Madonna: The World's Biggest Star

[groovyguy 63,856]

The new 2016 Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

 

Madonna has 2 awards:

 

S&S Tour as the highest grossing female tour

 

and Madonna as the best selling female recording artist of all time.

 

Guinness website:

 

Most US no.1 music videos

 

Madonna (USA, b. Madonna Ciccone) had her ninth No.1 on the US Music Video chart on 24 April 2010 with Sticky & Sweet Tour. No popular music artist has had more.

 

 

Oldest artist to simultaneously top the UK singles and album charts

 

On 26 November 2005 Madonna became the oldest artist to simultaneously top the UK singles and album charts - with her single Hung Up from the album, Confessions On A Dance Floor, at the age of 47 years 101 days. This was the third time she had accomplished such a feat - itself a record for a female artist. Hung Up was released on November 7th and entered at No.1 on the chart dated November 19th. Confessions was released on Nov 14th and entered at No.1 on the chart dated Nov 26th (which was when she accomplished the simultaneous No.1).

 

Above info from Pulse Music board.  

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-no1-music-videos

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-artist-to-simultaneously-top-the-uk-singles-and-album-charts

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-female-recording-artist

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/4/madonna-beats-elviss-no1-albums-record-as-mdna-tops-uk-chart

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2013/8/miley-cyrus-controversy-contines-gta-v-leak-and-madonna-tops-star-earners-news-in-world-records-50814

 

[groovyguy 63,856]

How Madonna Brought Club Music to the Pop Charts 

And Introduced Pop to Its New Business Partner: Sex

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/how-madonna-brought-club-music-to-the-pop-charts/Content?oid=16698114

MAYBE IT WAS because the mustaches were bigger. Maybe it was the shoulder pads. Maybe it was because we didn't know how bad coke was for us yet. Whatever the reason, the club hits of 1984 were mostly dominated by male artists belting out cheese like Hall and Oates' "Say It Isn't So" or Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."

 

America was still washing off the disco from the night before, and everyone at da club was ready for something new to test their boundaries (and their genitals). That atmosphere—mixed with the 1981 introduction of MTV—set a ripe stage for Madonna to revolutionize the sexually charged music previously heard only in the dance club. Madonna injected dance music into the mainstream, and didn't just infuse the pop charts with the notions of sex, but made them more female-dominated than ever.

 

Without Madonna, would we ever have known the tenderness of Britney? The robust vocal stylings of Xtina? What about Kelis' milkshake or Mariah's melisma? The world would be a much darker, much less sexy place had we never heard "Borderline" or "Lucky Star" or, most importantly, "Like a Virgin."

 

"Like a Virgin" was Madonna's first number one, and became one of the best-selling singles of 1984 and 1985. Granted, the video seems pretty tame by today's standards set by "Blurred Lines," "Anaconda," and, well, every music video imaginable; "Virgin" looks like footage from your niece's elaborate christening (had she been christened in the canals of Venice by a lion). But the lyrics' sexually suggestive content—not to mention Madonna's scandalous performance at the MTV Video Music Awards—upped the ante for pop music, introducing it to its new business partner: sex.

 

Madonna's hits kept rolling in for the years that followed, turning increasingly sensual and subversive. By 1989, Madonna was provocatively writhing in a slip in front of burning crosses in "Like a Prayer," pissing off the pope, Pepsi, and housewives alike.

 

With the release of 1990's greatest hits album The Immaculate Collection, Madonna had scored 21 hits in the top 10 (and had landed 12 number ones on the dance chart). She continues to be the most successful female pop star of all time, in large part due to her various marketing tactics, all of which she coordinated herself. Madonna became a lot more than the girl twisting around in fishnet stockings on TV; she showed it was possible to become successful by making a brand and a name for yourself, without having to rely on a man to sell you.

 

2014 marked the first time in Billboard Top 100 history that female artists dominated the top five spots for six straight weeks. Hits may be more about booties and "goodies" than ever before, but women are also dominating club sound systems—and none of this could have started without Madonna, her virgin, or her prayer.

[Stevo 6,436]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this or not but it fits with the theme I guess.I love and have heaps of respect for Madonna (I'd use a less formal nickname like Madge though she apparently hates that lol). I think she marries together lots of qualities, such as her exceptional work ethic, perceverence, resilience (coz she's got haters as we all know), self confidence, the fact that she's unapologetic about things she's done, her ability to challenge people's perceptions on sex, religion, gender, age, and most importantly her ability to write, produce and sing songs that range from extremely deep, meaningful, from the heart and full of maturity, to light, airy, happy go lucky, feel good and even silly, and anything in between. No matter what mood I'm in, there's a song of hers I could play on a day that was appropriate to what I was feeling. She may not have THE most amazing voice in the world but who cares? Some of the singers with the best voices can be pretty bland and unexciting. Her voice works well for the songs she's made so she doesn't need to do all those vocal gymnastics and warbling as far as I'm concerned.I also love the fact that she comes across to me as highly intelligent, witty and sharp. She's never been vapid and stupid, even when she was starting out.

