Madonna

Madonna may now reside in an English manor with a British accent, but the Material Girl arrived in New York as a teenager with only $35 in her pocket.

Madonna Louise Ciccone had moved to the Big Apple to be a dancer, and paid the bills by waitressing at Dunkin’ Donuts. Two years later she got her first taste of life as a musician when she joined a band called Breakfast Club. Soon after, Madonna worked on the 'Everybody' demo with her then-boyfriend Stephen Bray. The track impressed label representatives so much they made it became her very first single.

It was Madonna’s 1984 sophomore album, 'Like a Virgin', that propelled the Detroit-raised singer to fame. Twelve million copies were sold and MTV chose Madonna to perform at their first ever VMAs. Her trademark look at the time – lace gloves, rosaries and her 'Toy Boy' belt – has since become synonymous with the eighties. Madonna’s third album, 'True Blue', cemented her status as a superstar with three number one singles ('Papa Don’t Preach', 'Live to Tell' and 'Open Your Heart').

If people hadn’t noticed her yet, Madonna changed that with 'Like a Prayer' and its infamous music video featuring a black priest in a relationship with the singer. Criticism didn't hindered the success of 'Like a Prayer', the album reached number one on the Billboard charts and producing three hit singles. The accompanying 'Blonde Ambition' secured Madonna a niche in fashion history when she wore that Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra. Never staying out of hot water for long, she got into strife for simulating masturbation onstage and featuring BDSM in one video.

In 1992, Madonna released two of her most sexually explicit pieces of work – fifth album 'Erotica' and the coffee table book, 'Sex'. Despite critics claiming her career was dead from her no-holds-barred sexuality, 'Sex' still sold-out in three days and 'Erotica' moved five million copies.

Her hard image did soften considerably with her Golden Globe-winning role in the critically-acclaimed 'Evita' and the birth of first child to Carlos Leon. Her next two albums, 'Ray of Light' and 'Music', both placed on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and won Grammys. The accompanying Drowned World Tour in 2001 grossed over $75 million and sold every single available ticket. Around this time Madonna met her former husband, film director Guy Ritchie.

Her next album, 'American Life', was unsuccessful and its singles, 'Hollywood' and 'Nothing Fails' did not chart in the US. Follow-up, 'Confessions on a Dance Floor' and 'Hard Candy', were both better received, garnering positive reviews and strong sales.

The businesswoman, author, singer, dancer, actress and fashion icon may have started out as a poor kid from Detroit, but she's since transformed herself into one of the world’s finest entertainers. One with a three decade career and album sales of over 200 million albums worldwide.

By Paige X. Cho