title: Serena Williams

text: In 2008, as part of the Serena Williams Foundation's work, Williams helped to fund the construction of the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya. The Serena Williams Foundation also provides university scholarships for underprivileged students in the United States. In 2016, the Serena Williams Fund partnered with Helping Hands Jamaica to build the Salt Marsh Primary School for Jamaican youth in Trelawny Parish. She received a Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundation in 2003 for work in breast cancer. Williams has also been involved in a number of clinics at schools and community centers, particularly those which have programs focusing on at-risk youth. She has also won the "Young Heroes Award" from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater L.A. and Inland (2003) and the "Family Circle and Prudential Financial Player Who Makes a Difference Award" (2004). In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Williams, along with other ATP and WTA stars, decided to forgo their final day of preparation for the 2010 Australian Open to form a charity event in which all proceeds would go to the Haiti earthquake victims. Serena, along with her sister Venus, is a supporter and contributor of First Serve Miami, a foundation for youth who want to learn tennis but are socially and economically challenged. She has been an International Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF since 2011 and has helped launch UNICEF's Schools for Asia campaign.


title: Serena Williams

text: In addition to the Serena Williams Fund in 2016, Serena and Venus collaborated on the Williams Sisters Fund to work on philanthropic projects together. Also in 2016, in their childhood home of Compton, California Serena and Venus teamed up to found the Yetunde Price Resource Center, in honor of their late sister. The Resource Center provides services to families affected by community violence.


title: Serena Williams

text: Williams's return to Indian Wells in 2015 was done in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation to those who might have been denied a fair trial. EJI executive director Bryan Stevenson lauded her courage in supporting his organization. "It's so rare when athletes at the top of their game are willing to embrace a set of issues that, for a lot of people, are edgier", he said. "This is not aid to orphans. ... She was standing when a lot of her contemporaries remain seated, speaking up when others are being quiet."


title: Serena Williams

text: In 2014, Williams began hosting an annual charity run named "The Serena Williams Ultimate Fun Run". The event is in support of the Serena Williams Fund, which helps underprivileged individuals and communities that are affected by senseless violence and to ensure equal access to education of youth.


title: Serena Williams

text: In 2017, Williams became Ambassador for the Allstate Foundation's Purple Purse project, an initiative to provide financial empowerment to domestic abuse victims. In a press release, Vicky Dinges, Allstate's senior vice president of corporate responsibility, said, "we are thrilled to welcome Serena, a longtime advocate and role model for so many, to the Purple Purse family. Her voice will bring new audiences into this critical conversation."


title: Serena Williams

text: Other charitable organizations Williams supports include the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Hearts of Gold, the Common Ground Foundation, the Small Steps Project, the HollyRod Foundation, Beyond the Boroughs National Scholarship Fund, World Education, the Eva Longoria Foundation, the Caliber Foundation and the Cure for MND Foundation.


title: Serena Williams

text: The Williams sisters, with author Hilary Beard, wrote a book titled "Venus & Serena: Serving From The Hip: 10 Rules For Living, Loving and Winning", which was published in 2005. During the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Williams said that she was in the process of writing a TV show storyline, which would be converted into script form by her agency. She stated that the show would represent subject matter from a mix of popular American television shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Family Guy".


title: Serena Williams

text: On July 21, 2020, Williams was announced as part of a nearly all-women investors' group that was awarded a new franchise in the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of the women's sport in the U.S. The new team is set to start play in 2022. Her husband Alexis Ohanian is classified as the "lead investor", but he holds a minority interest, and is the only male in the ownership group. Other announced owners include several prominent actresses and media figures, two businesswomen, 14 former members of the U.S. women's national team, and her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian.


title: Serena Williams

text: Williams has won a record 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hard court. She holds the Open Era record for most women's singles titles at the Australian Open (7) and shares with Chris Evert the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open (6). She also holds the records for the most women's singles matches won at majors (367) and most singles majors won since turning 30 years old (10). She is the only tennis player, male or female, to win three of the four Grand Slams at least 6 times. She is also a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships in the singles division.


title: Serena Williams

text: In doubles, the Williams sisters have the third most women's doubles Grand Slam titles, behind the 18 titles of Natasha Zvereva (14 with Gigi Fernández) and the record 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Serena and Venus are the only tennis players in history with four Olympic gold medals (three in women's doubles together and one each in singles), and to win Olympic gold in the same event on three occasions. They are the only Open Era women tennis players to win Olympic Gold in both the singles and doubles categories. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Serena Williams became only the third player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at one Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody at the 1924 Summer Olympics and Venus at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Williams is the only player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.


title: Serena Williams

text: Williams as a child, her early training, and relationship to her sister Venus and family are depicted in the 2021 feature movie "King Richard", which focuses especially on Venus's teenage transition into a professional tennis player.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The sixth and final season of the AMC television series "Better Call Saul" premiered on April 18, 2022, in the United States, and concluded on August 15, 2022. The thirteen-episode season was broadcast on Mondays at 9:00pm (Eastern) in the United States on AMC and its streaming service AMC+. Each episode was released on Netflix the day after in certain international markets. The season was split into two parts; the first consisting of the first seven episodes concluded on May 23, 2022, before resuming with the second half consisting of the final six episodes on July 11. Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, Tony Dalton, and Giancarlo Esposito reprise their roles from previous seasons. "Better Call Saul" is a spin-off, prequel and sequel of "Breaking Bad" created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The sixth season picks up where the fifth left off. The first nine episodes mainly take place in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2004, four years before Jimmy McGill (Odenkirk) begins his association with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). The season shows the further evolution of Jimmy into the eponymous character, criminal defense lawyer "Saul Goodman", as he and his wife Kim Wexler (Seehorn) execute their plan to ruin the career of Howard Hamlin (Fabian) to force a resolution of the Sandpiper case. Simultaneously, it depicts the drug cartel's reactions to the assassination attempt on Lalo Salamanca (Dalton). The remaining episodes mainly take place in 2010, after the events of "Breaking Bad", and show Saul living in Omaha, Nebraska under the alias "Gene Takavic", hiding from the authorities after the demise of associate Walter White.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The sixth season was filmed over a period of eleven months in Albuquerque. Upon release, it received universal acclaim from critics, particularly for its performances, writing, visuals, emotional weight, and similarity to "Breaking Bad" compared to earlier seasons. The first half received four nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, including for Outstanding Drama Series while the second half is eligible for next year's Emmys.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: In January 2020, AMC renewed "Better Call Saul" for a sixth and final season. Showrunner Peter Gould and AMC representatives confirmed it would consist of 13 episodes, higher than the usual 10. This brought the series' total episode count to 63, one more than its predecessor "Breaking Bad". Gould stated, "From the beginning when we started this, I think all our hopes and dreams were to be able to tell the whole story... and make it to be a complete story from beginning to end... We're going to try like hell to stick the landing of these 63 episodes." Giancarlo Esposito had previously speculated in April 2019 that the series would end with a sixth season because it was the "comfortable way" to do so, similar to how "Breaking Bad" fifth and final season was split into two halves, giving the feeling that the latter half was the sixth season. Gould said he initially doubted how he could do 13 episodes because the 10-episode count of previous seasons proved physically exhausting for him, but executive producer and writer Thomas Schnauz convinced him to go for 13, saying, "You'll know it's the last 13 so you'll see the barn in the distance. You'll be like the horse that gallops down the last bit."


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: In February 2020, Gould suggested the sixth season would explore Saul Goodman's flashforwards as Gene Takavic to a greater extent than previous seasons. By April 2020, scripting for the season had already begun. Gould did not want the season to be anticlimactic, so, to deliver a satisfactory conclusion to "Better Call Saul", he brought co-creator Vince Gilligan, who also created "Breaking Bad", back to the writer's room "for a good chunk of the season". Gilligan had not been involved in the writers' room since early in season three. By December 2020, scripting was still not complete, with Gould saying the writers having to communicate through Zoom, rather than in person, was like "trying to dance in quick sand".


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: Gould later said the season would explore if there was any way for Saul to earn redemption after his criminal activities throughout the series. During filming of the season, series star Bob Odenkirk said that Gould told him that "when "Better Call Saul" is done it will shed new light... you will see "Breaking Bad" and the story of "Breaking Bad" in a different way", comparing to its final season where Gilligan had "start[ed] knocking things down and start[ed] lighting fires and burning everything down".


