M is for... Material Girl

Lyrics: Material Girl

Also featured on the Like A Virgin album, Material Girl marked the point in Madonna's career where I really sat up and took notice. In a way that's reminiscent of Abba's Money Money Money, Material Girl is, on the surface, a song about wanting the expensive things in life, just at the point where she was selling more records in more countries than anyone else. The video is a tribute to the Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell film performance of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. It's rumoured that the dress Madonna wore was so loose that her boobs kept popping out during the shoot. Whether's that's true or not, it's still a classic video and marked the start of Madonna's obsession with film icons such as Monroe. It also branded the star with a name that she's hated ever since especially when the point of the video was that love is more important than money...

N is for... the Next Best Thing

The next big thing for Madonna is The Next Best Thing a film by veteran director John Schlesinger. Co-star is Rupert Everett, who once again plays a gay man. He and Madonna are best friends but unlucky in love. One night too much alchoholic commisserating ends up with Madonna pregnant, and the two decide to live as a family to bring up their child. It may not be love, says the publicity, but it is the next best thing. Mmmm... sounds like a rather lame plot but well, we'll wait and see...

O is for... Offspring

Madonna gave birth to a daughter at 4.01 PM, Pacific time, on October 14th, 1996. Weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon was born at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. The father is Carlos Leon, a personal trainer of Madonna, with whom she had a two-year affair. Despite her own flair for publicity, Madonna guards her daughter's privacy closely, and the child is rarely seen in public. The album "Ray of Light" is inspired in part by Lourdes. On the day of her birth newspapers around the world used the obvious headline, "Madonna and Child". Lourdes, or Lola as she's known, has also brought about a rebirth in her mother, a fact acknowledged by Madonna's father who believes his daughter has finally grown up. Madonna says her child is imaginative and verbal with a great memory, owed in part her mother believes to a strict ban of television. So Lourdes is unlikely to have seen any Pepsi adverts then... Congratulations to Madonna and Guy Ritchie on the birth of their baby boy Rocco Ritchie, born on August 11th, 2000 in the US. The british press are being a bit negative about Madonna's comments that British hospitals are "old and victorian", and that she prefers "efficiency". I think that it's only fair that Madonna should have her child where she feels safest and if that's in a US hospital then why not? Meanwhile former lover, Vanilla Ice, who dated Madonna for a year in the early 1990s has made a scathing attack on her suggesting that she only uses men as baby donors and that by re-inventing herself every two years, this time as wholesome mother, she is just being fake... And this from the man who once tried to convince press that he was black with a skin complaint? Not nice, nice, baby...

P is for... Pepsi

Lyrics: Like A Prayer

In 1989 Madonna signed a $5 million contract with Pepsi to coincide with the release of her new album and single Like A Prayer. Pepsi had already been successful with other artists such as Michael Jackson, and were therefore looking forward to another winning pop partnership. However while the Pepsi advert featured Madonna reliving a childhood birthday party, the video for the single was radically different. While praying in a church Madonna is fascinated by the statue of a black saint. Mysteriously the statue comes alive and soon she and the saint are kissing. Many fundamental christian groups were incensed. Lobbying Pepsi and threatening a boycott, they forced the soft-drink giant to pull the Madonna advertisement after only a single showing. Was this a case of a badly-researched commercial deal? Not for Madonna. She got to keep the $5 million.

Q is for... Quick

Lyrics: Live To Tell

Although she is a multi-million pound artist Madonna often writes and records very quickly. Lyrics are normally written in a few hours and in some cases the vocals are kept fresh by being taped in early sessions. In fact the vocal for Live To Tell, which reached no 1 in the US and no 2 in Britain, was recorded only once, directly after the song was written.

R is for... Ray of Light

Lyrics: Ray Of Light

The longevity of Madonna's career can possibly be attributed to one trait: the ability to re-invent herself musically by striving for the truth. Although Madonna has been in touch with the dance scene since her early days, the post-disco form of Holiday is a long way from today's modern beats. However teaming up with producer William Orbit for the 1998 album Ray of Light allowed a new generation of fans to appreciate the star. Combining electronic music and sound effects with her own brand of pop brought Madonna back to the top of the charts, as well as rave reviews in many music circles. Of the album Madonna says she wanted to merge techno with emotional, intimate songs. She also took "a leap of faith" in allowing some of the production choices to be Orbit's.

