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.
Dakota Fanning: "I got to meet her one time and she’s so beautiful in person. I’ve never seen her in concert but I would love to, on her tour. But she’s amazing and I hope that she goes for many, many more years."
Marilyn Manson: "I watched a screening of her [Madonna's] film and I was sitting right next to her, which to me was exciting still. I’m not jaded enough to not be excited by that."
"One set of circumstances does not complete you. Maybe nothing ever does. So you work on your life and you work on your 'work' and you try to live every single day like it's your last. And you try to be better, to yourself and to others. I don't always succeed. But I try and it's my goal."
"I think that life is a paradox and you have to embrace that in your work and your belief systems... you can't be a literalist, and that's the trouble that people always find themselves in. That's why people always hit a wall with any of my stuff, because you can't take it literally." Dazed & Confused magazine 29 February 2008
"You don't produce Madonna, you collaborate with her. She's a really good producer herself and obviously a great writer too. I've never worked with anyone before who is as genuine and as hands on as an artist as Madonna is. She's has her vision and knows how to get it. What's interesting with this one is that she's picked a DJ to make dance tunes for her to make songs, which is exactly what she's been doing since 1983 - hanging out with DJ's and making records."
Jessica Simpson: "I think people are ready to hear something that Madonna used to do. We all need to hear that every now and again. It wasn't a sample or something I meant to do, but she did influence me and still does today. I hope to have the longevity of her career."
Susan Sarandon: "The history of women in popular music can, pretty much, be divided into before and after Madonna."
"Beauty is where you find it." (Lyrics from Vogue)
Paul Oakenfold: "Madonna was without doubt one of the best artists I have ever worked with. She had so many fantastic ideas and really took her music seriously. You can tell that with Madonna, everything is about the music. She's a global name but still works tirelessly in the studio, puts on her best possible live gigs and puts 100 per cent into everything she does. "She's really grounded too and easy to work with."
"I am attracted to a thug. I like that quality, but I like the other side of it, too. Because all guys who go around behaving in macho ways are really scared little girls. So you have to look beneath the surface. There's a difference between my ideal man and a man that I'm sexually attracted to, believe me. Therein lies the rub." Aperture Magazine 1999
Rachel Weisz: "I think Madonna’s amazing. She constantly reinvents herself and I just went to see her art show in New York the other day and that was great."
Letterman: "I want to thank you folks for coming out for this run-through show. Thank you very much. This, of course, will never see the light of day. You won't miss a thing tonight."
Alan Parker: "She worked out her moves in the mirror the night before we’d shoot. She would work so hard. She was not someone who went out clubbing every night. She was the one who said, ‘I want to be there at 5.30 in the morning so I have enough time to get the hair and make-up right.’ So before the crew had even arrived, she would be there. By the time she arrived at the set she was smiling and she did her job. And she did her job brilliantly."
Sofia Boutella: "Amazing. It was really hard work, but it has helped me to know myself a little bit more, I really like Madonna because she is a tireless worker."
"I was sacked from Dunkin' Donuts for squirting the donuts jelly all over the customers."
Kurt Cobain: "In a way I respect Madonna for the things she introduced because she introduced some subversive things and it has nothing to do with sex as far as I'm concern, I'm talking about the introduction to the vogue dance which originated in the gay clubs in 80', and she was always supportive of stuff like that which I think is really cool."
"When I came to New York it was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi-cab, the first time for everything. And I came here with 35 dollars in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done."
"I'm not interested in being Wonder Woman in the delivery room. Give me drugs."
Christian Thielemann: "I find this woman fascinating. Not just musically... I’d like to get to know Madonna a whole lot better."
Janet Jackson: "I think she's done wonderful things. She's done great things in her career, in her life, and more power to her."HX magazine March 2008