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: Laura Fraser, who portrayed Lydia Rodarte-Quayle in both "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul", confirmed after the announcement of the premiere date that she was unable to reprise her role for the final season. This was due to COVID-19 restrictions preventing travel between the United States and Scotland, where she lived when the final season began filming. Prior to the season premiere, it was announced that Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul would reprise their roles from "Breaking Bad" for the final season as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: During the mid-season break, it was announced that the latter half of the season would feature Carol Burnett in the role of Marion, although details about the character were not disclosed. It was also revealed that the character of Jeff, the cab driver who recognized Saul in Omaha, had been recast from Don Harvey to Pat Healy. Fans theorized this was due to Harvey's filming commitments on "We Own This City". Harvey later expressed disappointment in not being able to reprise the role due to scheduling conflicts, but praised Healy for making the character his own.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: In April 2020, Michael Mando and Tony Dalton separately said filming was scheduled to begin that September, but both were unsure if it would be delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rhea Seehorn said in July that filming would not begin until it was safe to do so. In August, producer Mark Johnson said the pandemic could limit where the series films by eschewing specific indoor locations: "Like a lot of other people, we're going to have to be very creative in where and how we shoot[...] A lot of places just won't let you in[...] We don't want everything to be a chamber piece". In the same month, Gould said filming was unlikely to start in 2020 due to the pandemic, adding that while Sony Pictures Television was doing "everything humanly" possible for the series to resume filming safely, "I think we are probably going to delay a little bit unfortunately." In October, Esposito said filming would begin in March 2021, which was echoed by Odenkirk in February 2021.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: Filming officially began on March 10, 2021, in New Mexico. Each episode was expected to take about three weeks to film, a longer filming schedule compared to previous seasons, where a typical episode was filmed in nine days. Cranston and Paul were flown in to Albuquerque and filmed their scenes in April 2021. Their roles were kept in absolutely secrecy, with both actors kept out of sight when not on set, similar to Cranston's cameo in "". They stayed in Alburquerque for four days at an Airbnb, with all wardrobe and makeup done in the home and only leaving to be taken on site to shoot. They appeared in one scene together as well as one individual scene each. The Cinnabon scenes in "Better Call Saul" are set in Omaha, but are filmed at the Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Production was predicted to last roughly eight months, but filming instead wrapped after eleven months on February 9, 2022.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: Additional filming was done in March 2022, after principal photography for the series ended, for the opening teaser of "Point and Shoot". With several crew members but no cast members on hand, the scene was filmed in Leo Carrillo State Beach, California. This was the only time the series was filmed outside of New Mexico.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: On July 27, 2021, after filming a "Point and Shoot" scene for twelve hours, Odenkirk was riding his exercise bike when he suffered a heart attack. Seehorn, Fabian, and Dalton were nearby and immediately called for help upon seeing him collapse. The shows health safety supervisor Rosa Estrada and Assistant Director Angie Meyer administered CPR and deployed an automated defibrillator; it took three attempts for his pulse to return. Odenkirk was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital, where two stents were put in his body to relieve plaque buildup. Odenkirk was treated without further surgery and took a five-week break from filming, requiring production to make accommodating schedule changes. In mid-August, Dalton said scenes not involving Odenkirk were being filmed, but Odenkirk had not yet been given clearance to return. Odenkirk confirmed by early September 2021 that he was back on set filming.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: In October 2021, a potential strike by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) would have resulted in all productions in the New Mexico film and television industry shutting down, including "Better Call Saul". Odenkirk, Gould, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and several members of the New Mexico state legislature voiced their support for the IATSE and for creating better working conditions for the unionized crew members. On October 16, 2021, a tentative agreement was made before the deadline between the IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, temporarily averting a strike. The contract was ratified by the IATSE members on November 15, 2021, ending all prospects of a strike and allowing production to continue without interruption.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: When the sixth season was ordered by AMC in January 2020, it was scheduled to premiere in 2021. However, in April 2020, Gilligan said that would depend on whether the cast and crew would be able to film in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, AMC confirmed that the sixth season would likely premiere in the first quarter of 2022. Gould's preference was to have all 13 episodes of the sixth season aired weekly and not for the season to be split in any manner; however, he noted that only AMC would decide the scheduling.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: "Variety" reported on November 4, 2021, that the season would air over two halves, which was confirmed on the official announcement date on February 10, 2022. Gould said the writers did not know the season would be split into two parts until AMC announced it. The first seven episodes began airing on April 18, 2022, and the last six episodes aired starting July 11, 2022, with a seven-week break in between both halves.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The break between both halves was shorter compared to the split final season of "Breaking Bad", where the two halves aired a year apart. Splitting the season in two allowed the show to nominate each half of the season for different Emmy Awards ceremonies, as the first half was eligible for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, while eligibility for the next year's ceremony began in June.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The season premiere screened early for fans who attended PaleyFest in Los Angeles on April 9, 2022. The mid-season premiere received an early screening during Tribeca Festival in New York on June 18, 2022.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: Each episode would air on AMC at 9:00 pm (ET) on Mondays, with the first two episodes premiering back-to-back on the same night. During the season's run, each episode would be available to stream the day they premiered on AMC+, AMC's streaming service which first launched in June 2020. The season premiere resulted in the biggest day of new subscriber sign-ups for AMC+, and by the mid-season finale episodic viewership on the streaming service rose by 61%. During the release of the series finale on AMC+, the app experienced an outage, causing many users to be logged out. AMC later reported that first-day viewing numbers for the finale on AMC+ was four times as big as the season premiere, and called the series' final season the highest acquisition driver in the history of the streaming service.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: In certain international markets, like previous seasons, episodes were released on Netflix and other streaming services the day after their broadcast on AMC.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The sixth season of "Better Call Saul" has received universal acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 99% based on 175 reviews, with an average rating of 9.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Better Call Saul" remains as masterfully in control as Jimmy McGill keeps insisting he is in this final season, where years of simmering storytelling come to a scintillating boil." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 94 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: After the airing of the series finale, Stuart Jeffries of "The Guardian" said that the series had surprisingly surpassed its predecessor in quality, saying: "Over six series, "Better Call Saul" evolved into a more profound and beautiful drama about human corruption than its predecessor. It mutated into something visually more sumptuous than "Breaking Bad", while never, for a moment, losing its verbal dexterity and moral compass". Craig Elvy of "Screen Rant" also opined that the series was better than its predecessor, saying: "Jimmy McGill's spinoff leaves a very familiar legacy – sustained and enthusiastic praise from audiences and critics, capped by an ending that satisfies across the board." He went on to say: "When "Better Call Saul" began, many would've hoped the spinoff could either escape "Breaking Bad"s shadow, or somehow enhance Walt and Jesse's story with illuminating new details. Few dared dream "Better Call Saul" would achieve both, and the sheer ambition to create a spinoff that wholly embraces its predecessor whilst also existing in a totally different realm exemplifies why "Better Call Saul" has an ever-so-slight edge over "Breaking Bad"." Jeremy Urquhart of "Collider" made a comparison between the quality of both series’, saying: ""Breaking Bad" succeeds as a crime-thriller tragedy with a fast-paced plot, and "Better Call Saul" works as a slower-paced, character-focused drama (with some dark comedy)". He said his list "doesn't aim to argue that one is better than the other. It's a matter of personal preference, but it's hard to deny that there are certain things "Better Call Saul" does better, but also some areas where it isn't quite as great as its parent show."


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The two-episode premiere "Wine and Roses" and "Carrot and Stick" received positive reviews from critics. David Segal of "The New York Times" described the first episode as "strong, twisty and gripping" and said the writing "must be hailed as a masterly curtain raiser, one that managed to pick up the story right where it was left, two years ago, and hurl it forward at a promising pace." Segal criticized Kim's con against Howard at the country club, calling it "dimmer and daffier than the rest of the show" and "pointlessly cruel". Reviewing both "Wine and Roses" and "Carrot and Stick" together, "The A.V. Club"s Kimberly Potts graded them with an "A" and gave positive notes to Gould's screenplay and the performances of the cast, especially those of Rhea Seehorn as Kim and Michael Mando as Nacho. Steve Greene, writing for "IndieWire", said the first two episodes were "astonishingly short on false moves so far". He also noted Ed Begley Jr.'s acting as Clifford Main and the symbolism in Kim throwing away the "World's 2nd Best Lawyer" coffee mug, calling it "a poetic bookend of sorts." David Segal of "The New York Times" described the second episode as "superb and stressful" and said it was a "study in damage control, overseen by a man [Gus] who seems uncharacteristically ruffled and uncertain about what to do." Segal also said the shootout scene was "expertly staged" by Gilligan and that Rhea Seehorn's performance as Kim provided an opportunity for her to "demonstrate an almost thuggish toughness." Scott Tobias, writing for "Vulture", compared the motel sequences to the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, including "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968). He also gave positive notes to the level of detail in the episode's opening scene, calling it "one big reason "Better Call Saul" stands apart from other shows."


