Oh gosh, it’s Madonna!

Born Madonna Louise Ciccone in the year 1958, she was the eldest daughter of her engineer father and housewife mother’s eight children. Precociously, she displayed a flair for showbiz at a young age by signing up for the cheerleading squad, piano lessons, and ballet classes. In 1978, two years into her college studies, the songstress dropped out of university, and moved to New York with only $35 and abundant ambition to her name. A series of menial jobs, including one, where she served doughnuts behind the counter at the Times Square followed, before Madonna landed some short-lived gigs with the acclaimed dance troupes of Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham.

Always craving for fame and celebrityhood, she was soon destined to rise above the nameless, obscure faces that pranced among the sea of dancers. In 1982, star-DJ Mark Kamins helped with her big break. He created a club-scene hit from one of her demo singles, Everybody, and introduced the budding performer to Warner Bros executives, and promptly signed her to a recording contract.

Madonna’s debut album was released with almost no hype in 1983. And despite the absence of media and publicity, her record was widely played at Manhattan discotheque’s. The album’s first single, Holiday, made lots of noise among music circles enough for RJs to play her song on radio stations and to warrant a place on America’s Top 20 charts. Next, as expected, the the other two singles, Lucky Star and Borderline too met the same fate. Assisted by savvy visuals and slick music videos, the world swooned at the numbers, not to mention the Madonna look simply sexy.

While her fans were still humming those ear-catching tunes, her then music company, Warner Bros released another album titled Like A Virgin the following year. Its title track became the singer’s first No 1 single, which only helped the album top the charts. The following year, Madonna sold more singles and albums than any other artist.

The year 1985 was a pivotal one for Madonna. She starred in two films, Vision Quest and Desperately Seeking Susan, and also made her theatrical debut in a David Rabe’s Goose and Tom-Tom production. And although it was a performance that she might want to easily forget, it went on to play a significant role in her real life. For there, she met co-star Sean Penn, from where, one of the most talked-about courtships ensued. One that soon resulted in a wedding which took place on her birthday in the posh lacale of Malibu, California. Of course, the relationship was doomed, and after four bitter years of matrimony, the couple decided to divorce.

Controversy is another word that has become synonymous with the material girl. If it wasn’t for the title track to her 1989 album Like A Prayer, which obtained lots of publicity due to its controversial music video which resulted in Pepsi pulling out of its tour, then it was for her raunchy book Sex, which featured the lovely lady in various stages of undress.

For a while, Madonna lay low, away from all the glare and the media attention. But, then again, how long could she last without causing a ruffle? Only to surface again a few years later in true-blue Madonna fashion, this time with then-boyfriend Carlos Leon and daughter Lourdes. If that wasn’t enough, the once failed actress, who starred opposite ex-husband Penn in Shanghai Noon, re-appeared as Eva Peron, opposite Antonio Banderas in Evita, an Alan Parker film, which got her rave-reviews among snooty cinema-goers, as well as a Golden Globe. Sadly, despite all the hype and praise, it failed to get her a coveted Academy Award nomination, something which took most people by surprise.

What however, didn’t catch them off-guard, was the performance of her latest album titled Music. The title track also called Music, the first from the record, has a new sound to it a melange of rock, hip-hop, techno and pop, just to name a few. Things are also looking brighter on the relationship scene. Especially since she seems to have finally settled down with what her close friends call “the love of her lifeâ€. Now, after giving birth to a healthy baby boy, a marriage does seem inevitable for the 42 year old actress and her boyfriend Ritchie. Perhaps, there is “A Ray of Light.†But then again, it’s Madonna!

Aditya Mehta