Madonna Essentials
Playlist - 50 Songs
Rivaling only her teen hero David Bowie for continuous reinvention, Madonna Louise Ciccone has combined styles and images in ways both novel and groundbreaking. The Michigan native hightailed it to New York as soon as she was old enough, trying her hand at dancing and leading bands before going solo to explore a simple, almost punky take on dance music with 1983’s “Lucky Star” and 1984’s “Borderline.” She quickly began to mingle the playful and provocative with hits like 1984’s “Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl” (1985) and 1986’s “Papa Don’t Preach,” encouraging the decade’s youth to come of age right alongside her. Madonna polished off that era with 1989’s utterly self-possessed Like a Prayer—included on Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums list—which opens with the gospel lift and sweep of its evergreen title track and keeps the party going with the pure pop effervescence of “Cherish” and “Express Yourself.”
Even as she became equally known for her movie roles and other extracurricular projects in the ’90s, Madonna proved that she could still command the culture with 1990’s “Vogue” and “Justify My Love.” Her 1996 Evita breakout “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” reinforced her as a proper balladeer, but another stylistic overhaul was just around the corner with 1998’s emotional techno-pop smashes “Frozen” and “Ray of Light.” She kept pace through the 2000s and 2010s, exploring disco, electro, and more via 2000’s “Music” and 2005’s “Hung Up” as well as timely collabs with Nicki Minaj and Justin Timberlake. Through it all, Madonna has embraced change with such frequency and confidence that change has become her defining characteristic.
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