Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting and visual presentation. Madonna's works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A cultural icon spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame called her one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age" in 2008. Various scholarly reviews, literature, and art works have been created about her along with an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her called Madonna studies.
True Blue is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on June 30, 1986, by Sire Records. In early 1985, Madonna became romantically involved with actor Sean Penn, and married him six months later on her 27th birthday. Additionally, she met producer Patrick Leonard while on the Virgin Tour, and formed a professional relationship with him. The first songs they created together were "Love Makes the World Go Round", and the ballad "Live to Tell", which was featured on At Close Range, a film in which Penn starred. In late 1985, Madonna and Leonard began working on her third studio album; she also enlisted the help of former boyfriend Stephen Bray, with whom she had worked on her previous record Like a Virgin (1984). Titled True Blue, the record saw Madonna co-writing and co-producing for the first time in her career. Inspired by Madonna's love for Penn, to whom she dedicated it, True Blue is a dance-pop album that features influences of Motown sound, girl groups, and Latin pop.
"American Life" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It is the title track from her ninth studio album American Life (2003), and was released digitally as the lead single from the album on March 24, 2003, by Maverick Records. It is a pop, techno and folk song written and produced by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï; the lyrics to "American Life" feature violent transitions and a political and religious view from Madonna. She questions the shallowness of modern life and the American Dream during the presidency of George W. Bush. Towards the end of the song, Madonna raps, naming the people who were working for her.
"Live to Tell" is a song by American singer Madonna included on her third studio album, True Blue (1986). Conceived as an instrumental by producer Patrick Leonard for the score of Paramount's film Fire with Fire (1986), the studio rejected it, deeming it unfit for the movie. Leonard then presented the track to Madonna, who decided to use it for At Close Range, a film starring her then-husband Sean Penn. She wrote the lyrics, came up with a bridge and a few melodies of her own, and co-produced the track alongside Leonard. A pop ballad with torch influences, its lyrics talk about deceit, mistrust and childhood scars.
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album True Blue (1986). Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch created it as an instrumental demo and offered it to singer Michael Jackson, who turned it down. When Leonard met Madonna to start working on True Blue, he played the demo for her. Madonna came up with the title, wrote the lyrics and produced the song with Leonard. It is her first song with Latin influences. Its instrumentation features flamenco guitar, Latin percussion, maracas, and includes four lines sung in Spanish. The lyrics talk about an island named San Pedro, whose location has been debated. Madonna said the song was her tribute to Latin Americans.
American singer Madonna has released 14 studio albums, three soundtrack albums, six live albums, seven compilation albums, and 39 other limited releases. Recognized as the world's best-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records, Madonna has accumulated a total record sales of more than 300 million units worldwide, with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) confirming in 2006, that Madonna's albums alone had sold over 200 million copies worldwide. She is ranked by the RIAA as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and third highest-certified female artist in the United States, with 65.5 million album units. She holds the all-time record for the most number-one albums by a female artist in major music markets such as Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
"Sodade" is a Cape Verdean song written in the 1950s by Armando Zeferino Soares, and best popularized by Cesária Évora on her 1992 album Miss Perfumado. The name is the Cape Verdean Creole variant of the Portuguese term saudade.
Rebel Heart Tour is the fifth live album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, chronicling her tenth worldwide concert tour of the same name, recorded at the Sydney SuperDome. It was released on September 15, 2017 by Eagle Vision on DVD and Blu-ray formats and by Eagle Records for audio versions. Rebel Heart Tour also contains bonus content like excerpts from the Tears of a Clown show (2016) at Melbourne's Forum Theatre, as well as a 22-song double CD. Danny Tull and Nathan Rissman, who had worked on Madonna's previous concert films, directed Rebel Heart Tour.
"Crave" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna and American rapper Swae Lee, from the former's fourteenth studio Madame X (2019). The song was written by the two artists and Starrah, while production was handled by Madonna, Mike Dean, and Billboard. It was released by Interscope Records for digital download and streaming as the album's second single on May 10, 2019. The song has been noted as a pop, trap, and hip hop ballad inspired by Fado music, with the lyrics talking about desire and craving for someone who's running away. It was one of the first songs Madonna wrote for Madame X, but she put the work on hold when she began working with other musicians in Lisbon. When she revisited the song, Madonna came to the conclusion that a male voice was needed for inclusion and approached Swae Lee to sing with her, as she was a fan of his voice.
Madame X is the fourteenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on June 14, 2019, by Interscope Records, as Madonna's final album with the label. The record was creatively influenced by her expatriate life in Lisbon, Portugal, after Madonna relocated there in mid-2017 to put her son David Banda into a top football academy. Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the album with a number of musicians, including Mirwais, Mike Dean, Diplo, the Picard Brothers and Jason Evigan, during a process that lasted 18 months. Madame X also features guest appearances by artists Maluma, Quavo, Swae Lee and Anitta.