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The third episode "Rock and Hard Place", which concluded Nacho's arc, received acclaim by critics. Kaleena Rivera of "Pajiba" praised Michael Mando's display of rage and the episode's buildup to the ending. "The A.V. Club"s Kimberly Potts said Mando's acting was deserving of an Emmy nomination. She also compared Nacho's last words to Walter White's confession to Jesse Pinkman in the "Breaking Bad" episode "Ozymandias" and gave positive notes to the performances of Giancarlo Esposito and Mark Margolis and the show's development of Nacho as a compelling character. David Segal of "The New York Times" saluted Smith's screenplay and direction and the production design. He similarly compared Nacho's life to that of Jesse's—both criminals who made "some terrible life choices" and were "over-punished for them"—adding, "It would have been great to see more of this stellar actor, but if you must leave a show, a more dramatic and affecting end is hard to imagine."


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The mid-season finale "Plan and Execution", which showcased the culmination of Saul and Kim’s plot to ruin Howard’s career and reputation, received acclaim, particularly for Patrick Fabian's performance. Scott Tobias of "Vulture" and Nick Harley of "Den of Geek" shared five out of five ratings for the episode, while Kimberly Potts from "The A.V. Club" and Steve Greene from "IndieWire" both gave the episode an "A" grade.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The mid-season premiere "Point and Shoot", which concluded Lalo's arc, was met with critical acclaim. It received five out of five stars from "The Guardian"s Stuart Jeffries and "The Times"s James Jackson, four out of five stars from Scott Tobias of "Vulture", Nick Harley of "Den of Geek", and Ed Power of "The Daily Telegraph", and "A" grades from "The A.V. Club"s Kimberly Potts, "IndieWire"s Steve Greene, and "Entertainment Weekly"s Darren Franich.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The series finale "Saul Gone" received critical acclaim. Giving the episode an A grade, Kimberly Potts of "The A.V. Club" called it a "supremely satisfying sendoff" with "blasts from the past and one last twist". At "IGN", Rafael Motamayor gave the episode a 10 out of 10 rating, describing it as a "subtler character study, exploring regrets and change in its protagonist". He also noted the episode title and complimented it for being "a thematic bookend on a show that was never really about Saul Goodman" and highlighted the motif of time machines. Similarly, "Vulture"s Jen Chaney also discussed the motif of time machines in the episode, and commended it for offering more depth and context to "Breaking Bad", and felt the series was superior to "Breaking Bad", as it "dared to widen its scope and go bigger than "Breaking Bad" ever did". In addition, the website's Scott Tobias gave it a 5 out of 5 rating and wrote, "'Saul Gone' [...] finds an ending for Jimmy that's hopeful and authentic without feeling rosy or unearned."


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The sixth season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on December 6, 2022; bonus features includes cast and crew audio commentaries on every episode, deleted scenes, outtakes, and various behind-the-scenes featurettes.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: On April 1, 2022, a few weeks before the season premiere, the CNBC Prime YouTube account uploaded "American Greed: James McGill". Written by Peter Gould's assistant Valerie Chu, the ten-minute short is a mockumentary done in the style of the documentary series "American Greed" and recaps the events of both "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul". Narrated by Stacy Keach, the mockumentary has interviews of several recurring "Better Call Saul" characters, including DA Suzanne Ericsen (Julie Pearl), Deputy DA Bill Oakley (Peter Diseth), and Kim Wexler's former boss Rich Schweikart (Dennis Boutsikaris). Also making reappearances are Betsy and Craig Kettleman (Julie Ann Emery and Jeremy Shamos, respectively), who had not appeared on the series since the first season, but made additional canonical appearances in the short film "No Picnic", which was released after the third season, and on the "Inside the Gilliverse" podcast in 2020. The short film was shot in Albuquerque in March 2022, a year after Emery and Shamos filmed the "Better Call Saul" episode "Carrot and Stick".


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: "Talking Saul" made its return for "Better Call Saul"s sixth season, and aired following the mid-season finale as well as for the series' penultimate episode. Guests included Peter Gould, Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian for the first episode, and Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Bob Odenkirk; and Rhea Seehorn (via satellite) for the second episode. The show had been off the air since after "Better Call Saul"s third season.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: "Variety" reported in March 2021 that AMC was developing an animated spinoff series, "Slippin' Jimmy". The series was later revealed as a short-form series; a six-part animated series to be released online during the sixth season of "Better Call Saul". Each episode is inspired by a specific film genre — from spaghetti Westerns and Buster Keaton to "The Exorcist". The series was produced by "Rick and Morty" animators Starburns and written by "Better Call Saul" writers Ariel Levine and Kathleen Williams-Foshee. Voice actors include Chi McBride, Laraine Newman, and Sean Giambrone as Jimmy. Six episodes of "Slippin' Jimmy", each around 8–9 minutes in length, were released on AMC+ on May 23, 2022.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The series received negative reviews from fans and critics for its stark drop in quality compared to its predecessors. Mark Donaldson from "Screen Rant" criticized the concept, saying "the animated spinoff is being sold as a digital exclusive but this race to provide sellable content to audiences undermines storytelling ... the team behind both "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" have proven themselves to be savvy storytellers that respect the journeys of their characters over cheap cash-ins. It's this integrity that makes "Slippin Jimmy" feel like such a misstep."


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: For the sixth season, new episodes of the "Better Call Saul Employee Training Video" series, which had begun with the show's third season, were announced.


title: Better Call Saul (season 6)

text: The employee videos released during the season were titled "Filmmaker Training" and premiered on July 11, 2022. The series consists of six episodes and focuses on the film crew that worked with Jimmy on his advertisements.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the "Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She has pushed the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music, while continuing to maintain control over every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A prominent cultural figure crossing both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna remains one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age", with a broad amount of scholarly reviews and literature works on her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her named Madonna studies.


title: Madonna

text: At 20 years old, Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she rose to solo stardom with her debut studio album, "Madonna" (1983). She followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers "Like a Virgin" (1984), "True Blue" (1986) and "The Immaculate Collection" (1990) as well as universally acclaimed Grammy Award winning albums "Ray of Light" (1998) and "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (2005). Madonna has amassed many chart-topping singles throughout her career, including "Like a Virgin", "La Isla Bonita", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Take a Bow", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes".


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's popularity was enhanced by roles in films such as "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985), "Dick Tracy" (1990), "A League of Their Own" (1992), and "Evita" (1996). While "Evita" won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, many of her other films were not as well received. As a businesswoman, Madonna founded the company Maverick in 1992. It included Maverick Records, one of the most successful artist-run labels in history. Her other ventures include fashion brands, written works, health clubs, and filmmaking. She contributes to various charities, having founded the Ray of Light Foundation in 1998 and Raising Malawi in 2006.


title: Madonna

text: With sales of over 300 million records worldwide, Madonna is the best-selling female recording artist of all time. She is the most successful solo artist in the history of the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and has achieved the most number-one singles by a woman in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Madonna has been awarded with seven Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, and twenty MTV Video Music Awards. With a revenue of over U.S. $1.5 billion from her concert tickets, she remains the highest-grossing female touring artist worldwide. "Forbes" has named Madonna the annual top-earning female musician a record 11 times across four decades (1980s–2010s). She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, her first year of eligibility. Madonna was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1, and as the greatest music video artist ever by MTV and "Billboard". "Rolling Stone" also listed her among its greatest artists and greatest songwriters of all time.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna Louise Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, to Catholic parents Madonna Louise (née Fortin) and Silvio Anthony "Tony" Ciccone. Her father's parents were Italian emigrants from Pacentro while her mother was of French-Canadian descent. Tony Ciccone worked as an engineer designer for Chrysler and General Motors. Since Madonna had the same name as her mother, family members called her "Little Nonnie". Her mother died of breast cancer on December 1, 1963. She later adopted Veronica as a confirmation name when getting confirmed in the Catholic Church in 1966. Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now Rochester Hills), alongside her two older brothers, Anthony and Martin, and three younger siblings, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie. In 1966, Tony married the family's housekeeper Joan Gustafson. They had two children, Jennifer and Mario. Madonna resented her father for getting remarried and began rebelling against him, which strained their relationship for many years afterward.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Catholic Elementary Schools, and West Middle School. She was known for her high grade point average and achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior. Madonna would perform cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangle by her knees from the monkey bars during recess, and pull up her skirt during class—all so that the boys could see her underwear. She later admitted to seeing herself in her youth as a "lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades... I wanted to be somebody."


