Watching her roll around onstage in a wedding dress and fishnet stockings at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, few could have predicted that Madonna would become a cultural force to be reckoned with over the next two decades.
Since that moment, the Catholic schoolgirl turned Kabbalist has made movies, launched style trends, sparked religious controversy, sold over 200 million records, and proved herself to be a savvy businesswoman.
Offstage, Madonna took on the roles of wife, mother, children’s-book author and humanitarian. In 1996, her daughter Lourdes was born, and in 2000, Madonna married British film director Guy Ritchie. The two have a son, Rocco, and adopted their son David from Malawi. In 2008, Madonna and Ritchie ended their marriage, and the Material Mom went on to adopt another Malawi orphan, 3-year-old Mercy James.