#2 < #1 - Madonna

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan.  She is singer and actress and is the most successful female recording artist of all time with International sales of over 200 million records.

As a child she learned how to play piano, but was mostly interested in dancing so she convinced her father to let her take ballet classes where she excelled. She was a straight A student and excellent at sports but she left College after 2 years to move to New York City to pursue a career in dance. She arrived in NY with $35 in her pocket and went through a difficult period of financial problems, where she had to take many low-paying jobs to support herself. She also played in numerous bands throughout the years, where besides vocals, she could also play guitar and drums. She eventually wrote and produced a few demo disco tracks that caught the attention of Sire Records and in 1982 she was signed to a singles contract.  This led to a couple of hits that were played in Discotheques, but nothing that breached the Billboard Hot 100.

A year later she released her debut album, Madonna, and it went to number 8 on the album charts and had 5 successful singles. The follow up, Like a Virgin, catapulted her to International fame, was her first number 1 album and she never looked back.

She began acting in mainstream films in 1985, and her first role was a club singer in the film Vision Quest.  Over the years she has developed both as an actress and a musician as her music continues to reinvent itself and she has been given more and more demanding film roles.  Her career has had its ups and downs but there is no denying her talents and popularity.

#2 < #1 - Madonna
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