How Did Madonna Become Popular?

Born on August 16th, 1958, Madonna is both an actress and songwriter, but most widely known as a pop singer. She uses a lot of versatility in her music production, songwriting and visual presentation, even pushing the boundaries of what was considered socially acceptable for women during the 80s. She is a true inspiration.

Madonna incorporates various themes, including political, sexual, religious and social into her work, all of which have been both successful and failures. But what really makes her so amazing and a role model is her pride and resilience, despite her failures and traumatic experiences.

So how did she get to where she is today? Well she certainly wasn’t born into fame or fortune, but she had a passion and drive to succeed in the music industry. Here’s how Madonna became popular.

How Madonna Became Popular

Madonna became popular through her music, but most importantly her passion, drive to succeed and resilience from the media. She didn’t let anything or anyone deter her from expressing herself.

After leaving Michigan where she was born and raised, Madonna moved to NYC in 1978 to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer with just $35 in her pocket. While working at Dunkin’ Donuts, waitressing at various restaurants and even modeling nude for artists, she took classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, eventually performing at the Pearl Lang Dance Theater.

But she wrote in a short memoir for Harper’s Bazaar, “New York wasn’t everything I thought it would be. It did not welcome me with open arms. The first year, I was held up at gunpoint. Raped on the roof of a building I was dragged up to with a knife in my back, and had my apartment broken into three times. I don’t know why; I had nothing of value after they took my radio the first time.” But even though she experienced what would understandably cause anyone to pack up and go home, her passion and drive to succeed propelled her forward.

“I was defiant, hell-bent on surviving. On making it. But it was hard and it was lonely, and I had to dare myself every day to keep going.” This is what every struggling artist or even person needs to hear. Such a strong-willed, independent woman doesn’t let anything stop her from fulfilling her dream, despite all odds against her.

In her free time, Madonna performed as a musician with her then boyfriend, Dan Gilroy, as a singer, drummer and guitarist in the rock band Breakfast Club, followed by the rock band Emmy with a later boyfriend, Stephen Bray.

Ironically, she told CNN, “People would hear me sing and they’d say, ‘Hey, your voice isn’t bad.’ And I’d say, ‘Oh really?’ I mean, I never had any training. I never wanted to be a singer.” If only she knew at the time what her voice would do for her.

After writing two songs with Bray and recording a four-song demo tape in November 1980, she wanted to promote herself as a solo artist, hiring Camille Barbone as her manager in 1981. After her tracks were picked up and admired by DJ and record producer Mark Kamins, he arranged a meeting with Madonna and Seymour Stein, the founder of Sire Records.

Madonna signed her first deal with Sire, releasing her first debut single in 1982, “Everybody”. This was where her career took off.

But she didn’t let go of her passion for dancing; she performed at Danceteria in New York and Camden Place in London.

Pushing Social Boundaries

Following the release, she made her first appearance on the national TV show, Dancin’ On Air, where she pushed the boundaries on pop culture, saying “fuck”, used erotic and religious choreography. Obviously, she was trying to say something, “Women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they’re not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don’t follow the rules. I never did, and I’m not going to start,” she told Rolling Stone. “So if I have to be the person who opens the door for women to believe and understand and embrace the idea that they can be sexual and look good and be as relevant in their 50s or their 60s or whatever as they were in their 20s, then so be it.” Preach it, like a prayer!

Madonna also reminds me of Cyndi Lauper, in which they were both raped at a young age, struggled to make it into fame, proud to wear eccentric makeup and clothing, and not settling for anything less than what they deserved. Such strong, powerful women, they are a true inspiration for countless young women and girls, which was a big reason on how they rose to fame.

In March 1983, she released her second hit single, “Burning Up”, which, along with “Everybody”, rose to number three on Billboard magazine’s Hot Dance Club Songs Chart.

First Album Release: Madonna

On July 27, 1983, Madonna, her first hit album, was released by Warner Bros. Records. But the pop legend still wasn’t happy with it and disagreed with producer Reggie Lucas’ techniques. This is another perfect example of why Madonna is such an inspiration to many. If she doesn’t like something, she doesn’t throw it under the rug and forget about it; she searched for a solution to make it better.

