On July 22 1985, Like A Virgin was certified 5x Platinum in the US – the first solo album by a female artist to be certified for shipment of 5-million copies. The album remained a consistently strong catalogue seller well into the next decade, eventually earning a Diamond certification (the RIAA’s highest certification award) in 1998 for shipment of over 10 million copies in the US.
On April 23 1985, Madonna’s Like A Virgin album was certified 4x platinum (4 million units).
On April 21 2018, Rhino Warner released two limited edition Madonna albums for Record Store Day:
On March 23 1985, Madonna’s Material Girl hit #2 in the USA.
The US and UK 12″ singles included:
Side A: Material Girl (Extended Dance Remix) 6:05
Side B: Pretender 4:28
Material Girl also appeared on the 1990 greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, and on the 2009 greatest hits compilation, Celebration. The song was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, and Nile Rodgers produced the track.
On February 1 1985, Madonna’s music video for Material Girl premiered in the U.S. on MTV.
The Mary Lambert-directed clip was a tongue-in-cheek homage to Marilyn Monroe’s performance of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend from the 1953 film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
On January 23 1985, Madonna’s Like A Virgin album was certified 2x platinum (for sales of 2 million units) in the USA.
On November 22 1984, Madonna graced the cover of her very first Rolling Stone magazine with issue 435. Playing with the success of Like A Virgin, the headline read: Madonna Goes All The Way. Madonna went on to achieve the most covers of any female between 1984 and 2009.
Today In Madonna History 