Madonna Essay Research Paper One of the

Madonna Essay, Research Paper

One of the most famous controversial women in the world is Madonna Louise Ciccone. She is one of the biggest female popstars of the twentieth century. Madonna is an artist that knows how to take everything she does to an extreme.

Madonna was born on the 16th of August 1958, in Rochester, Michigan. She was the first girl born to the Ciccone family, which already consisted of five boys. She grew up in a very strict environment. When Madonna reached the age of six, her mother grew ill from cancer and died. From that point on Madonna struggled along with her family, through difficult emotions. Madonna and her sisters were sent to live with relatives, until her father married two years later. He unfortunately married the straitlaced housekeeper. All of these tragedies in her life forced her to grow up a lot faster than most children. Her family began to demand more responsibilities from her. Madonna was left to take care of the children all day.

At the age of twelve she was sent to the local catholic high school. There she proved herself to be bright, quick, and intensive. Madonna states, .I was really competitive in school with my grades and stuff, because my father used to give us rewards if we got A.s on our report cards.(Norman 20). Along with being ambitious she was also growing up sexually. She began to chase boys around with her shirt off. She started to wear make up, shorten her skirt, and go out on dates. .I wanted to do every thing everybody told me I could not do. I couldn.t wear makeup. I couldn.t wear nylons. I couldn.t even go to the movies with my friends.(Norman 20), Madonna stated. As she set out to find her identity she began to rebel against everything.

At first Madonna worked towards becoming a writer. But she discovered cinema and fell in love with Marilyn Monroe, Judy Holiday, and Carole Lombard. This geared her intuition towards singing and dancing. It was only high school but already she was the star! She was given the lead role in many of her schools productions. When Madonna moved in with her grandmother she was introduced to ballet. Madonna began classes and met a guy named Christopher Flynt. She grew really close to him. She recalls .I really loved him. He was my mentor, my father, my imaginary lover, everything.(Bego 42). Madonna was only seventeen and a high school graduate in 1976. Her ambition to be noticed brought her to NYC.

Madonna tried out for a scholarship and won at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. She spent the next two years of her life working hard to get noticed. She Worked in the day and danced at clubs in the night. At one club the Blue Froggie, she met Steve Bray. He was a talented musician but their relationship was more on the physical plane. A while later she met Dan Gilroy and moved in with him. With the help of Dan she discovered music and began to sing. Madonna auditioned for theater and musical parts for a play called Patrick Hernendes. They offered her a lot of pay and a recording contract. She agreed and became their lead singer. The producers found her to be very talented but they did not do anything to help her career out. When she realized this she tried to go back to NY. Every thing became even more complicated, when she came down with pneumonia and was sent to the hospital. After six months she was better and she went to NY. Once home she moved back in with Dan Gilroy.

Dan needed a drummer for a band, so Madonna took over. Soon she realized that she was going nowhere, so she went off to form her own band. In 1980, she left the band and formed .Emmy. with her ex-boy friend Steve Bray.

Soon Bray and Madonna began working on some dance/disco oriented tracks. Camille Barbone discovered Madonna sleeping in a rehearsal studio. Camille was in a rock management company that they called Gotham Productions. Madonna begged her to listen to her tapes and watch her perform. Camille was impressed and agreed to manage her. Camille got her an apartment, clothed her, fed her, and even got her musicians. After Madonna.s music was introduced to Mark Kamins, a N.Y. based DJ/producer. He introduced her music to Sire Records. The young upstart fled Camille’s nest and signed a management deal with Sire Records in 1982. This created another problem, when she signed the paper with Sire Records she had also signed an agreement that Mark Kamins would produce her first record. That meant Steve bray, her long time associate was out in the cold. It was unfair that he would not produce her first single, despite the fact that he had produced the tape that got her the deal in the first place.

Kamins produced her first single .Everybody.. When it was first played on the radio and in clubs, many fans mistook Madonna for an Afro-American disco diva. .Everybody. sold over 250 000 copies and went to No.3 in the dance charts. John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez found Madonna the song .Holiday. which was an instant hit and hey presto – She was a star! Madonna first hit the top ten with “Borderline”. It’s rumored her vocals were mechanically altered to make her sound more girlie. Her first album ‘Madonna’, released in 1983 won her wide acclaim and millions of fans plus invitations to move into films. Madonna has done it! Not only was Madonna setting the tone music wise, she was also creating a whole new fashion. In “Lucky Star” music video, she showcased her Boy Toy image. Madonna’s st