Madonna Louise Ciccone, better known as simply Madonna, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer.

Born 16^th August 1958 in Bay City, Michigan but raised in Detroit, Madonna’s first career ambition was to be a dancer. After studying ballet and going to the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship, she moved to New York and worked as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez. However, she soon became involved with the musician Dan Gilroy and they formed the dance-pop group Breakfast Club (who later scored a hit with the single Right On Track). This brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, and he signed her as a solo artist in 1981.

The singer released her debut self-titled album in July 1983. It was an instant success, reaching the Top 10 in the US Billboard 200 chart and produced five hit singles, including the US Top 20s Holiday, Lucky Star and Borderline. This was followed by 1984’s Like a Virgin, which shot to number one on the Billboard 200 and spawned the number one single of the same name, the UK number one hit Into the Groove and the US Top 5 singles Material Girl, Angel and Dress You Up. It has sold over 21 million copies worldwide to date – making it one of the bestselling albums of all time.

Madonna released a further five albums during the late 1980s and 90s – True Blue, Like a Prayer, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Ray of Light – selling more than 68 million copies worldwide and producing nineteen US Top 5 hits including the number ones Live to Tell, Papa Don’t Preach, Open Your Heart, Who’s That Girl, Like a Prayer, Vogue, Justify My Love and Take a Bow.

Despite reaching her forties, the singer found a new generation of fans in the 2000s, releasing a further four US number one albums – Music, American Life, Confessions on a Dance Floor and Hard Candy – selling a further 35 million copies and spawning hits like American Pie, Music, Don’t Tell Me, Die Another Day, American Life, Hollywood, Hung Up, Sorry, 4 Minutes (ft. Justin Timberlake) and Give It 2 Me.

Madonna is currently working on material for her twelfth studio album.