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Madonna s soundtrack album I m Breathless Music from and Inspired by Dick Tracy resulted in two top 10 hits Vogue and Hanky Panky. She also produced four more hit albums True Blue 1986 Who s that Girl? 1987 You Can Dance 1987 and Like a Prayer 1989.

But as always Madonna mixed her drive for success with her penchant for scandalous behavior. It started with her controversial 1985 performance of her hit single Like a Virgin on the MTV music awards which involved writhing around suggestively onstage in a wedding dress. Then came her marriage to Sean Penn which was marred by reports of domestic violence and his assault of a photographer—behavior that landed him a month s jail time and eventually led to the couple s very public divorce. This was followed by the debut of Madonna s 1989 Like a Prayer video which was to be aired on MTV as part of a lucrative Pepsi endorsement. The video featured interracial relationship themes burning crosses and a blending of sexual innuendo and religious ideologies. As a result of the video Pope John Paul II urged fans not to attend her concerts in Italy and Pepsi pulled their endorsement of the star.

Despite the public outcry Madonna had become more popular than ever. By 1991 she had achieved 21 Top 10 hits in the United States and sold more than 70 million albums internationally generating $1.2 billion in sales. Committed to controlling her career Madonna helped found Maverick Records a label under the Warner Music Group in April of 1992.

She also continued to gain attention by pushing social boundaries. First came the film Truth or Dare 1991 a revealing documentary about her Blonde Ambition tour. This was followed by the publishing of Sex 1992 a soft core pornographic coffee table book featuring the pop star in a variety of erotic poses. Despite its controversial nature Sex sold 150000 copies on the day of its release in the USA alone. Three days later all 1.5 million copies of the first edition were sold out worldwide making it the most successful coffee table book ever released. The album Erotica 1992 was unveiled at the same time and proved equally successful by the end of 1993 it had reached double platinum status.

By 1996 Madonna had proven her versatility as a star in both film and music. She starred in the critically acclaimed film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita 1996. She won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture and the song You Must Love Me earned her an Academy Award for Best Music Original Song. She also became a mother that same year giving birth to Lourdes Maria Lola Ciccone Leon whom she had with her lover and personal trainer Carlos Leon.

She solidified her reinvention as the more mature family friendly Madonna when she married British director Guy Ritchie in 2000. She gave birth to their son Rocco John Ritchie the same year. She then made the move from the big screen to the London West End stage in the play Up for Grabs 2002 and wrote her first children s book The English Roses in 2003. Madonna was inducted into the inaugural UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. With the release of her 2005 album Confessions on a Dancefloor Madonna became the artist with the most gold certified singles in the U.S. beating the Beatles  long standing record.

On the eve of her 50th birthday Madonna faced fresh challenges in her personal life. She spent much of the last year fighting allegations that she circumvented traditional Malawi laws to bring home her newly adopted son David Banda whom she had been raising since 2006. Critics accused Madonna of using her vast wealth to fast track the adoption process a charge she vigorously denied. A coalition of 67 local rights groups challenged the interim custody order on the grounds that existing laws in Malawi do not allow for international adoptions. Madonna s application to permanently adopt the boy was approved by Malawai s high court on May 28 2008 the pop star s lawyer said. It s a beautiful and positive judgment Alan Chinula told reporters.Finally the court has granted Madonna full adoption rights of the boy ... It s all over thank God. She decided to adopt from Malawai again and in June 2009 after another legal battle was granted custody of Mercy James.She also denied reports she was seeking a divorce from husband Guy Ritchie and that she was romantically linked to baseball star Alex Rodriquez. In October of 2008 however

Yet her professional life continued to boom In January 2008 she was named the world s wealthiest female musician by Forbes magazine with estimated earnings of more than $72 million in the last year alone. Madonna earned much of this income from her H&M clothing line a deal with NBC to air concert footage and her Confessions tour—the highest grossing tour for a female artist to date. She also continuec to sing act and manage a number of business interests splitting her time between the U.K. and the U.S. She was the writer and executive producer of I Am Because We Are a documentary about the lives of Malawi s AIDS orphans and the arthouse film Filth and Wisdom. Her album Hard Candy was released in April 2008 and her Sticky and Sweet tour became her first major venture with concert promoter Live Nation.

In 2009 she released a third greatest hits album Celebration which became Madonna s eleventh No. 1 album in the U.K. With the release of the record Madonna tied with Elvis Presley as the solo act with most No. 1 albums in the U.K. She is currently planning the release of another live album and a new film project both set for release in 2010. Thus, continues the top of the world making.