Thursday, August 9, 2007
Madonna
Early life
Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan. She was the third of eight children (her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Christopher, Paula, Melanie, Mario, and Jennifer) born to Silvio "Tony" Ciccone, an Italian-American Chrysler engineer whose parents originated from Pacentro, and Madonna Louise Fortin, who was of Québécois descent.
Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan. She was the third of eight children (her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Christopher, Paula, Melanie, Mario, and Jennifer) born to Silvio "Tony" Ciccone, an Italian-American Chrysler engineer whose parents originated from Pacentro, and Madonna Louise Fortin, who was of Québécois descent. She was raised in a Catholic family in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills). Madonna's mother died of breast cancer at age 30 on December 1, 1963. Her father later married the family housekeeper, Joan Gustafson, and they had two children together.
Madonna convinced her father to allow her to take ballet classes. Her ballet teacher, Christopher Flynn, exposed Madonna to gay discotheques. She attended Rochester Adams High School, where she was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad.
She left the University of Michigan at the end of her sophomore year in 1978 and moved to New York City to pursue a dance career. Madonna has said:
| “ | "When I came to New York it was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi-cab, the first time for everything. And I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done." | ” |
She had little money and for some time lived in squalor, working low-paying jobs including a stint at Dunkin' Donuts. She also worked as a nude model. She studied with Martha Graham and Pearl Lang, and later performed with several modern dance companies, including Alvin Ailey and the Walter Nicks dancers.
While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour, Madonna became involved with the musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club. In it, she sang and played drums and guitar before forming the band Emmy in 1980 with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray. She and Bray wrote and produced dance songs that brought her local attention in New York dance clubs. DJ and record producer Mark Kamins was impressed by her demo recordings, so he brought them to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.
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