[Madame Madonna 4,107]

 

Madonna topped the Telegraph's Pop's 20 Greatest Female Music Artists list and was included in Rolling Stone's Greatest Songwriters of All Time list at number 56. Amazing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/pop-20-greatest-female-artists/

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-songwriters

 

 

Yes!

[groovyguy 63,856]

Madonna among The Telegraph’s Greatest Female Singer-Songwriters of All Time

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/the-60-greatest-female-singer-songwriters-of-all-time/madonna/

13: MADONNA

The woman born Madonna Louise Ciccone is the biggest selling female artist ever, with 300 million records sold worldwide. From her beginnings as a rock drummer in The Breakfast Club in the late Seventies, through chart stardom with songs such as Into the Groove and Like a Prayer in the Eighties, up to her experimentation with dance and hip hop since the millennium, Madonna has tried most contemporary pop styles, mastering many. A current sold out world tour shows the ground-breaking 57-year-old is as popular as ever.
Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty

[groovyguy 63,856]

Congrats to @Madonna! According to Acclaimed Music @Madonna is The #1 Female Artist on The Best Artists Of All Time List!!

[groovyguy 63,856]

Madonna is the only female artist to have 4 singles in the top 40 all time most successful female singles according to mediatrafiic

 

[groovyguy 63,856]

THE 33 MOST POPULAR ARTISTS DURING 2015 : MADONNA, KYLIE MINOGUE ,OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, PET SHOP BOYS AND DONNA SUMMER LEAD THE WAY!

In News, Polls/Charts by david cocas

May 18, 2016

http://www.therealmusicdivas.com/the-33-most-popular-artists-during-2015-madonna-kylie-minogue-olivia-newton-john-pet-shop-boys-and-donna-summer-lead-the-way/

 

 

Madonna is the most popular artist as far as TheRealMusicDivas readers are concerned. We decided to research the most searched artists back in 2015 plus the ones that got more hits. Madonna is the undisputable Queen.

 

Australian Legends, Kylie Minogue, and Olivia Newton-John are numbers 2 and 3, respectively.

 

The late and so missed Donna Summer is still cherished by her fans and peaks at number 4.

 

British duo Pet Shop Boys rank at number 5.

 

Only two male artists are ranked. Michael Jackson is number 25 and Adam Lambert appears next at number 34.

 

The greatest surprise is the number 11 being occupied by the newcomer Quigley! Congratulations to the artist and her promoters!

 

TheRealMusicDivas FB Group

TheRealMusicDivas FB Page

Our Madonna FB Group

 

We are proud to present this list. It includes mainly legends and iconic artists.

1) Madonna
2) Kylie Minogue
3) Olivia Newton-John
4) Donna Summer
5) Pet Shop Boys
6) Grace Jones
7) Cher
8) Mylene Farmer
9) Janet Jackson
10) Lana Del Rey
11) Quigley
12) Kim Wilde
13) Lady Gaga
14) Annie Lennox
15) Whitney Houston
16) Diana Ross
17) Britney Spears
18) Mariah Carey
19) Cyndi Lauper
20) Tina Turner
21) Deborah Harry
22) Loreen
23) Rihanna
24) Barbra Streisand
25) Michael Jackson
26) Bette Midler
27) Dolly Parton
28) Adam Lambert
29) Beyonce
30) Jennifer Lopez
31) Dusty Springfield
32) Alison Moyet
33) Taylor Swift

[Madame Madonna 4,107]

THE 33 MOST POPULAR ARTISTS DURING 2015 : MADONNA, KYLIE MINOGUE ,OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, PET SHOP BOYS AND DONNA SUMMER LEAD THE WAY!

In News, Polls/Charts by david cocas

May 18, 2016

http://www.therealmusicdivas.com/the-33-most-popular-artists-during-2015-madonna-kylie-minogue-olivia-newton-john-pet-shop-boys-and-donna-summer-lead-the-way/

 

 

Madonna is the most popular artist as far as TheRealMusicDivas readers are concerned. We decided to research the most searched artists back in 2015 plus the ones that got more hits. Madonna is the undisputable Queen.

 

Australian Legends, Kylie Minogue, and Olivia Newton-John are numbers 2 and 3, respectively.

 

The late and so missed Donna Summer is still cherished by her fans and peaks at number 4.

 

British duo Pet Shop Boys rank at number 5.

 

Only two male artists are ranked. Michael Jackson is number 25 and Adam Lambert appears next at number 34.

 

The greatest surprise is the number 11 being occupied by the newcomer Quigley! Congratulations to the artist and her promoters!

 

TheRealMusicDivas FB Group

TheRealMusicDivas FB Page

Our Madonna FB Group

 

We are proud to present this list. It includes mainly legends and iconic artists.