"Medellín" is a song by American singer Madonna and Colombian singer Maluma released as the lead single from Madonna's fourteenth studio album Madame X (2019). The song was produced by Madonna, Mirwais, who wrote it alongside Maluma and Edgar Barrera. It was released as the lead single from the album on April 17, 2019, by Interscope Records. The song is named after the city in Colombia, in which Maluma was born, and is a Latin pop track with elements of reggaeton and dance-pop. Lyrically, it finds Madonna and Maluma reflecting on past struggles while dreaming about a trip to Medellín.
"Dark Ballet" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fourteenth studio album Madame X (2019). It was released on June 7, 2019 as the album's third promotional single. Written and produced by Madonna and longtime collaborator Mirwais, the song contains a sample from The Nutcracker (1892) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and was inspired by the historical figure Joan of Arc. It is an experimental pop and electro-gospel piano ballad, with the use of vocoder on her vocals and lyrics about rebelling against the patriarchy.
"Future" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna and American rapper Quavo, from her fourteenth studio album Madame X (2019). The track was written by Madonna, Diplo, Quavo and Starrah, and was produced by the former two. "Future" was released as the second promotional single from the album on May 17, 2019, by Interscope Records. Musically it was described as a roots reggae and hip hop song, while lyrically it deals about looking to what is ahead, celebrating the present and also contemplating the past.
"Batuka" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Madonna for her fourteenth studio album, Madame X (2019). The song was written by Madonna and her son David Banda, alongside her longtime collaborator Mirwais, while produced by Madonna and the latter of the three. It features the Batukadeiras Orchestra, an all-women group that play drums on the song. It is a batuque song with influences of Afrobeat, featuring a call and response structure, and the lyrics of the song are about "overcoming adversity".
"I Don't Search I Find" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fourteenth studio album, Madame X (2019). The track was written and produced by Madonna, alongside Mirwais Ahmadzaï. It was released to Italian contemporary hit radio by Interscope Records as the fourth single from the album on May 22, 2020. Two EPs containing several remixes had previously been released to accompany the song. It is an EDM and house influenced track that takes inspiration from Madonna's previous works, including "Vogue" (1990), Erotica (1992) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005).
"I Rise" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fourteenth studio album Madame X (2019). The song was written by the singer herself, alongside Starrah and Jason Evigan, while produced by Madonna and Evigan. It was released on May 3, 2019, by Interscope Records, as the first promotional single from the album, and later sent to Italian radio on October 4, 2019, as the album's third single, by the aforementioned label. The song is a mid tempo pop track which lyrically deals about self-empowerment and draws attention to gun violence in the United States, and contains a sample from a speech by American activist X González.
The Madame X Tour was the eleventh concert tour by American singer Madonna, in support of her fourteenth studio album, Madame X (2019). It began on September 17, 2019, at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in New York City, United States, and ended on March 8, 2020, at the Grand Rex in Paris, France. An all-theater tour, it was the singer's first time playing small venues since the Virgin Tour (1985); she had previously shown interest in doing a smaller-scale show during a 2017 interview. The tour consisted exclusively of dates in the United States, Portugal, England, and France; mobile phones and smart watches were banned from the concerts, which was met with mixed reactions from fans.
Madame X is a 2021 documentary concert film starring American singer-songwriter Madonna, chronicling her Madame X Tour. Written and produced by Madonna herself, the film was shot in January 2020 when she held her concerts in Lisbon, Portugal at the Coliseu dos Recreios. The film was directed by Ricardo Gomes and SKNX.
Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones is a remix album by American singer Madonna, released through Warner Records. Its abridged 16-track edition, simply titled Finally Enough Love, had a pre-release on streaming services on June 24, 2022, while the full 50-track edition and all physical formats were released on August 19, 2022. The album marks Madonna achieving a record 50 number ones on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, the most number ones of any artist on any single Billboard chart. The title derives from the lyrics of her 50th number one, "I Don't Search I Find". It is also the first release in a multi-year reissue campaign with Warner, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Madonna's recording career.
Claudino Jesus Borges Pereira, better known by his stage name Dino D'Santiago, is a Portuguese activist, composer, and musician of Cape Verdean descent. First appearing in Operação Triunfo, he has released several albums, both with groups such as Expensive Soul and his project Nu Soul Family, as well as solo projects. He has won various awards from organizations such as Cabo Verde Music Awards and the MTV Europe Music Awards. He has also been featured on magazines such as GQ and the Rolling Stone.
