BAZA ZNANJA

Kurs: - Intermediate

Modul: Relative Clauses

Autor: prof. Gordana Matorkić

Naziv jedinice: Madonna

MADONNA

Madonna, whom you probably know as an American pop singer and actress and one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s, was born as Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in Bay City, Michigan in 1958. She started acting and dancing when she was a child. She won a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan but dropped out after two years to seek a music career in New York City, where she formed a band and began to write songs. Her first album, Madonna (1983), generated three successful singles that reached the top of the pop music charts in 1984.

The showing of Madonna’s music videos on MTV, which was the most famous music channel at the time, was a major factor in her tremendous success in the pop music scene over the next few years. Other successful albums include Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), Like a Prayer  (1989), Bedtime Stories (1994), and Ray of Light (1998). Madonna has had several major concert tours, including the 1990 “Blonde Ambition” tour.

She has taken an active business role in shaping her career, which has branched out beyond music. Her early motion-picture appearances included roles in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Who’s That Girl? (1987), and Dick Tracey (1990).

In 1992 Madonna signed a contract with Time Warner Inc to create her own record, publishing, and motion-picture company. That same year her book Sex, which contained controversial erotic photographs of herself, was published. Madonna later appeared in the films Shadows and Fog (1992), which was directed by American filmmaker Woody Allen; A League of Their Own (1992); Body of Evidence (1993); Evita (1996), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress in a musical or comedy film; and The Next Best Thing (2000).

When it comes to celebrities, people are usually interested in their love lives. During "Material Girl" video shooting Madonna met Sean Penn, whom she soon married. Madonna remembers "I was jumping up and down on my bed, performing one of my morning rituals and all of a sudden Sean gets this look in his eye and all of a sudden I knew what he was thinking. I said: whatever you’re thinking I’ll say yes to. That was his chance, so he popped the question." On the 16th of August, 1985 they married in a Malibu media circus, where 13 helicopters with paparazzi photographers were soaring in circles during the wedding ceremony. The groom Sean Penn tried to beat some paparazzi photographers, who were spying in the bushes.

Madonna`s marriage to Sean Penn officially ended on 10th of January, 1989 when Madonna - for the second time - filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. She did not get married again until just recently when she married Guy Ritchie.

Madonna is the richest woman in the world followed closely by Oprah Winfrey. She makes about 130 millions US$ for a year. Her newest album, Music, which hit the top slot, was sold in 420,000 copies in the first week in the U.S. alone. Music entered the album sales charts at No. 1, not just in the United States, but in 22 other countries, as well, including England, which we could call her new adopted home. Not bad for a 42-year-old mother of two.