1) Madonna

2) Kylie Minogue

3) Olivia Newton-John

4) Donna Summer

5) Pet Shop Boys

6) Grace Jones

7) Cher

8) Mylene Farmer

9) Janet Jackson

10) Lana Del Rey

11) Quigley

12) Kim Wilde

13) Lady Gaga

14) Annie Lennox

15) Whitney Houston

16) Diana Ross

17) Britney Spears

18) Mariah Carey

19) Cyndi Lauper

20) Tina Turner

21) Deborah Harry

22) Loreen

23) Rihanna

24) Barbra Streisand

25) Michael Jackson

26) Bette Midler

27) Dolly Parton

28) Adam Lambert

29) Beyonce

30) Jennifer Lopez

31) Dusty Springfield

32) Alison Moyet

33) Taylor Swift

 

 

YEEEEEEEEEEES The Queen of Pop! Madonna!

[groovyguy 63,856]

Madonna tops @forbes' first-ever list of America’s Wealthiest Female Musicians

 

America's Wealthiest Female Musicians 2016

JUN 1, 2016 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/06/01/americas-wealthiest-female-musicians-2016/#7ee9bc183ab2

 

1. Madonna

Net Worth: $560 million

Age: 57

Residence: New York City

 

The Material Girl's recently wrapped Rebel Heart tour grossed $170 million, contributing to her career total of an estimated $1.4 billion on the road alone. The latest cash infusion adds to a fortune already rich with royalties and real estate, including a town house on Manhattan's Upper East Side apparently purchased at the bottom of the market and an art collection reportedly featuring the likes of Picasso, Kahlo and Man Ray.

 

2. Céline Dion

Net Worth: $380 million

Age: 48

Residence: Las Vegas

 

Canadian-born songstress has netted some $260 million from her Las Vegas residencies since 2003, when her show, A New Day, opened. After a hiatus to care for her ailing husband (who died in January) Dion has resumed those gigs and is on schedule to perform her thousandth show in Vegas by year's end. She has also earned money from tours and from selling more than 220 million records.

 

3. Barbra Streisand

Net Worth: $370 million

Age: 74

Residence: Malibu, CA

 

Pick just about any award, and Streisand has won it: Oscar, Tony, Grammy, Emmy, National Medal of Arts. She's the only act to have a No. 1 album six decades in a row, and now has ten in all, more than any other female musician in history. And she's grossed hundreds of millions of dollars from her live shows. Streisand lives well too: Her Malibu compound, which has a mall in the basement, may be worth close to $100 million, five times what she paid for it.

 

4. Judy Sheindlin

Net Worth: $290 million

Age: 73

Residence: Naples, FL

 

Chief justice of daytime TV still rules over the courtroom that made her a centimillionaire. Despite getting a late start—she first appeared on camera at age 52—her Judge Judy show has been on the air for 20 seasons and is watched by an average of 10 million viewers a day; she won her second daytime Emmy in 2016. Since 2012 she has banked $47 million pretax annually from her hosting gig. The straight talker is also the author of seven books, including Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining.

 

5. Beyoncé Knowles

Net Worth: $265 million

Age: 34

Residence: Los Angeles

 

The prolific songstress has already pulled in more than $500 million in gross earnings as a solo artist. With husband Jay-Z (net worth: $610 million), she has also cashed in on joint tours, multimillion-dollar endorsement deals with companies like H&M and Pepsi, and investments in companies like Tidal, the music-streaming service she and her husband co-own with Madonna and others. Beyoncé launched her latest album, Lemonade, exclusively on Tidal in April. It was her sixth studio album to debut at No. 1.

 

6. Taylor Swift

Net Worth: $250 million

Age: 26

Residence: Nashville

 

The onetime country music starlet has transformed herself into arguably the world's biggest pop star. Her 1989 World Tour grossed a quarter of a billion dollars, making it last year's richest. She has also become an advocate for musicians' rights to fair royalty rates as the industry adjusts to the streaming model, pulling her music from Spotify and penning a letter to Apple that many believe caused the company to change its tune last year. Ever the savvy businessperson, Swift subsequently appeared in a commercial for the tech giant.

[Stevo 6,436]

I didn't realize Judge judy was a musician... 😅😅😄

[Madame Madonna 4,107]

Madonna tops @forbes' first-ever list of America’s Wealthiest Female Musicians

 

America's Wealthiest Female Musicians 2016

JUN 1, 2016 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/06/01/americas-wealthiest-female-musicians-2016/#7ee9bc183ab2

 

1. Madonna

Net Worth: $560 million

Age: 57

Residence: New York City

 

The Material Girl's recently wrapped Rebel Heart tour grossed $170 million, contributing to her career total of an estimated $1.4 billion on the road alone. The latest cash infusion adds to a fortune already rich with royalties and real estate, including a town house on Manhattan's Upper East Side apparently purchased at the bottom of the market and an art collection reportedly featuring the likes of Picasso, Kahlo and Man Ray.

