children's books, and film directing and producing. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman. In 1992, she founded entertainment company Maverick as a joint venture with Time Warner. In 2007, she signed an unprecedented US $120 million contract with Live Nation.According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Madonna is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, with 64 million certified albums. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked her at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of the chart. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year. In 2012, she was crowned the "Greatest Woman In Music" by VH1.Contents [hide] 1 Life and career 1.1 195881: Early life and career beginnings1.2 198285: Madonna, Like a Virgin and marriage to Sean Penn1.3 198691: True Blue, Like a Prayer and the Blond Ambition Tour1.4 199296: Maverick, Sex, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Evita1.5 19972002: Ray of Light, Music and Drowned World Tour1.6 200306: American Life and Confessions on a Dance Floor1.7 200709: Live Nation, Hard Candy and the Sticky & Sweet Tour1.8 2010present: W.E., MDNA and business ventures2 Artistry 2.1 Musical style2.2 Influences2.3 Music videos and performances3 Legacy4 Discography5 Tours6 See also7 Notes8 References9 Further reading10 External linksLife and career195881: Early life and career beginningsMadonna was born in Bay City, Michigan, on August 16, 1958. Her father, Silvio Anthony Ciccone, is a first-generation Italian American (with roots in Pacentro, Italy), while her mother, Madonna Louise (nee Fortin), was of French Canadian descent.[1] Her father later worked as a design engineer for Chrysler and General Motors. As Madonna had the same name as her mother, family members called her "Little Nonni".[2][3] The third of six children from her father's first marriage, her full-blood siblings are: Martin, Anthony, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.[3] Madonna was raised Roman Catholic. Upon receiving confirmation, she adopted Veronica as an additional confirmation name.[4] She was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now part of Rochester Hills).Her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 30 in 1963.[5] Months before her mother's death, Madonna noticed changes in her behavior and personality from the attentive homemaker she was, although she did not understand the reason.[5] Mrs. Ciccone, at a loss to explain her dire medical condition, would often begin to cry when questioned by Madonna, at which point Madonna would respond by wrapping her arms around her mother tenderly. "I remember feeling stronger than she was," Madonna recalled, "I was so little and yet I felt like she was the child."[5] Madonna later acknowledged that she had not grasped the concept of her mother dying. "There was so much left unsaid, so many untangled and unresolved emotions, of remorse, guilt, loss, anger, confusion ... I saw my mother, looking very beautiful and lying as if she were asleep in an open casket. Then I noticed that my mother's mouth looked funny.