Happy Birthday to Madonna Veronica Louise Ciccone who turns 54 today. According to Wikipedia, she has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. Considered to be one of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, she is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry. Critics have praised her diverse musical productions which have also served as a lightning rod for controversy.
Madonna burst onto the national scene around 1984, when I was a Junior in high school. Yes, I am THAT old! I spent my 18th birthday at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas at her debut Like a Virgin Tour. I still have the one Lucky Star dangle earring and black rubber bracelets I bought that night. Madonna has said of herself, "I know that I'm not the best singer and I know that I'm not the best dancer. But, I can fucking push people's buttons and be as provocative as I want. (My) goal is to break useless taboos."
She made an indelible impression on this small town girl with big city dreams and I have remained a fan since the first time I heard her music and saw her rolling around on that gondola in her infamous MTV video for Like a Virgin.
My favorite Madonna song is Dress You Up. What's yours?