S is for... Sean

Madonna married Sean Penn, the actor, on her 27th birthday in 1985. They met on the set of Material Girl and although the marriage only lasted four years and according to the press at the time was full of conflict, Madonna recently confessed that she didn't regret one minute of it. During the marriage Madonna was highly influential in Penn's career, helping him to make acting choices and recording songs for her husband's films.

T is for... True Blue

Lyrics: Open Your Heart La Isla Bonita True Blue

The 1986 album True Blue contained five hit singles including the title track and was Madonna's best to date at that time. As well as Live to Tell which had already been a chart topper, Open Your Heart and the mediterranean-evoking La Isla Bonita continued her success. But as usual it was the controversy around the first single which kept Madonna in the news and on the sales sheets...

U is for... Unwed Mothers

Lyrics: Papa Don't Preach

When Madonna sang she was "keeping her baby" on Papa Don't Preach the pro-life lobby suddenly hailed her as a heroine of the anti-abortion movement. Groups like the influential Washington Wives, who had previously denounced Madonna, welcomed the song as a way for parents and teenagers to discuss pregnancy. On the other hand groups which advocated sexual equality called for Madonna to publicly state that other options such as abortion and adoption were available to young pregnant girls... Ten years later Madonna became an unwed mother herself but by then attitudes had changed and birth out of wedlock, in Britain at least, was almost as common as babies born within marriage. Had Papa Don't Preach contributed to this state of affairs? Maybe...

V is for... Vogue

Lyrics: Vogue

With such a big gay following it's hardly surprising that Madonna should take inspiration for one of her biggest hits from gay culture. Vogue was a dance that was popular in gay clubs of the late eighties where participants struck a pose as a expression of their individuality. Competitions to find the best performer were common and in at least one incident led to the fatal stabbing of a winner by one of the losers. Originally the song was recorded to be the b-side of the final US single from Like A Prayer, Keep It Together. However there was such a buzz in the record company from everyone who heard it, that instead it was released as a single in its own right. Vogue topped the chart in both the US and Britain and gave Madonna a great vehicle for expression in video, TV and live shows.

W is for... Who's That Girl?

Lyrics: Who's That Girl?

Who's That Girl? was one of Madonna's lesser films with four Madonna tracks on the soundtrack, basically a mini-album between True Blue and Like A Prayer. The title song hit number one in both Britain and the US but the film, another madcap comedy, was rather less well-received. The video did feature a cute cartoon animation of Madonna however...

One of Madonna's early films however is figured by many to be her best. Desperately Seeking Susan co-starring Rosanna Arquette and directed by Susan Seidelman was a screw-ball comedy in which Madonna is the sought-after Susan of the title. Arquette is Roberta, a bored New Jersey housewife who seeing a newspaper ad tracks down the elusive Susan and buys her jacket little knowing that the baddies are about to make an error of mistaken identity. Full of eighties fashion this film probably looks dated but Arquette won a Bafta, and Madonna lots of kudos just for playing her rock-star persona.

X is for... X-Partners

Through the years Madonna has been romantically linked according to press reports with many men (and a few women). The more famous include actors Warren Beatty and of course Sean Penn, musicians Vanilla Ice, Prince and Michael Jackson, comedian Sandra Bernhard, and member of the US "royal" family, John F Kennedy Jr. Her present man is British director Guy Ritchie who was behind Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. They married in December 2000 and first met at a party thrown by Sting's wife Trudie Styler, and despite a short "break" in 1999, it seems her present love for London is due mostly to the relationship. Ritchie is the father of Madonna's son Rocco.

Y is for... Yeah, Baby, Yeah!

Lyrics: Beautiful Stranger

Showing that she can be sexy and have a sense of humour, Madonna's Beautiful Stranger video for the obscenely titled The Spy Who Shagged Me film, is one of her best. Evoking the swinging sixties of London both musically and visually, this song topped the UK charts in 1999. Michael Myers guests as Austin Powers in the video, cheekily echoing Madonna's moves on stage and fantasising about taking her for a ride... in his car. The song won the Grammy for best song written for a motion picture category and is, for me, the best recording she's made in a decade.

Z is for... Zodiac

Is Madonna a Virgo? Sadly she misses being one by eight days and is a Leo instead... Perhaps that's the inspiration for her current hair-cut?

Seriously, thanks for reading this mixed-bag of biography, discography and opinion. It's not the definitive A to Z on Madonna by any means so if you have any suggestions for changes and additions then please let me know by visiting the contact page.