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's father put her in classical piano lessons, but she later convinced him to allow her to take ballet lessons. Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, persuaded her to pursue a career in dance. Madonna later attended Rochester Adams High School and became a straight-A student as well as a member of its cheerleading squad. After graduating, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan and studied over the summer at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina.


title: Madonna

text: In 1978, Madonna dropped out of college and relocated to New York City. She said of her move to New York, "It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done." Madonna soon found an apartment in the Alphabet City neighborhood of the East Village and had little money while working at Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes, taking classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and eventually performing with Pearl Lang Dance Theater. She also studied dance under the tutelage of Martha Graham, the noted American dancer and choreographer. Madonna started to work as a backup dancer for other established artists. One night, while returning from a rehearsal, a pair of men held her at knifepoint and forced her to perform fellatio. She later found the incident to be "a taste of my weakness, it showed me that I still could not save myself in spite of all the strong-girl show. I could never forget it."


title: Madonna

text: In 1979, Madonna became romantically involved with musician Dan Gilroy. Shortly after meeting him, she successfully auditioned to perform in Paris with French disco artist Patrick Hernandez as his backup singer and dancer. During her three months with Hernandez's troupe, she also traveled to Tunisia before returning to New York in August 1979. Madonna moved into an abandoned synagogue where Gilroy lived and rehearsed in Corona, Queens. Together they formed her first band, the Breakfast Club, for which Madonna sang and played drums and guitar. While with the band, Madonna briefly worked as a coat-check girl at the Russian Tea Room, and she made her acting debut in the low-budget indie film "A Certain Sacrifice", which was not released until 1985. In 1980, Madonna left the Breakfast Club with drummer Stephen Bray, who was her boyfriend in Michigan, and they formed the band Emmy and the Emmys. They rekindled their romance and moved into the Music Building in Manhattan. The two began writing songs together and they recorded a four-song demo tape in November 1980, but soon after, Madonna decided to promote herself as a solo artist.


title: Madonna

text: In March 1981, Camille Barbone, who ran Gotham Records in the Music Building, signed Madonna to a contract with Gotham and worked as her manager until February 1982. Madonna frequented nightclubs to get disc jockeys to play her demo. DJ Mark Kamins at Danceteria took an interest in her music and they began dating. Kamins arranged a meeting with Madonna and Seymour Stein, the president of Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records. Madonna signed a deal for a total of three singles, with an option for an album.


title: Madonna

text: Kamins produced her debut single, "Everybody", which was released in October 1982. In December 1982, Madonna performed the song live for the first time at Danceteria. She made her first television appearance performing "Everybody" on "Dancin' On Air" in January 1983. In February 1983, she promoted the single with nightclub performances in the United Kingdom. Her second single, "Burning Up", was released in March 1983. Both singles reached number three on "Billboard" magazine's Hot Dance Club Songs chart. During this period, Madonna was in a relationship with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and living at his loft in SoHo. Basquiat introduced her to art curator Diego Cortez, who had managed some punk bands and co-founded the Mudd Club. Madonna invited Cortez to be her manager, but he declined.


title: Madonna

text: Following the success of the singles, Warner hired Reggie Lucas to produce her self-titled debut album, "Madonna". However, Madonna was dissatisfied with the completed tracks and disagreed with Lucas' production techniques, so she decided to seek additional help. She asked John "Jellybean" Benitez, the resident DJ at Fun House, to help finish the album's production and a romance ensued. Benitez remixed most of the tracks and produced "Holiday", which was her first international top-ten song. The album was released in July 1983, and peaked at number eight on the "Billboard" 200. It yielded two top-ten singles on the "Billboard" Hot 100, "Borderline" and "Lucky Star". In the fall of 1983, Madonna's new manager, Feddy DeMann, secured a meeting for her with film producer Jon Peters, who asked her to play the part of a club singer in the romantic drama "Vision Quest."


title: Madonna

text: In January 1984, Madonna gained more exposure by performing on "American Bandstand" and "Top of the Pops". Her image, performances, and music videos influenced young girls and women. Madonna's style became one of the female fashion trends of the 1980s. Created by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol, the look consisted of lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the crucifix, bracelets, and bleached hair. Madonna's popularity continued to rise globally with the release of her second studio album, "Like a Virgin", in November 1984. It became her first number-one album in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, and the US. "Like a Virgin" became the first album by a female to sell over five million copies in the U.S. It was later certified diamond in by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold over 21 million copies worldwide.


title: Madonna

text: The album's title track served as its first single, and topped the Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks. It attracted the attention of conservative organizations who complained that the song and its accompanying video promoted premarital sex and undermined family values, and moralists sought to have the song and video banned. Madonna received huge media coverage for her performance of "Like a Virgin" at the first 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. Wearing a wedding dress and white gloves, Madonna appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake and then rolled around suggestively on the floor. MTV retrospectively considered it one of the "most iconic" pop performances of all time. The second single, "Material Girl", reached number two on the Hot 100. While filming the single's music video, Madonna started dating actor Sean Penn. They married on her birthday in 1985.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna entered mainstream films in February 1985, beginning with her cameo in "Vision Quest". The soundtrack contained two new singles, her U.S. number-one single, "Crazy for You", and another track "Gambler". She also played the title role in the 1985 comedy "Desperately Seeking Susan", a film which introduced the song "Into the Groove", her first number-one single in the UK. Her popularity caused the film to be perceived as a Madonna vehicle, despite how she was not billed as a lead actress. "The New York Times" film critic Vincent Canby named it one of the ten best films of 1985.


title: Madonna

text: Beginning in April 1985, Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in North America, the Virgin Tour, with the Beastie Boys as her opening act. The tour saw the peak of Madonna wannabe phenomenon, with many female attendees dressing like her. At that time, she released two more hits, "Angel" and "Dress You Up", making all four singles from the album peak inside the top five on the Hot 100 chart. In July, "Penthouse" and "Playboy" magazines published a number of nude photos of Madonna, taken when she moonlighted as an art model in 1978. She had posed for the photographs because she needed money at the time, and was paid as little as $25 a session. The publication of the photos caused a media uproar, but Madonna remained "unapologetic and defiant". The photographs were ultimately sold for up to $100,000. She referred to these events at the 1985 outdoor Live Aid charity concert, saying that she would not take her jacket off because "[the media] might hold it against me ten years from now."


title: Madonna

text: In June 1986, Madonna released her third studio album, "True Blue", which was inspired by and dedicated to her husband Penn. "Rolling Stone" was impressed with the effort, writing that the album "sound[s] as if it comes from the heart". Five singles were released—"Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", "True Blue", "Open Your Heart", and "La Isla Bonita"—all of which reached number one in the U.S. or the UK. The album topped the charts in 28 countries worldwide, an unprecedented achievement at the time, and remains Madonna's best-selling studio album, with sales of 25 million copies. "True Blue" was featured in the 1992 edition of "Guinness World Records" as the best-selling album by a woman of all time.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna starred in the critically panned film "Shanghai Surprise" in 1986, for which she received her first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. She made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabe's "Goose and Tom-Tom"; the film and play both co-starred Penn. The next year, Madonna was featured in the film "Who's That Girl". She contributed four songs to its soundtrack, including the title track and "Causing a Commotion". Madonna embarked on the Who's That Girl World Tour in June 1987, which continued until September. It broke several attendance records, including over 130,000 people in a show near Paris, which was then a record for the highest-attended female concert of all time. Later that year, she released a remix album of past hits, "You Can Dance", which reached number 14 on the "Billboard" 200. After a tumultuous two years' marriage, Madonna filed for divorce from Penn on December 4, 1987, but withdrew the petition a few weeks later.


title: Madonna

text: She made her Broadway debut in the production of "Speed-the-Plow" at the Royale Theatre from May to August 1988. According to the Associated Press, Madonna filed an assault report against Penn after an alleged incident at their Malibu home during the New Year's weekend. Madonna filed for divorce on January 5, 1989, and the following week she reportedly asked that no criminal charges be pressed.


title: Madonna

text: In January 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with soft-drink manufacturer Pepsi. In one Pepsi commercial, she debuted "Like a Prayer", the lead single and title track from her fourth studio album. The music video featured Catholic symbols such as stigmata and cross burning, and a dream of making love to a saint, leading the Vatican to condemn the video. Religious groups sought to ban the commercial and boycott Pepsi products. Pepsi revoked the commercial and canceled her sponsorship contract. "Like a Prayer" topped the charts in many countries, becoming her seventh number-one on the Hot 100.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the album "Like a Prayer" with Patrick Leonard, Stephen Bray, and Prince. Music critic J. D. Considine from "Rolling Stone" praised it "as close to art as pop music gets ... proof not only that Madonna should be taken seriously as an artist but that hers is one of the most compelling voices of the Eighties." "Like a Prayer" peaked at number one on the "Billboard" 200 and sold 15 million copies worldwide. Other successful singles from the album were "Express Yourself" and "Cherish", both peaked at number two in the US, as well as the UK top-five "Dear Jessie" and the U.S. top-ten "Keep It Together". By the end of the 1980s, Madonna was named as the "Artist of the Decade" by MTV, "Billboard" and "Musician" magazine.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna starred as Breathless Mahoney in the film "Dick Tracy" (1990), with Warren Beatty playing the title role. The film went to number one on the U.S. box office for two weeks and Madonna received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress. To accompany the film, she released the soundtrack album, "I'm Breathless", which included songs inspired by the film's 1930s setting. It also featured the U.S. number-one song "Vogue" and "Sooner or Later". While shooting the film, Madonna began a relationship with Beatty, which dissolved shortly after the premiere.


