Madonna

Madonna: Super Bowl Medley

Madonna: Still the World's Greatest Performer

Music has always been a large part of society and so when influential and unique individuals emerge within the music industry they inevitably become exponentially popular. One of these individuals is Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone). Born on August 16th, 1958, Madonna was one of the most influential characters in the music industry throughout the 80's and early 90's. As an American songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur she has undoubtably made a strong name for herself throughout the world.

Madonna originally started her career by singing within music groups such as Breakfast Club and Emmy but then decided to branch out on her own and create her own brand. With the release of her debut album, people all over the world started to catch onto the revolutionary music and style that Madonna brought forth. She has had an abundance of different number one hits that have topped record charts all over the world including 'Like a Prayer', 'Papa Don't Preach', 'Vogue', '4 Minutes', and 'Like a Virgin'.

Her music career isn't the only aspect of her life that has forced her into the limelight. Madonna is also a practicing actress who has had an abundance of film appearances since 1985. She has won a variety of different awards including a Golden Globe Award for her role in Evita during the year of 1996. Although Evita was a long time hit, many critics found that Madonna had fallen short of her acting career as her other film roles were titled as failures.

Although the majority of Madonna's fame was found within the 80's ad 90's, she has continued to produce catchy and lyrical music in order to continue her role as an influential person within the music industry. The most important part of Madonna was her fashion sense and her risque approach to society. Within the 80's and 90's it was very rare that people would see provocative imagery during music videos as it was classified as "inappropriate" or "controversial" but Madonna rarely cared about critical thinking like that. Creating her music videos was seen as an art project as she thrusted herself into the minds of people all over the world with fashion decision and her portrayal of sexual imagery in her music and music videos.

With the Super Bowl XLVI, Madonna inevitably showed the world that she still has the ability to create new and pop centric music enjoyable by all generations. During her performance she shared the stage with new artists such as LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, and M.I.A meanwhile performing with revolutionary artists such as Cee Lo Green. With over 114 million viewers, Madonna's half time performance was catalogued as the most watched halftime show in the history of the Super Bowl. The 53 year old looked absolutely amazing while she proved once more in the 12 minute session that she is the world's greatest performer.

- Patricia Jones

Infamous 1994 Interview with David Letterman

About Madonna

Madonna is a renowned American artist whose dexterity covers singing, dancing and acting.

Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983. She followed it with a series of albums in which she found immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV.

Throughout her career, many of her songs have hit number one on the record charts, including "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes". Madonna has been praised by critics for her diverse musical productions while at the same time serving as a lightning rod for religious controversy.

Her career was further enhanced by film appearances that began in 1979, despite mixed commentary. She won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in Evita (1996), but has received harsh feedback for other film roles. Madonna's other ventures include being a fashion designer, children's book author, film director and producer. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, and in 2007 she signed an unprecedented US $120 million contract with Live Nation.

Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, behind Barbra Streisand, with 64 million certified albums. In 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 Billboard chart. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year.

Girl Gone Wild

Lady Gaga and Madonna

Looking for Madonna Memorabilia

Madonna is arguably one of the biggest superstars in the world. She is a musical icon, an actress and a trend-setter. Her fan base is one of the biggest in the world and as a celebrity she is instantly recognisable across the world. Madonna has been on the scene for decades and therefore there is a lot of memorabilia around to collect. It can be very easy to get carried away and spend thousands of pounds on Madonna collectibles but if you are a savvy collector then you don't have to spend this sort of money to build up a collection.

Before you even start collecting it is important to consider that you may have to work quite hard to build up a good collection. If you are a huge fan then this will not be a problem as you will not see it as hard work rather enjoyment. You may want to consider how much of a fan you are before beginning your collection and assess how effort you are willing to put in.

If you have decided to go ahead with your collection then the best place to start is to search garage sales, car boot sales and jumble sales. You may be able to find hidden gems that have been discarded in these places but it may take some searching. If you are lucky you might expect to find some rare albums and singles that didn't do too well and pay very little for them. Car boot sales and the like are becoming less common events as more and more people turn to eBay to sell their unwanted goods, however the advantage of more traditional sales is that most people will want to get rid of things in a quick and hassle-free way so the prices won't be high and they are unlikely to haggle to get a higher price from you. You may be able to pick up old record albums, framed concert tickets, old official fan magazines and the likes from traditional sales.

If you are not already a member then you should join Madonna's official fan club, Icon. Membership includes a magazine of Madonna; official fan perks like advance sales for concert tickets and an autographed Madonna item. You may want to take out an advertisement in the official fan club magazine as you will have access to her fan base after joining the fan site. On here Madonna fans sell items that they have duplicates of or do not want anymore and you will be able to encounter some real finds. Madonna fans span several decades so there is plenty of memorabilia to be collected. You may find some very early memorabilia such as old interviews or signed photographs. Madonna was constantly changing her look throughout her career so autographed photographs of her are very sought-after.

You can also visit mainstream music stores to purchase Madonna t-shirts, badges and other speciality gifts. Although these are not vintage yet, they may be worth something in the future and add to the trail of your memorabilia. Here you can also purchase her music on vinyl if you so wish.

Finally, use the internet as a resource for memorabilia (like this site). You can bid on rare items here or even concert tickets. There are plenty of items in the internet market but be careful to check the history of the piece when buying off auction sites to ensure that the piece is authentic. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fraudsters out there looking to make some quick money by ripping off naive fans, so make sure you don't get conned.

- Suzanne Greenfield

Ellen's First Interview with Madonna

Madonna to take Glee cast on World Tour

Last year's Madonna-themed special of Glee was a sensation, sprouting a successful album and providing some of the most memorable moments of the show�s first season (Jane Lynch vogue-ing, anyone?).

With such a rave response from her fans, it has been hard for Madonna to ignore the Glee phenomenon. And being the shrewd mind that she is, the veteran artist has struck an interesting idea � why not take the Glee cast on tour?

According to the News of the World, Madonna will take the Glee cast on her 2011-2012 Urban Treats tour. The tour will begin later this year and is due to reach the UK in spring 2012.

A source close to the popstar told the newspaper: 'Madonna wants to break records and make her career bigger than ever.'

'And because the Glee episode featuring her music was such a hit, there are plans for the cast to appear.'

'She is in amazing shape for her age but this could be her last big world tour she does for a while as she wants to concentrate on business ventures.'

Madonna�s Sticky + Sweet Tour in 2008 and 2009 became the highest grossing of any solo artist in history, bringing in revenues of $408 million (�320 million). The international tour was her fourth since the start of the decade.

- Ben McDermott @ Beehive City (beehivecity.com)