 

 

 

Yes!!!! Queen of POP!!!    

[groovyguy 63,856]

I didn't realize Judge judy was a musician...

IKR! 

 

On Forbes' guesstimate, they are so far off the mark for M! But then Forbes usually always under values her total estate. 

 

I think it's safe to say Madonnas fortune is much higher based on simple math and the information we have in regards to her current & former contracts. Even if you deduct all her earnings by 50% income tax (she is not paying that much) the 560 million is way too low.  And the whole list gets even more ridiculous when you look at Taylor Swifts number. Almost half the fortune of Madonnas? How did she do it if she has only generated a fracture of Madonnas revenues? Selling millions of digital tracks which cost a dollar each track can’t compare to the era of making $$$ off physical copies by big selling legends like M. Also it's rather unlikely that Swift has better contracts than Madonna. Especially on the touring front.

 

Madonna has sold 300m records worldwide, between albums and singles. Even assuming she made a dollar for each one of them, which is obviously not possibly the case after 3 decades (she received $4 for every HC copy sold) that's $300m from record sales alone. Factor in a large share of around $1bn in net touring revenue (without counting merchandising, brand endorsement, licensing and her art collection). Plus over $150m between 2000 and 2010 from brand endorsement alone (Microsoft, Motorola, Apple, BMW, Gap, Versace, DG x 2, LV x 2, H&M etc). There was a RS article estimating her to be worth around $800m. That was in 2000.

 

Btw this is making big news today which further adds to how unreliable and ridiculous Forbes is! 

"Forbes cuts estimated wealth of 'billionaire' Theranos founder to $0" http://www.latimes.c...snap-story.html

[groovyguy 63,856]

Additional reporting by Natalie Robehmed

 

America's Wealthiest Female Musicians 2016

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/06/01/americas-wealthiest-female-musicians-2016/#42230c63ab20

The title of one of Madonna’s most popular songs is right on the money: “Material Girl.†With a personal fortune of $560 million, she’s one of the richest self-made women in the country–and claims the top spot on our first-ever list of America’s Wealthiest Female Musicians.

 

Though Madonna has been in show business for decades, her earnings power is as strong as ever. Her recently-wrapped Rebel Heart tour grossed $170 million, adding to her whopping career total: an estimated $1.4 billion on the road alone.

 

The latest cash infusion adds to a fortune already rich with royalties and the rising value of her real estate portfolio, which includes an outrageously large townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side purchased at the bottom of the market, as well as a fine art collection reportedly featuring the likes of Picasso, Kahlo and Man Ray.

 

Her secret? â€I’m a workaholic,†she once said. “I have insomnia. And I’m a control freak.â€

 

Celine Dion ranks second with a net worth of $380 million. Yes, she was born in Canada, but the fact that the “My Heart Will Go On†singer has made the bulk of her bucks in Las Vegas–netting some $260 million from shows there since 2003–renders her eligible for the list.

 

After a hiatus to care for her ailing husband (who passed away in January), Dion has resumed her performances and is scheduled to perform her thousandth show in Vegas by year’s end. She has also earned money from tours and from selling more than 220 million records worldwide.

 

Barbra Streisand rounds out the top three with a fortune of $370 million. She may not be wealthiest on the list, but she probably has the most extensive resume. Pick just about any award, and Streisand has won it: Oscar, Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Legion D’Honneur, Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 

Streisand is also the only musical act to have a No. 1 album six decades in a row, and she’s grossed hundreds of millions of dollars for her live shows over the years. Streisand lives well, too: sources say her Malibu compound, reportedly purchased for less than $20 million, could be worth nearly $100 million.

 

 

 

Queen Bey: The singer is among the 60 richest self-made women in America. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for People.com).

 

Beyoncé Knowles claims the fourth spot, clocking in at $265 million. The sultry songstress has already pulled in more than $500 million in gross earnings as a solo artist—and now she and husband Jay Z (net worth: $610 million) are chugging toward the billion-dollar mark.

 

That could come sooner than later, thanks to income from joint tours, multimillion-dollar endorsement deals and stakes in companies like Tidal, the streaming service she and her husband co-own with Madonna and others. Ever the businesswoman, Beyoncé launched her latest album, Lemonade, exclusively on Tidal in April ahead of a wider release; the record became her sixth to debut at No. 1 on the charts.

 

“I’ve never met anyone that works harder than me in my industry,â€Beyoncé told FORBES in 2009.

 

Finishing at No. 5 is Taylor Swift, who at 26 is the youngest name on this list–and our larger list of America’s wealthiest self-made women–with a net worth of $250m. The onetime country starlet has transformed herself into arguably the world’s biggest pop superstar, padding her considerable coffers with her 1989 Tour, which grossed a quarter of a billion dollars last year, far more than any other tour.