title: Madonna

text: In April 1990, Madonna began her Blond Ambition World Tour, which ended in August. "Rolling Stone" called it an "elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza" and proclaimed it "the best tour of 1990". The tour generated strong negative reaction from religious groups for her performance of "Like a Virgin", during which two male dancers caressed her body before she simulated masturbation. In response, Madonna said, "The tour in no way hurts anybody's sentiments. It's for open minds and gets them to see sexuality in a different way. Their own and others". The live recording of the tour won Madonna her first Grammy Award, in the category of Best Long Form Music Video.


title: Madonna

text: "The Immaculate Collection", Madonna's first greatest-hits compilation album, was released in November 1990. It included two new songs, "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me". The album was certified diamond by RIAA and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist in history. "Justify My Love" reached number one in the U.S. becoming her ninth number-one on the Hot 100. Her then-boyfriend model Tony Ward co-starred in the music video, which featured scenes of sadomasochism, bondage, same-sex kissing, and brief nudity. The video was deemed too sexually explicit for MTV and was banned from the network. Her first documentary film, "" (known as "In Bed with Madonna" outside North America), was released in May 1991. Chronicling her Blond Ambition World Tour, it became the highest-grossing documentary of all time (surpassed eleven years later by Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine").


title: Madonna

text: In 1992, Madonna starred in "A League of Their Own" as Mae Mordabito, a baseball player on an all-women's team. It reached number one on the box-office and became the tenth-highest-grossing film of the year in the U.S. She recorded the film's theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground", which became her tenth number-one on the "Billboard" Hot 100, the most by any female artist at the time. In April, Madonna founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing and merchandising divisions. The deal was a joint venture with Time Warner and paid Madonna an advance of $60 million. It gave her 20% royalties from the music proceedings, the highest rate in the industry at the time, equaled only by Michael Jackson's royalty rate established a year earlier with Sony. Her company later went on to become one of the most successful artist-run labels in history, producing multi-platinum artists such as Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch. Later that year, Madonna co-sponsored the first museum retrospective for her former boyfriend Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Whitney Museum of American Art.


title: Madonna

text: In October 1992, Madonna simultaneously released her fifth studio album, "Erotica", and her coffee table book, "Sex". Consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images, photographed by Steven Meisel, the book received strong negative reaction from the media and the general public, but sold 1.5 million copies at $50 each in a matter of days. The widespread backlash overshadowed "Erotica", which ended up as her lowest selling album at the time. Despite positive reviews, it became her first studio album since her debut album not to score any chart-topper in the U.S. The album entered the "Billboard" 200 at number two and yielded the Hot 100 top-ten hits "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper". Madonna continued her provocative imagery in the 1993 erotic thriller, "Body of Evidence", a film which contained scenes of sadomasochism and bondage. It was poorly received by critics. She also starred in the film "Dangerous Game", which was released straight to video in North America. "The New York Times" described the film as "angry and painful, and the pain feels real."


title: Madonna

text: In September 1993, Madonna embarked on the Girlie Show, in which she dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix surrounded by topless dancers. In Puerto Rico she rubbed the island's flag between her legs on stage, resulting in outrage among the audience. In March 1994, she appeared as a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman", using profanity that required censorship on television, and handing Letterman a pair of her panties and asking him to smell it. The releases of her sexually explicit book, album and film, and the aggressive appearance on Letterman all made critics question Madonna as a sexual renegade. Critics and fans reacted negatively, who commented that "she had gone too far" and that her career was over. Around this time, Madonna briefly dated basketball player Dennis Rodman and rapper Tupac Shakur.


title: Madonna

text: Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli described her ballad "I'll Remember" (1994) as an attempt to tone down her provocative image. The song was recorded for Alek Keshishian's 1994 film "With Honors". She made a subdued appearance with Letterman at an awards show and appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" after realizing that she needed to change her musical direction in order to sustain her popularity. With her sixth studio album, "Bedtime Stories" (1994), Madonna employed a softer image to try to improve the public perception. The album debuted at number three on the "Billboard" 200 and generated two U.S. top-five hits, "Secret" and "Take a Bow", the latter topping the Hot 100 for seven weeks, the longest period of any Madonna single. "Something to Remember", a collection of ballads, was released in November 1995. The album featured three new songs: "You'll See", "One More Chance", and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You". An enthusiastic collector of modern art, Madonna sponsored the first major retrospective of Tina Modotti's work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1995. The following year, she sponsored an exhibition of Basquiat's paintings at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The following year, she sponsored artist Cindy Sherman's retrospective at the MoMA in New York.


title: Madonna

text: In February 1996, Madonna began filming the musical "Evita" in Argentina. For a long time, Madonna had desired to play Argentine political leader Eva Perón and wrote to director Alan Parker to explain why she would be perfect for the part. After securing the title role, she received vocal coaching and learned about the history of Argentina and Perón. During filming Madonna became ill several times, after finding out that she was pregnant, and from the intense emotional effort required with the scenes. Upon "Evita"s release in December 1996, Madonna's performance received praise from film critics. Zach Conner of "Time" magazine remarked, "It's a relief to say that "Evita" is pretty damn fine, well cast and handsomely visualized. Madonna once again confounds our expectations." For the role, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.


title: Madonna

text: The "Evita" soundtrack, containing songs mostly performed by Madonna, was released as a double album. It included "You Must Love Me" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"; the latter reached number one in countries across Europe. Madonna was presented with the Artist Achievement Award by Tony Bennett at the 1996 "Billboard" Music Awards. On October 14, 1996, she gave birth to Lourdes "Lola" Maria Ciccone Leon, her daughter with fitness trainer Carlos Leon. Biographer Mary Cross writes that although Madonna often worried that her pregnancy would harm "Evita", she reached some important personal goals: "Now 38 years old, Madonna had at last triumphed on screen and achieved her dream of having a child, both in the same year. She had reached another turning point in her career, reinventing herself and her image with the public." Her relationship with Carlos Leon ended in May 1997 and she declared that they were "better off as best friends".


title: Madonna

text: After Lourdes's birth, Madonna became involved in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah, introduced to her by actress Sandra Bernhard. Her seventh studio album, "Ray of Light", (1998) reflected this change in her perception and image. She collaborated with electronica producer William Orbit and wanted to create a sound that could blend dance music with pop and British rock. American music critic Ann Powers explained that what Madonna searched for with Orbit "was a kind of a lushness that she wanted for this record. Techno and rave were happening in the 90s and had a lot of different forms. There was very experimental, more hard stuff like Aphex Twin. There was party stuff like Fatboy Slim. That's not what Madonna wanted for this. She wanted something more like a singer-songwriter, really. And William Orbit provided her with that."


title: Madonna

text: The album garnered critical acclaim, with "Slant Magazine" calling it "one of the great pop masterpieces of the '90s" "Ray of Light" was honored with four Grammy Awards—including Best Pop Album and Best Dance Recording—and was nominated for both Album of the Year and Record of the Year. "Rolling Stone" listed it among "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Commercially, the album peaked at number-one in numerous countries and sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. The album's lead single, "Frozen", became Madonna's first single to debut at number one in the UK, while in the U.S. it became her sixth number-two single, setting another record for Madonna as the artist with the most number-two hits. The second single, "Ray of Light", debuted at number five on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The 1998 edition of "Guinness Book of World Records" documented that "no female artist has sold more records than Madonna around the world".


