Madonna

Profession: Singer
Place/Date of Birth: Michigan USA
Associated with: Guy Ritchie

The pop queen was said to be delighted after a social worker’s report backed her bid for permanent custody of David and said she was doing an excellent job.

A pal told the paper: "Madonna organised the trip after hearing of the glowing report. The hotel will cater for her every whim."

Madonna is now said to be looking into adopting a Cambodian girl.

Madonna plans second adoption? - Jan 1 2008
Madonna is reportedly planning to adopt a child from Cambodia.

The Queen of Pop, who adopted her two-year-old son David Banda from Malawi in 2006, wants to add a little girl to her brood, reports The Sun.

The 49-year-old star - who also has two biological kids, 11-year-old Lourdes and Rocco, seven - was apparently inspired by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who adopted her first child, six-year-old son Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002.

The Hung Up singer and her filmmaker hubby Guy Ritchie have reportedly sent aides out to Cambodia to help them find a new daughter.

The paper reports that the Material Girl was initially hoping to take in another child from Malawi, but later changed her mind because of all the bureaucracy involved.

A source is quoted as saying: "Malawi is bound up in red tape and she hopes that Cambodia will be easier."

Madonna’s film to premiere at festival - Dec 31 2007
Madonna’s directorial debut will receive its world premiere during the forthcoming Berlin International Film Festival.

The pop queen’s film, Filth And Wisdom, starring Stephen Graham, Richard E Grant and Eugene Hutz, will screen in the Panorama section, outside the main competition, a festival statement said.

It is not known whether the mum-of-three will go to the German capital to promote the short film.

The event, which runs from 7 to 17 February, is the first of the year’s main European film festivals.

US star Madonna will also compete for the Panorama Audience Awards, an audience-voted honour that will be presented February 17 - the final day of the festival.

Organisers of the festival have already announced that the films it will screen at the upcoming edition include Paul Thomas Anderson’s oil epic There Will Be Blood and Errol Morris’s Abu Ghraib documentary S.O.P. (Standing Operating Procedure).

Madonna’s ’hot’ album - Dec 3 2007
Madonna’s new album is going to be "hot", according to Pharrell Williams, who has worked with the pop diva.

The 34-year-old producer and rapper, who apparently collaborated on Madge’s latest tracks along with Kanye West, is quoted by the Daily Star as saying: "It was crazy. I don’t want to say too much. I’d rather wait for you to hear it. It’s awesome though. It makes the speaker’s bleed. It’s hot!"

Next year is set to see a massive comeback from the 49-year-old queen of pop.

Her hip-hop inspired album, which features contributions from music stars Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, is apparently due to be released in early 2008.

And it is expected that Madonna will follow the launch with a world tour, as well as a special 50th birthday celebration in August. There’s also talk of a greatest hits album later in the year.

Madonna and Guy ’wonderful parents’ - Nov 5 2007
Madonna’s mother-in-law has described the singer and husband Guy Ritchie as "loving and wonderful parents".

Shireen Ritchie was speaking on ITV1’s GMTV programme, which is highlighting the thousands of children in the UK who need adoptive homes.

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Biography

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Michigan USA in 1958., the third of eight children. During her school years she was a cheerleader, excelled in dance and drama classes which gave her the love of performing that she is famous for. Moving to New York in 1977 to pursue her dream, (with a rumoured $35 dollars to her name) Madonna worked as a model and studied dance under notorious choreographer Alvin Ailey. Two years later she formed a band, The Breakfast Club and met boyfriend Steve Bray who recognised her talents immediately and helped her to create the solo dance tracks which saw her signed by Sire Records, releasing her first single, Everybody, with DJ Mark Kamins, in 1982.

The following year Madonna broke away from Kamins and recorded Holiday which went straight in to the American top 20 and was a hit across Europe. She cemented her raunchy image with Like A Virgin, her first US number one, and Material Girl with it’s iconic video. By this time Madonna was becoming one of the most emulated and best loved artists in the world and she became even more popular thanks to her part in Live Aid and a high profile marriage to Sean Penn.

The pop diva followed up her success with several singles from the True Blue album and turned her hand to acting for the first time in the poorly received A Certain Sacrifice and of course, Desperately Seeking Susan. Her first real flop was alongside her husband in the laughable Shanghai Surprise. Her failure’s in the film department didn’t stop David Mamet from casting her in a Broadway production of Speed the Plow - by this time talent or no, Madonna’s was name that guaranteed attention.

1989 saw the singer court controversy with the video for Like A Prayer, featuring a black Jesus, which outraged and shocked the Catholic church and caused Pepsi to cancel a sponsorship deal. But far from ruining her career, this stunt saw her become the icon that we know today. The 1990s were the pinnacle of Madonna’s success, her divorce from Sean Penn pushing her further in to the lime light, beginning with a part in Dick Tracy opposite Warren Beatty and a fantastic soundtrack album alongside featuring hit song Vogue. Documentary film Truth or Dare and her Blonde Ambition tour (with that pointy bra) followed with further controversy.

In 1992 she signed a multi million pound deal with Time Warner guaranteeing the release of music, films and books through her own record label, Maverick. She made the most of the deal with picture book Sex, which caused another controversy but rocketed up the bestsellers charts nonetheless. Erotica was her first album for years though not to generate a US number one. People thought that perhaps Madonna had gone too far with her need to shock, and perhaps she had realised it too as her next album was far mellower and a part in Evita in 1996 made her bankable again.

Later that year she fell pregnant with Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, daughter of her personal trainer. But far from slowing her work, having a child only seemed to spur Madonna on, she released the runaway success, Ray of Light which produced hit after hit and recorded Beautiful Stranger for the second Austin Powers movie. she also starred alongside Rupert Everett in romantic comedy The Next Best Thing.

It was around this time that Madonna met British director Guy Ritchie - the man who would change her life. They had son Rocco in 2000 and they married in 2002 after Madonna moved permanently to England, took to wearing flat caps and drinking tea. The title track of her album Music gave her a transatlantic number one hit. Collaborations with Ritchie, especially their film Swept Away, have generally been unsuccessful but Madonna’s music career continues to go from strength to strength, her latest album American Life has been a worldwide hit and she has even found time to pen a children’s book, The English Roses. Now, an honorary Brit and devout follower of Kaballah, Madonna lives with her family in Marylebone and Wiltshire. She also owns a ?4 million Spanish-style villa in Beverly Hills, a house in Miami and a duplex overlooking Central Park in New York.
(Updated April 04)
March 2008