 

At the same time, Swift has become an outspoken advocate for musicians’ rights to fair royalty rates as the industry adjusts to the streaming model, pulling her music from Spotify and penning a firm letter to Apple that many believe caused the company to change its tune last year.

 

Inevitably, some of the wealthier musicians listed above will slow down, and a new generation will rise up to join these elite ranks. Perhaps the most likely up-and-comer? Katy Perry, whose net worth we estimate at $125 million. 

 

Since entering the mainstream consciousness with surprise hit “I Kissed A Girl†in 2008, she has pulled in more than $350 million pretax. From June 2014 to June 2015 alone, she earned $135 million, playing 124 concerts in 27 countries—and joined a club that includes Self Made Women list members Beyoncé and Madonna by gracing the cover of the FORBES Celebrity 100 issue.

 

“I don’t feel like my career is a ticking time bomb,†Perry told FORBES. “I don’t feel like I’ll always have to be feeding the meter of show business. I got my spot, yo.â€

[groovyguy 63,856]

Record Bin: How Madonna laid the foundation for '80s pop on her self-titled debut  

By JOSHUA PICKARD - Published on June 4, 2016

http://nooga.com/173327/record-bin-how-madonna-laid-the-foundation-for-80s-pop-on-her-self-titled-debut/#.V1Lxt3-FBhU.twitter

[groovyguy 63,856]

According to Forbes, Madonna is the #3 world's highest-paid female musicians of 2016 pulling in a whopping $76.5M.

 

 

http://wingatewire.com/2016/07/11/taylor-swift-tops-forbes-list-of-highest-paid-celebs/

HIGHEST-paid female-musicians of 2016:

Taylor Swift $170M

Adele $80.5M

Madonna. $76.5M

Rihanna $75M

 

 

 

[groovyguy 63,856]

For your #mondaymotivation: How @Madonna's music videos changed the face of pop culture:

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/strike-a-pose-madonnas-20-greatest-videos-20160707

Madonna's music videos defined the MTV era 
and changed pop culture forever. Here are the stories behind the 20 greatest

 

Madonna's first album was released in July 1983, just two years after the birth of MTV, and no artist conquered the medium like the Queen of Pop. To salute the Material Girls' unsurpassed career of visual experimentation, transformation and innovation, we give you the stories behind the making of the singer's 20 best music videos – from controversy-starting blockbusters such as "Like a Prayer" to introspective epics like "Frozen."

 

1/20 1. "Express Yourself" (1989)

Taking total control of the artistic process, Madonna worked with director David Fincher to make a sci-fi classic

The first of Madonna's collaborations with acclaimed Fight Club and Social Network director David Fincher is also her most ambitious use of the video form (and, at $5 million, the most expensive video ever made at the time). Heavily influenced by German director Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis, with its sci-fi cityscape and surreal factory scenes, "Express Yourself" is a perfect melding of Fincher's expressionist impulses and Madonna's shape-shifting allure. ("We sat down and threw out every idea we could," Madonna said.) She played different seductive characters: a pantsuit-wearing, Marlene Dietrich-like figure, a shimmying coquette in a corset, a submissive wife chained half naked to a bed. "This one I had the most amount of input," said Madonna. "I oversaw everything – the building of the sets, everyone's costumes, I had meetings with makeup and hair and the cinematographer, everybody. Casting, finding the right cat – just every aspect. Kind of like making a little movie."

 

2/20 2. "Ray of Light" (1998)

A bold embrace of electronica that got Madonna her due at the VMAs

"It's probably, to this day, the longest shoot ever for a music video," remembers director Jonas Ã…kerlund, who traveled to New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas to get "Ray of Light"'s fast-forward cut-and-paste look. The clip had a similar feel to the 1982 art-house favoriteKoyaanisqatsi (which Ã…kerlund had never seen) and a frantic energy that fit the song's embrace of "electronica." 

"We had this diagram that I had in my pocket for the whole production," Ã…kerlund recalls. "Let's say you shoot one frame every 10 seconds or so. Then you have to do that for 30 minutes to get like five seconds. Every shot was just, like, such a big deal." The hard work paid off: Although she made nearly 70 music videos during her career, "Ray of Light" is the only one to win an MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. Says Ã…kerlund, "I didn't really think about winning the VMAs. But it was life-changing for me."

 

3/20 3. "Open Your Heart" (1986)

Madonna takes a big risk in a risqué video with an art-house soul

"At the time we were into a period where we were experimenting [with] some kind of freedom about the body, about sexuality and stuff," says director Jean-Baptiste Mondino. "So the peep show was an idea that I had." With Madonna playing a stripper clad in a black bustier, "Open Your Heart" was the singer's first overtly risqué clip to date. But it was no mere shock piece: A mix of Federico Fellini and Bob Fosse, "Open Your Heart" featured paintings by art-deco artist Tamara de Lempicka on the club exterior and a colorful cast of cold-looking characters. At one point, in a striking piece of synergy, Madonna leaned back and brilliantly reproduced the now-iconic cover photo for her 1986 album True Blue, which featured "Open Your Heart." "She makes the picture, you know?" says Mondino. "She gives you the stuff. You've got to be ready to grab it."

