By now, her tough, raunchy persona was coming across to international audiences and the attitude was underlined by the choice of "Like A Virgin" as a 1984 single. The track provided her with the first of her subsequent 11 US number 1s. The video to follow-up, "Material Girl", introduced one of Madonna's most characteristic visual styles, the mimicking of Marilyn Monroe's "blonde bombshell' image. By the time of her appearance at 1985"s Live Aid concert and her high-profile wedding to actor Sean Penn in the same year, Madonna had become an internationally recognized superstar.

From 1985-87, Madonna turned out a stream of irresistibly catchy transatlantic Top 5 singles. "Crazy For You", and "Into The Groove", were followed by "Dress You Up", "Live To Tell", and the transatlantic chart-topper, "Papa Don't Preach".

Separating from Penn in 1988 she went on to cause more controversy when, in 1989, the video for "Like A Prayer", with its links between religion and eroticism, was condemned by the Vatican and caused Pepsi to cancel a sponsorship deal with the star. The resulting publicity helped the album of the same name to become a global bestseller, and by 1990, her career had reached a new peak of publicity and commercial success with the extravagant costumes and choreography of the Blond Ambition world tour becoming the apotheosis of Madonna's uninhibited melange of sexuality, religion, song, and dance.

Among her hits of the early 90s were "Vogue", "Hanky Panky", "Justify My Love", "Rescue Me", and "This Used To Be My Playground". And Madonna's reputation as a strong businesswoman, in control of each aspect of her career, was confirmed in 1992 when she signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Time-Warner to set up her own Maverick production company.

The publication of her graphic and erotic book "Sex" put her back on top of the charts, though this time it was in the best selling book lists. The book was an unprecedented success, selling out within hours and needing an immediate reprint, and her attendant albums, "Erotica" and "Bedtime Stories", carried on in the same highly sexual vein.

By 1996, it seemed her need to shock had mellowed considerably with a credible movie portrayal of Eva Peron in "Evita". Later that year she gave birth to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, and returned to music in 1998 with "Ray Of Light. The album generated several transatlantic hit singles, including "Frozen", "Ray Of Light", "Drowned World", "The Power Of Good-bye", and "Nothing Really Matters".

She worked with William Orbit and French dance producer Mirwais on her next collection, "Music", the title track of which was a transatlantic chart-topper in September 2000. Shortly before the release of the album, the singer gave birth to her second child, Rocco, and in December, she married the UK film director Guy Ritchie and managed once again to grab most of the newspaper headlines.

In 2002 Madonna provided the theme song to the new James Bond movie, Die Another Day, and now in 2003 she is back with her long awaited and as always highly controversial 10th studio album "American Life". So all hail the queen of pop as she once again returns to the charts and we at MTV finally add her to our Artist Of The Week hall of fame.


HH