The first comprehensive biography of the talented devout Catholic who deceived the world by falsely adopting her love child

New York Times Editors’ Choice, One of NPR’s Best Books of the Year In this “infinitely readable” biography, award-winning author Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna (People Magazine) With her arrival on the music scene in the early 1980s, Madonna generated nothing short of an explosion—as great as that of Elvis or the Beatles—taking the nation by storm with her liberated politics and breathtaking talent. Within two years of her 1983 debut album, a flagship Macy's store in Manhattan held a Madonna lookalike contest featuring Andy Warhol as a judge, and opened a department called “Madonna-land.” But Madonna was more than just a pop star. Everywhere, fans gravitated to her as an emblem of a new age, one in which feminism could shed the buttoned-down demeanor of the 1970s and feel relevant to a new generation. Amid the scourge of AIDS, she brought queer identities into the mainstream, fiercely defending a person's right to love whomever—and be whoever—they wanted. Despite fierce criticism, she never separated her music from her political activism. And, as an artist, she never stopped experimenting. Madonna existed to push past boundaries by creating provocative, visionary music, videos, films, and live performances that changed culture globally. Deftly tracing Madonna’s story from her Michigan roots to her rise to super-stardom, master biographer Mary Gabriel captures the dramatic life and achievements of one of the greatest artists of our time.

In a career full of ‘blond ambition’, with controversy never far away, the music of Madonna has often been overshadowed, if not sorely overlooked. Across 14 albums, soundtracks and numerous greatest hits collections, the undisputed Queen of Pop has released over 80 singles spanning five decades. In this book every released track from her extensive back catalogue is examined in detail, with new insights, revelations and video information. Her role as ‘Queen of Clubs’ is also duly acknowledged, making careful note of the important remixes that have helped her rule the dance floor after her first release 40 years ago in 1982, ‘Everybody’, got her firmly into the groove. From 1984’s shiny and new ‘Like A Virgin’, to the critical acclaim of 1989’s expressive ‘Like A Prayer’ and 1998’s enlightening ‘Ray of Light’, from soundtrack work for ‘Dick Tracy’ and ‘Evita’, to collaborations with superstars Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Dua Lipa, this truly strikes a pose for any fan of the ‘Material Girl’ aka ‘Madame X’. ‘Madonna: Song By Song’ reclaims her stature as not just one of the greatest pop artists ever, but also as songwriter/producer of some of the biggest selling and most memorable songs of all time.

Perhaps the most important female entertainer of the last two decades, Madonna Louise Ciccone has led a fascinating life. This is her story.

Aggressive product placement and retail tie-ins are as much a part of moviemaking today as high-concept scripts and computer-generated special effects, but this phenomenon is hardly recent. Since the silent era, Hollywood studios have proved remarkably adept at advertising both their own products and a bewildering variety of consumer commodities, successfully promoting the idea of consumption itself. Hollywood Goes Shopping brings together leading film studies scholars to explore the complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between American cinema and consumer culture, providing an innovative reading of both film history and the evolution of consumerism in the twentieth century.

The explosive "New York Times" bestseller, written by the biographer of Princess Diana, chronicles the life of one of the most remarkable women of the century. This unauthorized biography spans two decades of Madonna's life and ranges from the scandalous to the transcendent, revealing the private woman behind the public image. of photos. Martin's Press. (May) Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Madonna has long been accepted as a pop culture icon, but this text postulates a greater cultural importance by analyzing her as a postmodern myth. This work examines how Madonna methodically discovered and constructed herself (often rewriting her past), the nature and extent of her ambition and the means she used to reach her goals. It also details the way in which she organized her own cult (borrowing from the gay community), devised her artistic output, and cunningly targeted different audiences. It also studies the fundamental contradiction--virgin or vamp? saint or prostitute?--that fuels Madonna's career and describes how Madonna reflects today's society, its contradictions and its attitudes toward sexuality and religion.