Madonna Louise Ciccone (born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. Referred to as the “Queen of Pop” since the 1980s, Madonna is known for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music, as well as visual imagery in music videos and on stage. She has also frequently reinvented both her music and image while maintaining autonomy within the recording industry. Besides sparking controversy, her works have been praised by music critics. Madonna is often cited as an influence by other artists.
Madonna has sold more than 300 million albums in her career since debuting with her self-titled release in 1983, making her the best-selling female recording artist. Her best-sellers are The Immaculate Collection (1990, 30 million copies sold) and True Blue (1986, 25 million copies sold). Only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson have conclusively sold more albums worldwide than Madonna.
Here are some of Madonna’s records and career achievements:
- Highest ranking solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists.
- Artist with the most top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Artist with the most #1 hits on one single Billboard chart.
- Artist for the most #1s on all Billboard charts combined.
- Artist with most #2 hits on Billboard Hot 100: 6 of her singles barely missed the top spot and stranded at #2, giving her this bittersweet record.
- Female artist with most hits on the UK charts.
