-
Madonna as a child
Madonna and Tony Ciccone welcome their first daughter, Madonna, nicknamed Nonni to avoid confusion with Mom. When Nonni is 5, her mother, 36, dies of breast cancer. Madonna's father later marries the family housekeeper, Joan Gustafson. "I didn't accept my stepmother when I was growing up," the singer later tells CNN. "In retrospect I think I was really hard on her." -
bright lights, big city
Madonna, attending the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship, drops out after two years and moves to New York City, where she lives in a series of ramshackle apartments while studying and dancing with the Alvin Ailey and Pearl Lang companies. In 1979, she begins dabbling in New York's downtown music scene, eventually forming the punk-influenced Breakfast Club with boyfriend Dan Gilroy. Then she launches the rock group Emmy with drummer Steve Bray, a boyfriend from Michigan who helps writ -
Rock the house
After four years of struggling to earn money modeling, dancing and singing, Madonna's first single, "Everybody," puts her over the top in the New York club scene. She meets John "Jellybean" Benitez, an in-demand deejay who produces "Holiday." The song leads to an appearance on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" and ignites her career. Madonna and Benitez, who date for two years, "were a great team," a friend tells PEOPLE. -
Madonna-the album
After landing on the dance charts in '82, Madonna releases her self-titled debut album, which includes radio perennials "Lucky Star" and "Holiday." "Borderline" becomes the first in a string of 13 consecutive Top 5 hits, a winning streak bettered only by Elvis and the Beatles. -
Like a Virgin
Vamping at the very first MTV Video Music Awards for her soon-to-be released second album, Madonna performs "Like a Virgin" on top of a giant white wedding cake, dressed in a white bustier, her trademark "Boy Toy" belt buckle and crucifix jewelry. Released on Nov. 12, the album becomes No. 1 in the U.S. for three weeks and sells 7 million copies worldwide by May. -
crazy for you
Madonna and Sean Penn are photographed together at New York's Private Eyes video club after meeting on the set of her Material Girl video. Within weeks, Penn travels to Michigan to meet her family, and she meets his at an L.A. performance. In August, the pair weds in Malibu in front of 200 guests -
wannabees everywhere
Madonna makes her big-screen debut in Desperately Seeking Susan opposite Rosanna Arquette, reveling in the role of a wisecracking street urchin not unlike herself, but the singer's fanciful style eclipses her acting performance. Wannabes turn up all over the world, sporting leggings, lace gloves and bellybutton-baring shirts -
The Controversy Begins
Madonna begins the final leg of her "Who's That Girl?" tour in Turin, Italy, and the Pope urges the faithful to stay away. He further condemns the singer when her statue is erected in Pacentro, the Italian town of her ancestors. More run-ins with the Church will lead to a boycott of her 1990 "Blond Ambition Tour" that includes Madonna's signature mix of Catholicism and sexuality -
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
After nearly four years of splits, spats and fistfights with paparazzi, Madonna files for divorce from Penn for the second time – she withdrew the first petition in 1987 at the urging of friends. "I do believe we all have soulmates -
Pepsi Pulls the Plug
Two months after Pepsi signs Madonna to a $5 million multiyear endorsement deal, the company features her in a TV commercial. The following day "Like a Prayer", one of the singer's most controversial videos, debuts with images of her kissing a black saint and dancing in front of a field of burning crosses. Backlash from religious groups forces Pepsi to pull the campaign, but Madonna keeps the cash -
A Date with JFK Jr
Madonna brings young district attorney John F. Kennedy Jr. to a party she throws for art-world types at younger brother Christopher Ciccone's downtown New York loft. Onlookers say Madonna spent most of the party cozying up to John, but that he left alone to dine with girlfriend Daryl Hannah. -
Breathless for Beatty
Madonna stars as nightclub singer opposite Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy, and they begin a short-lived romance. She soon takes up with rapper Vanilla Ice and her interpretation of Stephen Sondheim's "Sooner or Later" on the Dick Tracy soundtrack wins an Oscar for Best Song. That October, Forbes celebrates Madonna as "America's Smartest Business Woman," estimating that she has earned $125 million between 1985 and 1990 -
Justify This
MTV bans Madonna's five-minute "Justify My Love" video, which features S&M, bondage, lesbian sex and rampant nudity. "I think the video is romantic and loving and has humor in it," Madonna tells the New York Times. "Why is it that people are willing to go to a movie and watch someone get blown to bits for no reason, and nobody wants to see two girls?" -
Playing Truth or Dare
The black-and-white documentary Truth or Dare chronicles many intimate moments during her 1990 Blond Ambition tour and receives an R rating. Entertainment Weekly calls Madonna "a natural egomaniac whom stardom completes." Indeed, an exasperated Warren Beatty is captured on film exclaiming, "She doesn't want to live off-camera!" -
Play Ball
Departing from her sexy persona, Madonna turns in an endearingly sweet performance in A League of Their Own, a box-office grand slam about baseball's first female professional league. Off-screen, she strikes a close friendship with costar Rosie O'Donnell. -
Madonna, with Child
