Madonna Ciccone
Known simply by her first name Madonna, is an American pop singer-songwriter, record and film producer, film director, dancer, actress, author and a fashion icon.
Steve Bray: "If people feel exploited by Madonna - that's resentment of someone who's got drive. It seems like you're leaving people behind or you're stepping on them, and the fact is you're moving and they're not... Madonna doesn't care if she ruffles someone's feathers."
Joe Henry: "I've known her since I was 15 and she was 17, longer than I've known my wife. We have had a great relationship, and part of that was because I never needed anything from her. I recognised that we were in two different occupations. Not to disparage one ounce of her musicality, I was always of the belief that her persona was her career. Whether she was making a movie or writing a song or punching a photographer, it was all pushing a persona forward, and that was the real body of work. I was never tempted to slip a song to her at thanksgiving."
Shirley Manson: "I turned round and it's Madonna, and I'm thinking, 'Fucking hell, it's Madonna!' But I say 'hi' and she grabs my hand and she gives me the famous blink and says, 'I think you're amazing' in that tiny voice she has. And I'm thinking, 'OK, try and be cool, this is possibly the biggest pop icon of our life, be cool'. I tried to say something even remotely understandable and instead just garbled my words. I had high heels on and I hardly ever wear high heels, and I lurched towards her, and I could see the alarm on her face, thinking 'who the hell is this?' And I lurched off flustered without even saying goodbye. I always blow my big moments"
I"'ve never really lived a conventional life, so I think it's quite foolish for me or anyone else to start thinking that I am going to start making conventional choices."
Jamie King: "She's confident, sensual and strong, but I like to bring out her vulnerability as well."
"Maybe I'm just a gay man inside a woman's body!" (Talking to Michael Parkinson in November '05 interview)
Sting: "She's outrageous, she's provocative, she's inscrutable. And over the years, we've all been witnessed to her evolution, from street smart kid sister to virgin bride, from sex goddess to a yogi. Her mind is as celebrated as her body, she's as feared as she's desired, she leads while others follow... A woman who is all woman, and all women."
"Now that I got everyone's attention, what do I have to say?" (VH1 Behind The Music)
Fabian Baron: "She's very imposing and knows what she wants. She's very informed and opinionated, which makes her genius. She takes you in and swallows you up—and you don't mind it, you actually enjoy it. There's an unspoken seduction that goes on. I was young, She was young, too, and beautiful. She knows what she's doing. And such drive. Some people want to lift stones and see what's under it. She'll be on a beach with millions of stones and want to lift every one of them."
Kelly Osbourne: "I've always been a huge, huge, huge fan of Madonna, but it completely changed my whole opinion of her -- made me like her even more once I met Lola because she's done a fantastic job with her. Madonna is one of my idols and my first single I ever released was a cover of 'Papa Don't Preach.' To have it come full circle -- now I'm actually doing something with her and her daughter -- it's just kind of like... ahhh!""
I have a cage
It's called the stage
When I'm let out
I run about
And sing and dance and sweat and yell
I have so many tales to tell
I like to push things to the edge
And inch my way along the ledge
I feel like God, I feel like shit
The paradox, an even split
It's just a job, I always say
I should be grateful everyday
Sometimes I think I just can't do it
But I persist and I get through it
And I console myself each night
At least my cage is filled with light.
"I don't care if you have a small dick, as long as you know how to use that stick." (From The Girlie Show)
"What else is there for me to conquer? Hopefully my ego. How will I know when I've succeeded? When I stop caring what anyone thinks." Q Magazine May 2008
"Come on girls! Do you believe in love? Cause I got something to say about it." (Lyric From Express Yourself).
Jonathan Ross: "Madonna, the original MILF."
Seymour Stein: "I was in the hospital, I had her come see me in the hospital, we talked a deal in the hospital and we did the deal in the hospital. Within days, even before I got out of the hospital, she was starting to record what became her first single, Everybody, and we were off and running. I saw her staunch determination and I knew she would work as hard as I did and much harder, in fact. And that's what you need in an artist. She worked harder than anybody. I just saw her perform in Berlin, and she still works harder than anybody."
Emmanuelle Seigner: "I like her boss and ultra-feminist side. I hate the concept of "femme-objet", and the idea that women are still maltreated in certain parts of the world irritates me."
David Tennant: "She's quite extraordinary. When I was 14, the first single I ever bought was "Like a Virgin". She was kind of my sexual awakening. I had some full-on posters of her on my wall. I don't know what my parents thought. She still looks damn fit."
Melanie Brown: "It's easy for critics to knock celebrities who choose to adopt, but it's a good thing that Madonna's doing. Not only is she highlighting the plight of orphans in Africa, she's also giving this little girl the chance of a better life."
"When I got my first paycheck, $5'000 or something. I bought a Leger and I bought a Frida Kahlo self-portrait, but I don't know which came first. But I remember buying it and I had just gotten married and it looked completely out of place in my house in Malibu." (When asked what was the first painting she bought). Aperture Magazine 1999