title: Madonna

text: Madonna founded Ray of Light Foundation which focused on women, education, global development and humanitarian. She recorded the single "Beautiful Stranger" for the 1999 film "", which earned her a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Madonna starred in the 2000 comedy-drama film "The Next Best Thing", directed by John Schlesinger. The film opened at number two on the U.S. box office with $5.9 million grossed in its first week, but this quickly diminished. She also contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack—a cover of Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie" and an original song "Time Stood Still"—the former became her ninth UK number-one single.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna released her eighth studio album, "Music", in September 2000. It featured elements from the electronica-inspired "Ray of Light" era, and like its predecessor, received acclaim from critics. Collaborating with French producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Madonna commented: "I love to work with the weirdos that no one knows about—the people who have raw talent and who are making music unlike anyone else out there. "Music" is the future of sound." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic felt that ""Music" blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style and substance. It has so many depth and layers that it's easily as self-aware and earnest as "Ray of Light"." The album took the number-one position in more than 20 countries worldwide and sold four million copies in the first ten days. In the U.S., "Music" debuted at the top, and became her first number-one album in eleven years since "Like a Prayer". It produced three singles: the Hot 100 number-one "Music", "Don't Tell Me", and "What It Feels Like for a Girl". The music video of "What It Feels Like for a Girl" depicted Madonna committing acts of crime and vandalism, and was banned by MTV and VH1.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna met director Guy Ritchie in the summer of 1998, and gave birth to their son Rocco John Ritchie in Los Angeles on August 11, 2000. Rocco and Madonna suffered complications from the birth due to her experiencing placenta praevia. He was christened at Dornoch Cathedral in Dornoch, Scotland, on December 21, 2000. Madonna married Ritchie the following day at nearby Skibo Castle. After an eight-year absence from touring, Madonna started her Drowned World Tour in June 2001. The tour visited cities in the U.S. and Europe and was the highest-grossing concert tour of the year by a solo artist, earning $75 million from 47 sold-out shows. She also released her second greatest-hits collection, "GHV2", which compiled 15 singles during the second decade of her recording career. The album debuted at number seven on the "Billboard" 200 and sold seven million units worldwide.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna starred in the film "Swept Away", directed by Ritchie. Released direct-to-video in the UK, the film was a commercial and critical failure. In May 2002 she appeared in London in the West End play "Up For Grabs" at the Wyndhams Theatre (billed as 'Madonna Ritchie'), to universally bad reviews and was described as "the evening's biggest disappointment" by one. That October, she released "Die Another Day", the title song of the James Bond film "Die Another Day", in which she had a cameo role, described by Peter Bradshaw from "The Guardian" as "incredibly wooden". The song reached number eight on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song.


title: Madonna

text: In 2003, Madonna collaborated with fashion photographer Steven Klein for an exhibition installation named X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS, which ran from March to May in New York's Deitch Projects gallery and also traveled the world in an edited form. The same year, Madonna released her ninth studio album, "American Life", which was based on her observations of American society. She explained that the record was "like a trip down memory lane, looking back at everything I've accomplished and all the things I once valued and all the things that were important to me." Larry Flick from "The Advocate" felt that ""American Life" is an album that is among her most adventurous and lyrically intelligent" while condemning it as "a lazy, half-arsed effort to sound and take her seriously." The original music video of its title track caused controversy due to its violence and anti-war imagery, and was withdrawn after the 2003 invasion of Iraq started. Madonna voluntarily censored herself for the first time in her career due to the political climate of the country, saying that "there was a lynch mob mentality that was going on that wasn't pretty and I have children to protect." The song stalled at number 37 on the Hot 100, while the album became her lowest-selling album at that point with four million copies worldwide.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna gave another provocative performance later that year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, when she kissed singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera while singing the track "Hollywood". In October 2003, she provided guest vocals on Spears' single "Me Against the Music". It was followed with the release of "Remixed & Revisited". The EP contained remixed versions of songs from "American Life" and included "Your Honesty", a previously unreleased track from the "Bedtime Stories" recording sessions. Madonna also signed a contract with Callaway Arts & Entertainment to be the author of five children's books. The first of these books, titled "The English Roses", was published in September 2003. The story was about four English schoolgirls and their envy and jealousy of each other. The book debuted at the top of "The New York Times" Best Seller list and became the fastest-selling children's picture book of all time. Madonna donated all of its proceeds to a children's charity.


title: Madonna

text: The next year Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company Time Warner, claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, Warner filed a countersuit alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own. The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares, owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev, were purchased by Warner. Madonna and Dashev's company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Music, but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract.


title: Madonna

text: In mid-2004, Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. It became the highest-grossing tour of 2004, earning around $120 million and became the subject of her documentary "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret". In November 2004, she was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame as one of its five founding members, along with the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, and U2. "Rolling Stone" ranked her at number 36 on its special issue of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, featuring an article about her written by Britney Spears. In January 2005, Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon song "Imagine" at Tsunami Aid. She also performed at the Live 8 benefit concert in London in July 2005.


title: Madonna

text: Her tenth studio album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor", was released in November 2005. Musically the album was structured like a club set composed by a DJ. It was acclaimed by critics, with Keith Caulfield from "Billboard" commenting that the album was a "welcome return to form for the Queen of Pop." The album won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. "Confessions on a Dance Floor" and its lead single, "Hung Up", went on to reach number one in 40 and 41 countries respectively, earning a place in "Guinness World Records". The song contained a sample of ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", only the second time that ABBA has allowed their work to be used. ABBA songwriter Björn Ulvaeus remarked "It is a wonderful track—100 per cent solid pop music." "Sorry", the second single, became Madonna's twelfth number-one single in the UK.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna embarked on the Confessions Tour in May 2006, which had a global audience of 1.2 million and grossed over $193.7 million, becoming the highest-grossing tour to that date for a female artist. Madonna used religious symbols, such as the crucifix and Crown of Thorns, in the performance of "Live to Tell". It caused the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia to urge all their members to boycott her concert. At the same time, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced officially that Madonna had sold over 200 million copies of her albums alone worldwide.


title: Madonna

text: While on tour Madonna founded charitable organization Raising Malawi and partially funded an orphanage in and traveling to that country. While there, she decided to adopt a boy named David Banda in October 2006. The adoption raised strong public reaction, because Malawian law requires would-be parents to reside in Malawi for one year before adopting, which Madonna did not do. She addressed this on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", saying that there were no written adoption laws in Malawi that regulated foreign adoption. Madonna described how Banda had been suffering from pneumonia after surviving malaria and tuberculosis when they first met. Banda's biological father, Yohane, commented, "These so-called human rights activists are harassing me every day, threatening me that I am not aware of what I am doing ... They want me to support their court case, a thing I cannot do for I know what I agreed with Madonna and her husband." The adoption was finalized in May 2008.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna released and performed the song "Hey You" at the London Live Earth concert in July 2007. She announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records, and declared a new $120 million, ten-year 360 deal with Live Nation. In 2008, Madonna produced and wrote "I Am Because We Are", a documentary on the problems faced by Malawians; it was directed by Nathan Rissman, who worked as Madonna's gardener. She also directed her first film, "Filth and Wisdom". The plot of the film revolved around three friends and their aspirations. "The Times" said she had "done herself proud" while "The Daily Telegraph" described the film as "not an entirely unpromising first effort [but] Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job." On March 10, 2008, Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. She did not sing at the ceremony but asked fellow Hall of Fame inductees and Michigan natives the Stooges to perform her songs "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light".


title: Madonna

text: Madonna released her eleventh studio album, "Hard Candy", in April 2008. Containing R&B and urban pop influences, the songs on "Hard Candy" were autobiographical in nature and saw Madonna collaborating with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Nate "Danja" Hills. The album debuted at number one in 37 countries and on the "Billboard" 200. Caryn Ganz from "Rolling Stone" complimented it as an "impressive taste of her upcoming tour", while BBC correspondent Mark Savage panned it as "an attempt to harness the urban market".


title: Madonna

text: "4 Minutes" was released as the album's lead single and peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100. It was Madonna's 37th top-ten hit on the chart and pushed her past Elvis Presley as the artist with the most top-ten hits. In the UK she retained her record for the most number-one singles for a female artist; "4 Minutes" becoming her thirteenth. At the 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards, Madonna received her fifth Artist of the Year trophy from Recording Industry Association of Japan, the most for any artist. To further promote the album, she embarked on the Sticky & Sweet Tour, her first major venture with Live Nation. With a total gross of $408 million, it ended up as the second highest-grossing tour of all time, behind the Rolling Stones's A Bigger Bang Tour. It remained the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist until Roger Waters' the Wall Live surpassed it in 2013.


title: Madonna

text: In July 2008, Christopher Ciccone released a book titled "Life with My Sister Madonna", which caused a rift between Madonna and him, because of unsolicited publication. By fall, Madonna filed for divorce from Ritchie, citing irreconcilable differences. In December 2008, Madonna's spokesperson announced that Madonna had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie, the terms of which granted him between £50–60 million ($– million), a figure that included the couple's London pub and residence and Wiltshire estate in England. The marriage was dissolved by District Judge Reid by "decree nisi" at the clinical Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holborn, London. They entered a compromise agreement for Rocco and David, then aged eight and three respectively, and divided the children's time between Ritchie's London home and Madonna's in New York, where the two were joined by Lourdes. Soon after, Madonna applied to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James from Malawi in May 2009, but the country's High Court rejected the application because Madonna was not a resident there. She re-appealed, and on June 12, 2009, the Supreme Court of Malawi granted her the right to adopt Mercy.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna concluded her contract with Warner by releasing her third greatest-hits album, "Celebration", in September 2009. It contained the new songs "Celebration" and "Revolver" along with 34 hits spanning her musical career with the label. "Celebration" reached number one in several countries, including Canada, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. She appeared at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards to speak in tribute to deceased pop singer Michael Jackson. Madonna ended the 2000s as the best-selling single artist of the decade in the U.S. and the most-played artist of the decade in the UK. "Billboard" also announced her as the third top-touring artist of the decade—behind only the Rolling Stones and U2—with a gross of over $801 million, 6.3 million attendance and 244 sell-outs of 248 shows.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna performed at the concert in January 2010. Her third live album, "Sticky & Sweet Tour", was released in April, debuting at number ten on the "Billboard" 200. It also became her 20th top-ten on the Oricon Albums Chart, breaking the Beatles' record for the most top-ten album by an international act in Japan. Madonna granted American television show, "Glee", the rights to her entire catalog of music, and the producers created an episode featuring her songs exclusively. She also collaborated with Lourdes and released the Material Girl clothing line, inspired by her punk-girl style when she rose to fame in the 1980s. In October, she opened a series of fitness centers around the world named Hard Candy Fitness, and three months later unveiled a second fashion brand called Truth or Dare which included footwear, perfumes, underclothing, and accessories.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna directed her second feature film, "W.E.", a biographical account about the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. Co-written with Alek Keshishian, the film was premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011. Critical and commercial response to the film was negative. Madonna contributed the ballad "Masterpiece" for the film's soundtrack, which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.