Her then boyfriend, John “Jellybean” Benitez, the resident DJ at Fun House, helped her to finish the album’s production. He remixed most of the tracks and produced “Holiday”, the third and legendary single, which became an international top ten song.

Madonna peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 just six months after its release in 1984. Two other singles, “Borderline” and “Lucky Star” had also made the Billboard Hot 100 as Madonna gained exposure through her performances on American Bandstand and Top of the Pops in January 1984.

Fashion Influence

As her pop music spread around the world, her choice in clothing also set the trend for 1980s fashion. Her music videos also influenced young girls and women as they dressed in neon leggings, fishnet stockings, crucifix jewelry, lace tops, bleached hair and numerous bracelets. But even though Madonna sported the look well, the trend was actually invented by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol.

Second Album Release: Like a Virgin

Like a Virgin was released on November 12, 1984 and immediately became the number-one album in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, New Zealand, the UK and of course, the United States. It also became the first female album to sell over five million copies in the United States alone. Since then, it was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold over 21 million copies around the world.

The album’s title track, “Like a Virgin”, was its first single and topped the Hot 100 chart for six weeks. But it also received significant criticism from conservative organizations, claiming the music video promoted premarital sex and disregarded family values. Many of them even made attempts to have the video banned.

On the other hand, her performance of “Like a Virgin” at the first 1984 MTV Music Video Awards won her many popularity points as she wore a wedding dress and white gloves, coming out on top of a wedding cake and rolling around on the floor.

MTV considered the performance one of the “most iconic” pop performances of all time as her second single, “Material Girl” reached number two on the Hot 100. While making the music video for the hit song, she started dating the actor, Sean Penn, and married him on her birthday in 1985.

The Virgin Tour

As of April 1985, even though she was wildly popular, Madonna was just getting started. She embarked on her first concert tour, The Virgin Tour, throughout North America, with the Beastie Boys as her opening act. It didn’t take long before she noticed all the fans dressing like her, gushing in their lace tops, neon leggings, crazy hairstyles and excess jewelry.

Even during her tour, Madonna found time to release two more hit singles, “Angel” and “Dress You Up”, making each of the four singles peak on the top five of the Hot 100 chart.

It was also during this time in July 1985 where Penthouse and Playboy purchased and published some old nude photos of her, causing a media uproar.

In 1978, she moonlighted as an art model to make what little money she could, for as low as $25 per session. But this was where she showed her strength and resilience yet again and under pressure by telling everyone during the 1985 Live Aid charity concert that she would not take her jacket off because the media “might hold it against me ten years from now.” She never felt ashamed or embarrassed because she was only doing what she had to in order to survive. How can you blame her for that?

True Blue Album

After The Virgin Tour, Madonna released her third studio album in June 1986, which was inspired by and dedicated to her husband, Sean Penn. Rolling Stone even said the album “sounds as if it comes from the heart. Five singles from the album were also released, “Live to Tell”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, “True Blue”, “Open Your Heart”, and “La Isla Bonita” – all of which reached number one in the United States and United Kingdom.

True Blue topped the charts in 28 countries and was Madonna’s best-selling studio album at the time, with over 25 million sales worldwide. It was also featured as the best-selling album by a woman of all time in the 1992 edition of Guinness World Records.

Movies: Shanghai Surprise, Goose and Tom-Tom, Who’s That Girl

In 1986, Madonna joined the film industry with the help of Penn, starring in the poorly made film, Shanghai Surprise, for which she received her first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. She also starred with Penn in the play Goose and Tom-Tom.

But even with the horrible reviews and Worst Actress award, her persistence led her to be featured in the 1987 film Who’s That Girl and even contributed four songs to the soundtrack, including the title track as well as “Causing a Commotion”.