 

4/20 4. "Take a Bow" (1994)

Madge + bullfighting = one of her weirdest scandals ever

"There were several times when it was gonna be canceled because of PETA getting involved," remembers director Michael Haussman about this steamy love story, filmed in Spain with real-life bullfighter Emilio Muñoz. "The bull never got hurt ... at all," says Haussman. "When you're looking at the footage, it's pretty outstanding what he does. He's not just fighting it – he's fighting it beautifully. It's gorgeous." Still, animal-rights organizations were furious. "We had to have the police in my office opening our mail looking for letter bombs," says Haussman. "The producer had a rose taped to his door, and it said, 'Hasta la vista, baby!' All kinds of really scary shit."

 

5/20 5. "Like a Prayer" (1989)

How to offend every bigot in America in just five fiery minutes

Burning crosses, stigmata, a saint's icon coming to life and succumbing to the pleasures of the flesh – the imagery in "Like a Prayer" caused such a commotion that Pepsi pulled a $5 million ad campaign featuring the song. "I knew that we were pushing some big buttons, but I sort of underestimated the influence and bigotry of fundamentalist religion and racism in this country and the world," says director Mary Lambert. "I always think that if my work is successful, it goes beyond my intentions, and in this case it definitely did." Madonna originally wanted to focus more directly on racial violence. But she and Lambert revised and broadened the concept to connect sex and religion, casting actor Leon Robinson as a black saint (presumably Martin de Porres, the patron saint of racially mixed people). "Why not a black Jesus?" says Lambert. "Why can't you imagine kissing him? I wanted to show the relationship between sexual and religious ecstasy." Madonna summed up the clip's mission succinctly, telling The New York Times in 1989, "Art should be controversial, and that's all there is to it."

 

6/20 6. "Rain" (1993)

A trip into the future that Madonna almost didn't take

Director Mark Romanek's clips for Lenny Kravitz and En Vogue were high-
volume, high-energy af
fairs that caught Madon
na's eye, so she asked him 
to go behind the cam
era for this lushErotica
 track. "I actually turned
 her down, because I thought the song was really romantic, and I didn't really know what to do with something romantic at that point in my life," Romanek said. He eventually accepted and came up with a futuristic concept and the unique idea of staging a video within a video. At first Madonna wasn't sold on the idea. "This song is kind of likeWuthering Heights â€“ it should be black-and-white, romantic," Madonna said to Romanek. But the director's vision prevailed. Madonna reached out to Jean-Luc Godard to appear as her director in the video. When he turned her down, she tried Federico Fellini, who also declined. Finally, they went with experimental composer Ryuichi Sakamoto because he was, according to Romanek, "[an] attractive Japanese icon."

 

9/20 9. "Like a Virgin" (1984)

Madonna takes a big-budget trip to Venice and gets down with a lion

"We went to Venice with a bunch of fucking wack jobs," said Warner Bros. creative director Jeff Ayeroff. "I don't know what we spent – $150,000? $175,000? – but it was way more than we'd ever spent on a video." For their second collaboration, director Mary Lambert shot the pop star on gondolas in Venetian canals and teamed her with a lion. Lambert recalls, "At one point the lion started sniffing Madonna's crotch, and I thought she might be a goner."

 

10/20 10. "Cherish" (1989)

Madge takes the plunge with a first-time director in one of her sweetest videos

The photographer Herb Ritts and Madonna struck up a friendship early in her career. Ritts shot the cover for the 1986 album True Blue as well as Madonna's fourth Rolling Stone cover, in 1987. But what Madonna really wanted Ritts to do was direct music videos. "She kept asking me, and I said I really didn't know the first thing about moving imagery," Ritts said in a 1999 interview. "Finally, I practiced with a little Super 8 camera when I was on a job in Hawaii, and came back and said I could do it. Two weeks later, I was filming 'Cherish.' I directed it, and the camera work as well. It was invigorating." In the video, Madonna playfully frolics in black-and-white on the beach, and even dives into what was actually freezing water. Said Ritts, "She was a real trouper."

 

 

11/20 11. "Material Girl" (1985)

A tribute to Marilyn Monroe that became a classic itself

"I have always been extremely interested in Marilyn Monroe – her life and persona. Madonna and I shared that fascination," says director Mary Lambert. "I watched the dance sequence fromGentlemen Prefer Blondes about a million times with [choreographer] Kenny Ortega, who brilliantly reinterpreted it [in the video]." By now, this homage to Marilyn Monroe's 1953 film has probably inspired as many tributes as the original: Taylor Swift's performance of "Shake It Off" at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards was definitely more Madge than Norma Jean. Says Lambert of Swift, "I think she's amazing, and I was flattered."

