Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (b. August 16 1958), principally known by her first name, is an American pop singer, composer, actress, dancer, author, activist, and fashion icon. She rose to prominence in the 1980s, and has become the most successful female solo artist of all time, according to Guinness World Records. She is one of a small number of singers who have been referred to as the "Queen of Pop."

Career achievements

• Madonna is probably the richest female artist in the world. According to Sunday Times Rich List of 2005, her capital is estimated at between $420 million and $450 million (£235 million).
• Madonna is the only recording artist to have a top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with at least one single from every album that has had a single released.
• Madonna — "Lucky Star" (number four)
• Like a Virgin — "Like a Virgin" (number one)
• True Blue — "Papa Don't Preach" (number one)
• Who's That Girl — "Who's That Girl" (number one)
• Like a Prayer — "Like a Prayer" (number one)
• I'm Breathless — "Vogue" (number one)
• The Immaculate Collection — "Justify My Love" (number one)
• Erotica — "Erotica" (number three)
• Bedtime Stories — "Take a Bow" (number one)
• Something to Remember — "You'll See" (number six)
• Evita — "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" (number eight)
• Ray of Light — "Frozen" (number two)
• Music — "Music" (number one)
• American Life — "Die Another Day" (number eight)

* All figures correct at September 2005.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Madonna is the most successful female recording artist of all time. She has sold over 250 million records: 75 million singles and 175 million albums (according to Warner Bros. Records 2004). Madonna's sales in U.S. were 61 million albums and 15 million singles. Madonna has sold over 14.6 million singles in the UK, more than any other female artist. Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is the highest selling, greatest hits album ever by a female artist in the world and in the U.S., with estimated ten million U.S. sales and twenty-three million worldwide sales.
• Maverick Records is the most successful "vanity label" in music history. While under Madonna's control, it generated well over $1.2 billion in sales, more than any other independent record label.
• In the U.S., Madonna, Britney Spears, Céline Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain, and the Dixie Chicks are the only female artists with multiple Diamond (shipped over 10 million copies) albums.
• Madonna is one of only nine women to have had five or more top-ten debuts on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart. The others are Barbra Streisand, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, LeAnn Rimes, Tori Amos, Britney Spears, Céline Dion and Mariah Carey.
• Madonna certification achievements (RIAA): twenty Gold, three Platinum and one Multi-Platinum singles.
• Madonna has had twelve number-one singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart; the same number as Diana Ross and The Supremes, and behind only Mariah Carey's sixteen among female artists.
• Madonna is the third oldest female to place a number one at the Billboard Hot 100. The single Music reached the number-one spot when Madonna was forty-two years one month old. She is behind Tina Turner's single, "What's Love Got to Do with It?", which made number one when Turner was forty-five years old, and Cher whose single, "Believe," reached number one when Cher was fifty-two years old.
• Madonna has had six number-two singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart, the most for a female artist, tying her with Elvis Presley for the record.
• Hot 100 Chart Records
• Madonna has the most top-five singles by a female artist on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart (27).
• Madonna has the most top-ten singles by a female artist on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart (35).
• Madonna has the most top-twenty singles by a female artist on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart (41).
• Madonna has the most top-thirty singles by a female artist on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart (43).
• Madonna has the most top-forty singles by a female artist on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart (46).
• Top 200 Album Records
• Madonna has had five number-one albums on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart, the same number as Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, and behind only Barbra Streisand's eight among female artists.
• Madonna has had five number-two albums on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart, behind only The Beatles' six and Frank Sinatra's seven.
• Madonna has had fifteen top-ten albums on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart, behind only Barbra Streisand's twenty-six among female artists.
• Every album Madonna has released has reached the top ten in the U.S. except for her two remix album EPs, You Can Dance and Remixed and Revisited.
• Madonna has had thirty-three number-one singles on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, proving her dominance in U.S., more than twice the number of her nearest rival Janet Jackson (she also has twice as many albums). Madonna has also had twenty-five number-one singles on Billboard's Hot Dance Single Sales chart, more than three times the number of her nearest rivals Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, and Notorious B.I.G.
• On the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, Madonna is the only artist in history to achieve seven top-ten hits from one album. Madonna is also the only artist ever to achieve seven consecutive number-one hits on this chart twice. (This information is according to Billboard magazine, which was published in the Q&A section.)
• Top U.K. Single Records
• Madonna has had ten number-one singles on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has had twelve number-two singles on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other artist ever.
• Madonna has had forty-five top-five singles on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other artist ever.
• Madonna has had fifty-five top-ten singles on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has had sixty top-twenty singles on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has had sixty top-forty singles on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has spent a total of twenty-one weeks at number one on the U.K. singles chart, more than any other female artist.
• From "Lucky Star" in 1984 to "Cherish" in 1989, Madonna had a record of sixteen consecutive top-five hits on the Hot 100 Billboard Airplay Chart. From "Like a Virgin" in 1984 to "Secret" in 1994, Madonna had a record thirty-four consecutive top-ten hits on the U.K. singles chart.
• All but two of Madonna's singles released in the U.K. have reached the top twenty, and all but five of them have reached the top ten.
• Top U.K. Album Records
• Madonna has had eight number-one albums on the U.K. albums chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has had four number-two albums on the U.K. albums chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has had fifteen top-five albums on the U.K. albums chart, more than any other female artist.
• Madonna has had sixteen top-ten albums on the U.K. albums chart, more than any other female artist.
• From the Evita Soundtrack in 1996 to Music in 2000, Madonna had three consecutive number-one albums on the U.K. albums chart, a record for a female artist.
• Every album, Madonna has released, has reached the top ten in the U.K.; her self-titled first album is the only one to miss the top five. (Her 2003 EP, Remixed and Revisited, was not allowed to appear on the UK album chart as it was too short to qualify as an album.)
• In the U.K., Madonna and Kylie Minogue are the only artists ever to have a number-one album and a number-one single in three different decades.
• Madonna has had more music videos played more often on MTV U.S. than any other artist.
• Madonna was voted by MTV U.S. viewers as the greatest music video icon ever on the network's Twenty-Five Greatest Video Stars.
• In 2004, Madonna became one of the five founding members of the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, joining Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Marley, and U2 as automatic inductees.
• Madonna has achieved the unique feat of having had at least one single peak at every position in the top ten of Billboard?s Hot 100 chart.
• Madonna's Evita was the highest grossing musical film of the 1990s (it also made more money than any musical film in the 1980s). It made $50,047,179 at the domestic box office and $91,000,000 overseas for an impressive worldwide box office total of $141,047,179.
• In 2003 Madonna released her first of five children's storybooks, The English Roses. It holds the world record as the fastest-selling children's picture book in history. Since then Madonna has released another four children's books, all of which have gone on to major success.
• All of Madonna's concert tours have sold out globally, making her one of the most successful live acts to ever have performed. In 2004 her Re-Invention World Tour was the most successful tour of the year, selling out globally despite ticket prices upwards of $300 US.
• Madonna is the most successful female singles artist in Canada, having amassed an astounding 17 number-one singles on the Canadian Singles Chart. Her last number-one single in Canada was "American Life" in April 2003.{{ref}}