Later that year, Madonna performed in the Who’s That Girl World Tour from June through September as they broke various attendance records with over 130,000 people in a show close to Paris, setting a new record for the highest-attended female concert of all time. A few months later, she released a new album of past hit remixes, titled You Can Dance which reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200. She also filed for an annulment in December 1987, which turned into a divorce from Penn in January 1989, due to irreconcilable differences. She certainly don’t need no man!

Endorsement with Pepsi and Like a Prayer

Following her divorce, she signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi, where she debuted “Like a Prayer” in one commercial which also became a music video. Despite its huge success with the fans, the video features Catholic Symbols, including stigmata, cross burning and even a dream of making love to a saint, all of which caused the Vatican to condemn the video. Religious groups also fought to ban the commercial and even boycott Pepsi products. Fearful of losing profits, Pepsi reacted by revoking the commercial and canceling her contract. But “Like a Prayer” still topped the charts in various countries, becoming No. 7 on the Hot 100.

After co-writing and co-producing Like a Prayer with Patrick Leonard, Stephen Bray and Prince and its release on March 21, 1989, Rolling Stone praised it “As close to art as pop music gets…proof not only that Madonna should be taken serious as an artist but that hers is one of the most compelling voices of the Eighties.” The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 15 million copies around the world. Other popular singles from the album included “Express Yourself”, “Cherish”, “Dear Jessie”.

By the end of the 80s, MTV, Billboard, and Musician magazine named Madonna as the “Artist of the Decade”.

Success in the 90s

With all her tours, albums and dancing, Madonna never took a break. She kicked off the 90s starring as Breathless Mahoney in Dick Tracy (1990) with Warren Beatty. This was her first successful film as it hit number one on the US box office for two weeks as she won a Saturn Award for Best Actress. She also contributed a soundtrack album, I’m Breathless, in which the songs were inspired by the 1930’s setting. The number one songs were, “Vogue” and “Sooner or Later”. She also had a short-term relationship with Beatty, who played the starring role of Dick Tracy.

By April of that year, she took off on her Blond Ambition World Tour until August. Rolling Stone called it an “elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza”, proclaiming it “the best tour of 1990.” Again, it received a lot of negative feedback from religious groups, which were expected of course. So Madonna responded, “The tour in no way hurts anybody’s sentiments. It’s for open minds and gets them to see sexuality in a different way. Their own and others”. The live recording of the tour even won her her first Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. Apparently some people liked the video!

At the end of 1990, Madonna released her first greatest-hits compilation album, The Immaculate Collection, with two new songs, “Justify My Love” and “Rescue Me”. The album was also certified diamond by RIAA and sold another 31 million copies around the word, becoming the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist in history.

But although it reached number one in the US as her ninth number one single at the time, her music video of “Justify My Love” was too sexually explicit to be featured on MTV.

In May 1991, her first documentary film, Truth or Dare, which chronicled her Blond Ambition Tour, became the highest-grossing documentary of all time at the time.

Maverick

In 1992, Madonna founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, which consisted of:

• A film production company, Maverick Records
• Associated music publishing
• Television broadcasting
• Book publishing
• Merchandising

This company would become one of the most successful artist-run labels in history, producing multi-platinum artists including Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch.

Part of what made Maverick successful was that it was under total artistic control, which gave Madonna 20% royalties from the music proceedings, the highest rate in the industry at that time, which was equal only to Michael Jackson’s royalty rate a year later with Sony.

1992 and Onward

In 1992, Madonna continued to star in various movies, release more albums, including Erotica, which was paired with her own coffee table book, Sex. Nice, right?

Despite the uncomfortable vibe it might give off in everyone’s living room, it sold 1.5 million copies at a whopping $50 each in just a few days. With sexually provocative and explicit pictures, it received a ton of positive reviews. But the general public still disagreed, which resulted in her first studio album not to top any charts in the United States.

But of course, Madonna didn’t let this negative feedback sway her character in any way. This was something that her fans certainly appreciated.