Madonna gives birth to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, her daughter with personal trainer Carlos Leon. "I've never seen her happier," Rosie O'Donnell tells PEOPLE. "Lola has helped her to become more grounded, to leave the star part behind." Her relationship with Lola's father, however, ends within a year of the baby's birth. -
Screen Praise at Last
Madonna stars as Eva Perón in Evita, which earns her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy and an Oscar for Best Song "You Must Love Me" from the movie's double disk soundtrack, which includes several other songs by Madonna. -
Two Years and Baby No. 2
Madonna meets Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy Ritchie (10 years her junior) at a 1998 luncheon hosted by Trudie Styler, Sting's wife. Two years later, the couple have baby boy, Rocco Ritchie, 5 lbs., 9 oz -
Madonna & Ritchie Wed
In a Stella McCartney gown, Madonna marries Ritchie, who wears a Mackintosh clan kilt at the Great Hall of Scotland's 19th-century Skibo Castle. Lourdes, then 4, acts as flower girl, and a kilt-clad Rocco held by the nanny sits in front. Guests include Gwyneth Paltrow, Donatella Versace and Sting. -
Wartime Protest
In her album American Life, Madonna expresses her feelings about the war in Iraq. The original version of the video shows the singer tossing a grenade at a George W. Bush lookalike and has to be re-cut. "Children, brothers, wives and sons were over there, and people at home were worrying about them, -
Madonna's Roses
Madonna's children's book The English Roses goes on sale. "I want to be able to help girls and in the process help myself," says the singer, who follows the success of Roses with Lotsa de Casha in June 2005. -
Back to the Dance Floor!
After spending her 47th birthday in the hospital for injuries sustained from falling off a horse, Madonna releases Confessions on a Dance Floor. After embarking on a worldwide tour, she wins her sixth Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2007 -
An International Family
Despite following all legal procedures, the superstar faces scrutiny from human rights groups and the media when she begins the process to adopt David Banda, a 13-month-old from Malawi. In a statement, Madonna says she was shocked by the reaction: "I expect to be given a hard time about many of the things I do. I know they are provocative and I prepare myself, but I did not expect the media, the government or any human rights organizations to take a stand against me trying to save a ch -
Madonna's New Deal
Madonna leaves Warner Music Group for a deal with concert promoter Live Nation. The agreement, which will give the company a stake in her albums, tours, merchandising, films and other music-related projects, is worth about $120 million over 10 years, according to the AP. "The paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with that shift," Madonna says in a statement. -
Madonna's Candy
After getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Justin Timberlake, Madonna, 49, debuts her single, "4 Minutes," which she worked on with Timberlake. The song is off her new album, Hard Candy, which takes the top spot on Billboard's 200 albums chart -
David's Adoption is Official
After premiering her documentary on the children of Malawi, I Am Because We Are, Madonna's adoption of 2-year-old David Banda is finalized. Justice Andrew Nyirenda says he is satisfied that Madonna and Ritchie "are perfect parents" for the toddler. Although Madonna says the controversy surrounding the adoption has been painful, "It made me stronger, so I guess I can't complain." -
Madonna & Guy Divorce
After being plagued with reports of having an affair with New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, Madonna and Ritchie announced the end of their marriage. In January, their divorce becomes final, and Madonna moves on with model Jesus Luz. -
Malawi Gives Madonna Mercy
Madonna returns to Malawi in the hopes of adopting 3-year-old Mercy James. "Many people say that David should have a Malawian brother or sister," she tells the country's Nation newspaper. Although her request is initially rejected, the country's Supreme Court eventually grants Madonna the right to adopt the orphan girl -
Material Girls
Madonna ventures into the world of fashion with the launch of Material Girl – a juniors clothing line she designed for Macy’s with her budding fashionista daughter Lourdes. "As we are working, I see her more as a creative person, as an artist,” the singer says of her 13-year-old daughter. "Then every once in a while, I remembered that she is my daughter." -
On the Prowl
For her 53rd birthday, Madonna cozies up to – and kisses! – new beau, French break-dancer Brahim Zaibat, 24, in the Hamptons. The pair, who began dating last year after Zaibat performed at the launch of her Macy's clothing line, first stepped out together in Paris in June -
Fantasy Football
Madonna gives a show-stopping 12-minute halftime show performance at Super Bowl XLVI between the victorious New York Giants and the New England Patriots. "This is a Midwesterner girl's dream," the 53-year-old singer says of the gig. "Over the 25 years of performing that I've done, I have never worked so hard or been so scrupulous or detail-oriented or freaked out as much maintaining my sanity." -
Still Topping the Charts
Madonna scores her eighth No.1 album with MDNA, which sells 359,000 records in its first week, making it her fifth consecutive No. 1 album. Rolling Stone says MDNA is "Madonna's most explicit work," calling it "our lady's divorce album" with "7 out of 16 songs addressing her split [with ex-husband Guy Ritchie] directly."