 

12/20 12. "Justify My Love" (1990)

A hotel party that made for the steamiest video of her career

MTV refused to play this Jean-Baptiste Mondino-directed clip, which featured images of S&M, group sex and even some bare breasts – but the resourceful Madonna spun the controversy into the bestselling "video single" of all time. "The whole idea was to lock ourselves into this hotel for three days and two nights, without any rules," says Mondino. "Nobody was allowed to go out. It was very strange because we didn't know when we were doing the film or when it was real, you know? Things were just happening. The last morning when I woke up and had to go back home, I felt very strange on the sidewalk."

 

13/20 13. "Oh Father" (1989)

Childhood memories haunt a deeply personal mini-epic

Madonna dug deep for this David Fincher-directed, Citizen Kane-referencing mini-epic about her mother's death, her troubled relationship with her father and her tempestuous marriage to Sean Penn. "It's my most autobiographical work," she said. In one disturbing scene, a young girl steps up to view her mother's coffin only to find the dead woman's lips have been sewn shut – an image reportedly inspired by Madonna's memories of her own mother's funeral.

 

14/20 14. "Bedtime Story" (1995)

Madonna fans get a crash course in "painterly surrealism"

The idea for this clip came when Madonna approached director Mark Romanek about doing the video for the 1992 Erotica track "Bad Girl." When they met, Madonna brought a single piece of artwork for inspiration. "It was this very surreal, dark, kind of amber-colored, somewhat disturbing painting – and I didn't know Madonna, so I was really surprised that this was her taste in art," Romanek recalled. When he later heard the pulsing, Björk-penned "Bedtime Story" a couple of years later, he knew he had found a vehicle to show off what he called "painterly surrealism." Romanek delved into the history of female surrealists, paying particular tribute to painters Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo with elaborate visual effects. The end result cost a reported $5 million, making it her priciest clip since "Express Yourself."

 

15/20 15. "Human Nature" (1995)

Laughing her way through a playful S&M fantasy that co-starred a dog

After a decade of sexually charged work, Madonna and Jean-Baptiste Mondino addressed erotic subject matter with winking humor. Dressed in bondage gear, Madonna laughs, makes funny faces and disciplines her Chihuahua with a riding crop. "S&M is a game," says Mondino. "It's dark, it looks dark, but I think people have fun."

 

16/20 16. "Burning Up" (1983)

The early-Eighties clip that almost cut Madonna's career short

This testament to the anything-goes era of early MTV was the work of Steve Barron, who was in high demand at the time after his success helming videos like Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue." Barron didn't love "Burning Up," but he took the job. Of their first meeting, held at Madonna's apartment, he recalls, "There she was, naked except for a pair of knickers, on the floor doing exercises in front of this massive speaker and amp. That was the only furniture in the place, really. She seemed very confident with herself." Barron came up with a "mishmash" of ideas and shot over two nights in L.A. At one point, a massive crane on the set started teetering and nearly fell on Madonna. "She would have been 100-percent dead," says Barron. "I never told her that night because I didn't want to scare her."

 

17/20 17. "Frozen" (1998)

Chilling out on a desert vacation in a trippy experimental clip

This arty video was directed by Chris Cunningham, whose work on Aphex Twin's creepy "Come to Daddy" caught Madonna's attention. "Frozen" was visually stunning, with Madonna clad in billowing black against a stark desert tableau. But it wasn't easy to make: "We were thinking of shooting it in Iceland," she said in 1998. "But then I thought, 'You know what, I'm going to be freezing. I'm going to be miserable.' ... So I said, 'Let's do it in the desert, it'll be warm.' ... But then we got there and it was like 20 degrees below zero ... and I was barefoot."

 

18/20 18. "Music" (2000)

A pregnant Madonna and a little-known Sacha Baron Cohen take a wild ride

The girls-night-out-themed "Music" video was shot in April 2000, when Madonna was pregnant with son Rocco. "I didn't think it was a problem," says director Jonas Ã…kerlund. Madonna didn't agree, and spent most of the video in a fur coat. "Music" was many Americans' introduction to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who played a limo driver. "I remember one thing," says Ã…kerlund. "We had a big discussion: 'Fedora or cowboy hat?' Every time I go to a Madonna show and see all the people in cowboy hats, I think 'That could have been a fedora, dude!'"

 

19/20 19. "Fever" (1993)

Madge gets her martyr on and receives a paint job

"My concept was that she was a kind of Joan of Arc," says director Stéphane Sednaoui. "I wanted her like a provocative saint, somebody that speaks out and tells the truth, and is ready to burn for it. I remember the big boss at Maverick was worried I'd burn her." While Madonna doesn't catch fire in the clip, she does get evocatively covered in silver body paint: "They thought, '[Let's] do something that's not the Madonna we know – more pop, more disco, more club,'" recalls Sednaoui. "So, I think that's why she went all the way, like, 'OK, let's paint.'"

