a new album, Confessions On a Dancefloor, for late 2005, Madonna appeared at the Live 8 concerts to help end poverty, and her performances were cited as highlights of the massive worldwide event.

Madonna's latest album Hard Candy was kicked off with the single "4 Minutes", a collaboration with Justin Timberlake and debuted directly at #1 in 37 different countries, followed by a two disc greatest hits collection Celebration released in fall 2009.

n 2008, Billboard magazine ranked Madonna at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists", making her the most successful solo artist in the history of the chart. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year. Considered to be one of the most influential women in contemporary music, Madonna has been known for continually reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry. She is recognized as an influence among numerous music artists.