title: Madonna

text: In February 2012, Madonna headlined the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her performance was visualized by Cirque Du Soleil and Jamie King and featured special guests LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and CeeLo Green. It became the then most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history with 114 million viewers, higher than the game itself. During the event, she performed "Give Me All Your Luvin'", the lead single from her twelfth studio album, "MDNA". It became her record-extending 38th top-ten single on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Madonna

text: "MDNA" was released in March 2012 and saw collaboration with various producers, including William Orbit and Martin Solveig. It was her first release under her three-album deal with Interscope Records, which she signed as a part of her 360 deal with Live Nation. She was signed to the record label since Live Nation was unable to distribute music recordings. "MDNA" became Madonna's fifth consecutive studio record to debut at the top of the "Billboard" 200. The album was mostly promoted by the MDNA Tour, which lasted from May to December 2012. The tour featured controversial subjects such as violence, firearms, human rights, nudity and politics. With a gross of $305.2 million from 88 sold-out shows, it became the highest-grossing tour of 2012 and then-tenth highest-grossing tour of all time. Madonna was named the top-earning celebrity of the year by "Forbes," earning an estimated $125 million.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna collaborated with Steven Klein and directed a 17-minute film, "secretprojectrevolution", which was released on BitTorrent in September 2013. With the film she launched the Art for Freedom initiative, which helped to promote "art and free speech as a means to address persecution and injustice across the globe". The website for the project included over 3,000 art related submissions since its inception, with Madonna regularly monitoring and enlisting other artists like David Blaine and Katy Perry as guest curators.


title: Madonna

text: By 2013, Madonna's Raising Malawi had built ten schools to educate 4,000 children in Malawi at a value of $400,000. When Madonna visited the schools in April 2013, President of Malawi Joyce Banda accused her of exaggerating the charity's contribution. Madonna was saddened by Banda's statement, but clarified that she had "no intention of being distracted by these ridiculous allegations". It was later confirmed that Banda had not approved the statement released by her press team. Madonna also visited her hometown Detroit during May 2014 and donated funds to help with the city's bankruptcy. The same year, her business ventures extended to skin care products with the launch of MDNA Skin in Tokyo, Japan.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's thirteenth studio album, "Rebel Heart", was released in March 2015, three months after its thirteen demos leaked onto the Internet. Unlike her previous efforts, which involved only a few people, Madonna worked with a large number of collaborators, including Avicii, Diplo and Kanye West. Introspection was listed as one of the foundational themes prevalent on the record, along with "genuine statements of personal and careerist reflection". Madonna explained to Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" that although she has never looked back at her past endeavors, reminiscing about it felt right for "Rebel Heart". Music critics responded positively towards the album, calling it her best effort in a decade.


title: Madonna

text: From September 2015 to March 2016, Madonna embarked on the Rebel Heart Tour to promote the album. The tour traveled throughout North America, Europe and Asia and was Madonna's first visit to Australia in 23 years, where she also performed a for her fans. Rebel Heart Tour grossed a total of $169.8 million from the 82 shows, with over 1.045 million ticket sales. While on tour, Madonna became engaged in a legal battle with Ritchie, over the custody of their son Rocco. The dispute started when Rocco decided to continue living in England with Ritchie when the tour had visited there, while Madonna wanted him to travel with her. Court hearings took place in both New York and London. After multiple deliberations, Madonna withdrew her application for custody and decided to resolve the matter privately.


title: Madonna

text: In October 2016, "Billboard" named Madonna its Woman of the Year. Her "blunt and brutally honest" speech about ageism and sexism at the ceremony received widespread coverage in the media. The next month Madonna, who actively supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, performed an impromptu acoustic concert at Washington Square Park in support of Clinton's campaign. Upset that Donald Trump won the election, Madonna spoke out against him at the Women's March on Washington, a day after his inauguration. She sparked controversy when she said that she "thought a lot about blowing up the White House". The following day, Madonna asserted she was "not a violent person" and that her words had been "taken wildly out of context".


title: Madonna

text: In February 2017, Madonna adopted four-year-old twin sisters from Malawi named Estere and Stella, and she moved to live in Lisbon, Portugal in summer 2017 with her adoptive children. In July, she opened the Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi, a children's hospital built by her Raising Malawi charity. The live album chronicling the Rebel Heart Tour was released in September 2017, and won Best Music Video for Western Artists at the 32nd Japan Gold Disc Award. That month, Madonna launched MDNA Skin in select stores in the United States. A few months earlier, the auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll had put up Madonna's personal items like love letters from Tupac Shakur, cassettes, underwear and a hairbrush for sale. Darlene Lutz, an art dealer who had initiated the auction, was sued by Madonna's representatives to stop the proceedings. Madonna clarified that her celebrity status "does not obviate my right to maintain my privacy, including with regard to highly personal items". Madonna lost the case and the presiding judge ruled in favor of Lutz who was able to prove that in 2004 Madonna made a legal agreement with her for selling the items.


title: Madonna

text: While living in Lisbon, Madonna met Dino D'Santiago, who introduced her to many local musicians playing fado, morna, and samba music. They regularly invited her to their "living room sessions", thus she was inspired to make her 14th studio album, "Madame X". Madonna produced the album with several musicians, primarily her longtime collaborator Mirwais and Mike Dean. The album was critically well received, with "NME" deeming it "bold, bizarre, self-referential and unlike anything Madonna has ever done before." Released in June 2019, "Madame X" debuted atop the "Billboard" 200, becoming her ninth number-one album there. All four of its singles—"Medellín", "Crave", "I Rise", and "I Don't Search I Find"—topped the "Billboard" Dance Club Songs chart, extending her record for most number-one entries on the chart.


title: Madonna

text: The previous month, Madonna appeared as the interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 and performed "Like a Prayer", and then "Future" with rapper Quavo. Her Madame X Tour, an all-theatre tour in select cities across North America and Europe, began on September 17, 2019. In addition to much smaller venues compared to her previous tours, she implemented a no-phone policy in order to maximize the intimacy of the concert. According to "Pollstar", the tour earned $51.4 million in ticket sales. That December, Madonna started dating Ahlamalik Williams, a dancer who began accompanying her on the Rebel Heart Tour in 2015. However, the Madame X Tour faced several cancellations due to her recurring knee injury, and eventually ended abruptly on March 8, 2020, three days before its planned final date, after the French government banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people due to COVID-19 pandemic. She later admitted to testing positive for coronavirus antibodies, and donated $1 million to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help fund research creating a new vaccine.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna and Missy Elliott provided guest vocals on Dua Lipa's single "Levitating", from Lipa's 2020 remix album "Club Future Nostalgia". She also started work on a film biopic about her life, for which she enlisted screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson to help with the script. Madonna released "Madame X", a documentary film chronicling the tour of the same name, on Paramount+ in October 2021. On her 63rd birthday, she officially announced her return to Warner in a global partnership which grants the label her entire recorded music catalog, including the last three albums released under Interscope. Under the contract, Madonna launched a series of catalog reissues beginning in 2022, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of her recording career. A remix album titled "" was released on August 19, with an 16-track abridged edition being available for streaming since June 24. Consisting of her 50 number-one songs on "Billboard"s Dance Club Songs chart, the remix album highlighted "how meaningful dance music has always been" to Madonna's career, and became her 23rd top-ten album on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Madonna

text: In September 2022, Madonna released "Hung Up on Tokischa", a remix of "Hung Up", featuring rapper Tokischa. The song utilises dembow.