 

20/20 20. "Hung Up" (2005)

How to power through pain in the name of a good dance sequence

Weeks before Madonna was scheduled to shoot the clip for the Abba-borrowing lead single from Confessions on a Dance Floor, she had a horseback-riding mishap that resulted in several broken bones. But she still managed to don a long-sleeved pink leotard and danced around a rehearsal studio with gusto. "She was such a trouper. She just fell off a horse!" said director Johan Renck, who assembled her segments from a three-hour shoot, taking breaks so Madonna could deal with intense physical pain. Renck, a last-minute replacement for David LaChapelle, didn't have time to overthink its dancing-in-the-streets concept: "I like being out on a limb and not know what we're doing and why. Just deal with the mayhem, you know?

[Stevo 6,436]

Great piece on her music videos @@groovyguy, thanks.

 

I like the part when she was saying how she was involved with everything almost for the Express Yourself video,....even finding the right cat! Lol 😉 😸

 

[groovyguy 63,856]

You're welcome, Night King! 

 

Just a note- the RS videos list was published first in 2015, and then included in the RS Madonna edition. Not sure if there are any differences between these two links:

www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/making-of-madonnas-20-best-music-videos-20150225
www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/strike-a-pose-madonnas-20-greatest-videos-20160707/fever-1993-20160707

Note:

• "Oh Father" made the videos list but not the 50 Greatest Songs list
• "Bad Girl" made the Greatest Songs list but not the videos top 20 

[groovyguy 63,856]

Immaculate Conqueror: Madonna's 33 Songs of World Domination

http://www.out.com/popnography/2016/7/29/Madonna-33-Songs-World-Domination

 

[groovyguy 63,856]

 

Published on Jul 27, 2016

From "Like a Virgin" to "Hung Up," here's a look back at Madonna's greatest moments. 

Get the full story at: http://rol.st/2acfG2y

[groovyguy 63,856]

Madonna Source â€@MadonnaDailyID  20h20 hours ago

Madonna has obtained a remarkable series of statistical achievements, setting and breaking several world records.

 

[groovyguy 63,856]

Elvis Presley & Madonna: The Day the Music Died, and Was Born

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6221707/elvis-presley-madonna-the-day-the-music-died-and-was-born

8/16/2016 by Gary Trust

 

 

Aug. 16 marks the date that we welcomed the Queen of Pop and lost the King of Rock & Roll.

Today marks the date that we welcomed the Queen of Pop and lost the King of Rock & Roll.

Madonna was born Aug. 16, 1958. As we celebrate the Material Girl's birthday - happy 58th! - we likewise note the 39th anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley, who died on the same date in 1977 at age 42.

In honor of two of the most prolific hitmakers in Billboard history, here is a look at some of the chart records that the icons claim.

 

MADONNA

38 top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles. The Beatles, with 34, rank second. Madonna's first top 10 was 1984's "Borderline," which started a streak of 17 consecutive top 10s through 1989's "Cherish" (No. 2). Her most recent top 10 was 2012's No. 10-peaking "Give Me All Your Luvin'," featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.

 

Seven Hot 100 No. 1s in the '80s, tying her with Whitney Houston for most among women during the decade. Madonna's total haul of No. 1 Hot 100 hits is 12, placing her fifth for the most leaders all-time. (The Supremes also boast 12 toppers). Only the Beatles (with 20), Mariah Carey (18), Rihanna (14) and Michael Jackson (13) have earned more No. 1s.

 

Coincidentally, Madonna claimed her fourth No. 1, "Papa Don't Preach," on this date in 1986, her 28th birthday. (Aug. 16 also doubles as the launch date ofBillboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart in 2003, a list that Madonna has led seven times.)

 

46 No. 1s on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart. Essentially, if Madonna releases a single and it charts on Dance Club Songs, it's a safe bet to assume it'll go to No. 1. Rihanna ranks second with 27 toppers.

 

21 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, the most such sets among all women dating to her first week in the top tier (Oct. 6, 1984) with her self-titled debut. Of those efforts, eight reached No. 1, including MDNA in 2012. In that more than 31-year span, Carey places second among women with 17 top 10s.

[groovyguy 63,856]

The 10 Richest Recording Artists on the Planet Based On Net Worth

http://swince.com/richest-recording-artists/11/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=FBRichest0824A&utm_campaign=FBRichest0824A

1. Madonna – Holding the mantle as the richest artist of all time is Madonna. Often referred to as the “Queen of popâ€, Madonna achieved fame by pushing the boundaries of what was then acceptable both in her lyrics and her music videos. To date, Madonna has sold 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the best-selling female artist of all time.

Madonna has been married twice and has four children. Her current net worth is $800 million.

[groovyguy 63,856]

Madonna ranks third with $76.5 million, much of it from her Rebel Heart tour, which grossed $170 million 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/11/02/the-worlds-highest-paid-women-in-music-2016/#43678ea141b5