From the 90s and onward, she was well established in her career, releasing new albums, movies, going on world tours and even establishing more organizations. This woman was not only fearless, but unstoppable. Here are her biggest achievements:

• Net worth is estimated between $590 million to $800 million
• Sold over 300 million records worldwide
• Acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the best-selling female music artist of all time
• Labeled by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the third highest-certified female albums artist in the United States
• Most RIAA multi-platinum albums by a female artist, with 12 releases
• Most certified artist of all time in the UK
• Highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time, with over $1.5 billion earned from concert tours throughout her career
• Ranked by Billboard Boxscore as the third highest-grossing touring act of all time, with ever $1.31 billion in concert gross since 1990
• The only woman in history with two solo concerts attended by 100,000 people
• 7 Grammy Awards and 20 MTV Video Music Awards, including the 1986 Video Vanguard Awards, becoming the first female recipient
• Ranked by Billboard as the most successful solo artist in the Hot 100 chart history and most successful dance club artist of all time
• Scored 38 top 10 singles on the Hot 100, more than any other female artist in history and even all artists until being overtaken by Drake in 2020
• Holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist in Australia, Canada, Italy, Ireland, Finland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Madonna’s Early Life

So clearly now, you know Madonna has been a big deal since the 80s. But before then, life was hard. She was born in Bay City, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, and lived with her Catholic parents Madonna Louise and Silvio Anthony “Tony” Ciccone. She grew up in the neighboring suburbs of Detroit, Pontiac and Avon Township (now known as Rochester Hills), with her two older brothers, Anthony and Martin and three younger brother and sisters, Paula, Christopher and Melanie.

As a child, she was called “Little Nonnie” by her family members since she had the same name as her mother. But her confirmation name was Veronica after being confirmed in the Catholic Church in 1966.

Rebel Child

Sadly, her mother died of breast cancer on December 1, 1963, when she was just five years old. But before then, she didn’t understand her mother’s medical condition at the time and turned to her grandma for empathy.

Madonna and her siblings became traumatized by her mother’s death as she also feared she’d lose her father as she refused to sleep unless she was near him. But even though he never left, Tony married the family’s housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, whom Madonna resented, despite having two kids together, Jennifer and Mario. This would put a strain on her and her father’s relationship for years.

Straight A Student, but Strange Behavior

In school, Madonna was a straight A student, but also had some unconventional behavior. She would do cartwheels and handstand in the hallways and dangle by her knees from the monkey bars at recess, even pulling up her skirt to show the boys her underwear!

Madonna later explained in an interview with Vanity Fair that she saw herself as a “lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn’t rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn’t shave my underarms and I didn’t wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades… I wanted to be somebody.” If only she knew at the time what she would become.

Discovery of Passion for Dance

Madonna first took classical piano lessons, but she managed to convince her dad to let her take ballet lessons instead. It was her teacher, Christopher Flynn, who recommended and persuaded her to pursue a career in dance.

While attending Rochester Adams High School, she was again a straight A student and on the cheerleading team. After graduating, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan and studied over the summer at the American Dane Festival in Durham, NC.

But in 1978, she dropped out of college to move to New York City to pursue her career, the bravest and best decision she ever made.

Madonna Today

Now in 2021, being the well-established artist she is to say the least, her most recent works are from her and Missy Elliott providing guest vocals on Dua Lipa’s single “Levitating”, from Lipa’s 2020 remix album Club Future Nostalgia.

On August 7th, 2020, she posted a video on her Instagram where she discussed ideas for a script with screen writer Diablo Cody, followed by confirming during an Instagram livestream there would be a film written on her life to be produced by Amy Pascal.

Her most recent album was Madame X, released on June 14, 2019, which was inspired by experience living in Lisbon, Portugal, where she met Dino D’Santiago, who introduced her to fado, morn and samba music in “living room sessions.” The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 and became her ninth number-one album there. Each of the singles, “Medellín”, “Crave”, “I Rise” and “I Don’t Search I Find” topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, which extended her record for most number-one entries on the chart.

What Do You Think of Madonna?

What do you like most about Madonna? Was it her passion, drive to succeed, music or all of the above? What was your favorite album? Song? I personally loved her for her resilience and fearlessness, especially by the media as well as her song “Vogue” and “4 Minutes”, featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

As usual, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!