TODAY IN MADONNA HISTORY: JANUARY 31, 2008

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On January 31 2008, Forbes announced that Madonna was the richest woman in music.

Forbest.com predicted that Madonna earned $72 million between June 2006 and June 2007. Madonna made her millions with the concert grosses from the Confessions Tour, merchandising revenue, fragrance deals, album sales, her fashion line with H&M and a deal with NBC to broadcast her concert performance at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Barbra Streisand ranked No. 2 with $60 million in earnings thanks to her comeback tour of Europe and North America.

Celine Dion ranked No. 3 with $45 million in earnings thanks to her successful residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Today in Madonna History: November 14, 2008

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On November 14 2008, Steven Meisel shot the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2009 collection photoshoot, featuring Madonna, at Café Figaro in Los Feliz, California.

Madonna transformed into Marc Jacob’s vision of the quintessential Parisienne, striking provocative poses in the season’s sexy short skirts, ethnic-inspired sandals and animal-print bangles.

“I wanted the campaign to be very bold, very sensual and very atmospheric. To carry off all these references and all this sophistication, we needed the ultimate performer – and for me, that is Madonna,” stated Jacobs.

Stylist: Marie-Amélie Sauvé
Makeup: Pat McGrath
Hair: Garren

Today in Madonna History: August 2, 2008

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On August 2 2008, the second single from Madonna’s Hard Candy album, Give It 2 Me, debuted at #2 on the Hot Dance Singles Chart in the USA. The single would go on to spend 3 non-consecutive weeks at #1.

Here’s the AllMusic.com review of the single by Anthony Tognazzini:

Madonna’s Hard Candy continued the electronica-oriented, disco-centric vibe she began with Confessions on a Dance Floor, and Give It 2 Me, the album’s second single, is a case in point. Co-written and co-produced by industry heavyweight Pharrell Williams, Give It 2 Me pulses, surges, and sashays with all the pop smarts that her fans expect from Madonna.

The Give It 2 Me maxi-single contains 8 remixes of the song from artists as diverse as Paul Oakenfold, Freddie Le Grand, and Sly & Robbie (whose dancehall interpretation of the track truly takes it someplace new). The remixes highlight the song’s incessant danceability, and should have any Madonna fan, especially those of Hard Candy, gyrating with pleasure.

Today in Madonna History: July 14, 2008

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On July 14 2008, Madonna and Guy Ritchie were featured on the cover of People Magazine with the caption: “Madonna & Guy Ritchie – Is It Over?”

Here’s a snippet of the article inside by Joe Artolomeo:

For the past five months, it’s been the same story: While Madonna is on one continent making music, working on her Malawi documentary or planning her upcoming tour, her husband, Guy Ritchie, is in another part of the world tending to his own needs. Every few months they reunite—for a photo op, at least. The weekend of June 28 was no different. Madonna was in New York City taking a break from rehearsals to attend services at the Kabbalah Centre with her kids Lourdes, Rocco and David; meanwhile, in London Ritchie was also attending Kabbalah services and spending time with family friend Trudie Styler. On Monday, June 30, he boarded a flight bound for New York City—and his wife.   This time the reunion had a sense of urgency. The British press had spent the past five days reporting that Madonna, 49, and Ritchie, 39, had consulted separate divorce lawyers (she chose Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney, said The Times and the Daily Mirror), a story that had first surfaced in early June. They pointed out that neither was wearing a wedding band and noted that during their last public appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, the couple appeared unhappy. When asked if Madonna and Ritchie are breaking up or even just having problems, Madonna’s rep Liz Rosenberg—who only recently insisted the couple were still happily married—told PEOPLE, “No comment.”

Today in Madonna History: July 11, 2008

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On July 11 2008, Benny Benassi was announced to be the opening act for Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet shows in Rome on September 6th (2008).

Today in Madonna History: June 12, 2008

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On June 12 2008, Simon & Schuster announced that Madonna’s younger brother, Christopher Ciccone, would be writing a memoir about his famous sister.

“Ciccone’s extraordinary memoir is based on his life and 47 years of growing up with and working with his sister-the most famous woman in the world,” the company said in a press release.

The publishing house ordered a first printing of 350,000 copies of Life With My Sister, to be released on July 15, 2008.

When asked, Madonna’s publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said there would be no comment “at this time.”

Have you read Christopher’s book on Madonna? What did you think?

Today in Madonna History: June 5, 2008

On June 5 2008, Madonna added a fourth Sticky & Sweet Tour show at New York’s Madison Square Gardens for October 12.

In total, Madonna enjoyed four sell-out shows at Madison Square Garden, generating $11.5 million in ticket sales from just under 62,000 fans.

This gave Madonna a record breaking 23 sold-out performances at the venue since 2001, a record for a single artist in that decade.