title: Madonna

text: According to Taraborrelli, the death of her mother had the most influence in shaping Madonna into the woman she would become. He believed that the devastation and abandonment Madonna felt at the loss of her mother taught her "a valuable lesson, that she would have to remain strong for herself because, she feared weakness—particularly her own." Author Lucy O'Brien opines that the impact of the sexual assault Madonna suffered in her young adult years was the motivating factor behind everything she has done, more important than the death of her mother: "It's not so much grief at her mother's death that drives her, as the sense of abandonment that left her unprotected. She encountered her own worst possible scenario, becoming a victim of male violence, and thereafter turned that full-tilt into her work, reversing the equation at every opportunity."


title: Madonna

text: Madonna has called Nancy Sinatra one of her idols. She said Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" made a major impression on her. As a young woman, she attempted to broaden her taste in literature, art, and music, and during this time became interested in classical music. She noted that her favorite style was baroque, and loved Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Frédéric Chopin because she liked their "feminine quality". Madonna's major influences include Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Karen Carpenter, the Supremes and Led Zeppelin, as well as dancers Martha Graham and Rudolf Nureyev. She also grew up listening to David Bowie, whose show was the first rock concert she ever attended.


title: Madonna

text: During her childhood, Madonna was inspired by actors, later saying, "I loved Carole Lombard and Judy Holliday and Marilyn Monroe. They were all incredibly funny ... and I saw myself in them ... my girlishness, my knowingness and my innocence." Her "Material Girl" music video recreated Monroe's look in the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", from the film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953). She studied the screwball comedies of the 1930s, particularly those of Lombard, in preparation for the film "Who's That Girl". The video for "Express Yourself" (1989) was inspired by Fritz Lang's silent film "Metropolis" (1927). The video for "Vogue" recreated the style of Hollywood glamour photographs, in particular those by Horst P. Horst, and imitated the poses of Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, and Rita Hayworth, while the lyrics referred to many of the stars who had inspired her, including Bette Davis, described by Madonna as an idol.


title: Madonna

text: Influences also came to her from the art world, such as through the works of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The music video of the song "Bedtime Story" featured images inspired by the paintings of Kahlo and Remedios Varo. Madonna is also a collector of Tamara de Lempicka's Art Deco paintings and has included them in her music videos and tours. Her video for "Hollywood" (2003) was an homage to the work of photographer Guy Bourdin; Bourdin's son subsequently filed a lawsuit for unauthorized use of his father's work. Pop artist Andy Warhol's use of sadomasochistic imagery in his underground films were reflected in the music videos for "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper".


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's Catholic background has been reflected throughout her career, from her fashion use of rosary to her musical outputs, including on "Like a Prayer" (1989). Her album "MDNA" (2012) has also drawn many influences from her Catholic upbringing, and since 2011 she has been attending meetings and services at an Opus Dei center, a Catholic institution that encourages spirituality through everyday life. In a 2016 interview, she commented: "I always feel some kind of inexplicable connection with Catholicism. It kind of shows up in all of my work, as you may have noticed." Her study of the Kabbalah was also observed in Madonna's music, especially albums like "Ray of Light" and "Music". Speaking of religion in a 2019 interview with Harry Smith of "Today" Madonna stated, "The God that I believe in, created the world [...] He/Her/They [sic] isn't a God to fear, it's a God to give thanks to." In an appearance on "Andrew Denton's Interview" she added, "The idea that in any church you go, you see a man on a cross and everyone genuflects and prays to him [...] in a way it's paganism/idolatry because people are worshipping a thing."


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's music has been the subject of much analysis and scrutiny. Robert M. Grant, author of "Contemporary Strategy Analysis" (2005), commented that Madonna's musical career has been a continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and new images and a constant quest for new heights of fame and acclaim. Thomas Harrison in the book "Pop Goes the Decade: The Eighties" deemed Madonna "an artist who pushed the boundaries" of what a female singer could do, both visually and lyrically. Professor Santiago Fouz-Hernández asserted, "While not gifted with an especially powerful or wide-ranging voice, Madonna has worked to expand her artistic palette to encompass diverse musical, textual and visual styles and various vocal guises, all with the intention of presenting herself as a mature musician."


title: Madonna

text: Madonna has remained in charge in every aspect of her career, including as a writer and producer in most of her own music. Her desire for control had already been seen during the making of her debut album, where she fought Reggie Lucas over his production output. However, it was not until her third album that Warner allowed Madonna to produce her own album. Stan Hawkins, author of "Settling the Pop Score" explained, "it is as musician and producer that Madonna is one of the few female artists to have broken into the male domain of the recording studio. Undoubtedly, Madonna is fully aware that women have been excluded from the musical workplace on most levels, and has set out to change this." Producer Stuart Price stated: "You don't produce Madonna, you collaborate with her... She has her vision and knows how to get it." Despite being labeled a "control freak", Madonna has said that she valued input from her collaborators. She further explained:


title: Madonna

text: I like to have control over most of the things in my career but I'm not a tyrant. I don't have to have it on my album that it's written, arranged, produced, directed, and stars Madonna. To me, to have total control means you can lose objectivity. What I like is to be surrounded by really, talented intelligent people that you can trust. And ask them for their advice and get their input.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's early songwriting skill was developed during her time with the Breakfast Club in 1979. She subsequently became the sole writer of five songs on her debut album, including "Lucky Star" which she composed on synthesizer. As a songwriter, Madonna has registered more than 300 tracks to ASCAP, including 18 songs written entirely by herself. "Rolling Stone" has named her "an exemplary songwriter with a gift for hooks and indelible lyrics." Despite having worked with producers across many genres, the magazine noted that Madonna's compositions have been "consistently stamped with her own sensibility and inflected with autobiographical detail." Patrick Leonard, who co-wrote many of her hit songs, called Madonna "a helluva songwriter", explaining: "Her sensibility about melodic line—from the beginning of the verse to the end of the verse and how the verse and the chorus influence each other—is very deep. Many times she's singing notes that no one would've thought of but her." Barry Walters from "Spin" credited her songwriting as the reason of her musical consistency. Madonna has been nominated for being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame three times. In 2015, "Rolling Stone" ranked Madonna at number 56 on the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time" list.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's discography is generally categorized as pop, electronica, and dance. Nevertheless, Madonna's first foray into the music industry was dabbling in rock music with Breakfast Club and Emmy. As the frontwoman of Emmy, Madonna recorded about 12–14 songs that resemble the punk rock of that period. Madonna soon abandoned playing rock songs by the time she signed to Gotham Records, which eventually dropped her since they were unhappy with her new funk direction. According to Erlewine, Madonna began her career as a disco diva, in an era that did not have any such divas to speak of. In the beginning of the 1980s, disco was an anathema to the mainstream pop, and Madonna had a huge role in popularizing dance music as mainstream music. Arie Kaplan in the book "American Pop: Hit Makers, Superstars, and Dance Revolutionaries" referred to Madonna as "a pioneer" of dance-pop. According to Fouz-Hernández, "Madonna's frequent use of dance idioms and subsequent association with gay or sexually liberated audiences, is seen as somehow inferior to 'real' rock and roll. But Madonna's music refuses to be defined by narrow boundaries of gender, sexuality or anything else."


title: Madonna

text: The "cold and emotional" ballad "Live to Tell", as well as its parent album "True Blue" (1986), is noted as Madonna's first musical reinvention. "PopMatters" writer Peter Piatkowski described it as a "very deliberate effort to present Madonna as a mature and serious artist." She continued producing ballads in between her upbeat material, although albums such as "Madonna" (1983) and "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (2005) consist of entirely dance tracks. With "Ray of Light" (1998), critics acknowledged Madonna for bringing electronica from its underground status into massive popularity in mainstream music scene. Her other sonically drastic ventures include the 1930s big-band jazz on "I'm Breathless" (1990); lush R&B on "Bedtime Stories" (1994); operatic show tunes on "Evita" (1996); guitar-driven folk music on "American Life" (2003); as well as multilingual world music on "Madame X" (2019).


title: Madonna

text: Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, Madonna has always been self-conscious about her voice. Mark Bego, author of "Madonna: Blonde Ambition", called her "the perfect vocalist for lighter-than-air songs", despite not being a "heavyweight talent". According to Tony Sclafani from MSNBC, "Madonna's vocals are the key to her rock roots. Pop vocalists usually sing songs 'straight', but Madonna employs subtext, irony, aggression and all sorts of vocal idiosyncrasies in the ways John Lennon and Bob Dylan did." Madonna used a bright, girlish vocal timbre in her early albums which became passé in her later works. The change was deliberate since she was constantly reminded of how the critics had once labelled her as "Minnie Mouse on helium". During the filming of "Evita" (1996), Madonna had to take vocal lessons, which increased her range further. Of this experience she commented, "I studied with a vocal coach for "Evita" and I realized there was a whole piece of my voice I wasn't using. Before, I just believed I had a really limited range and was going to make the most of it."


title: Madonna

text: Besides singing, Madonna has the ability to play several musical instruments. Piano was the first instrument taught to her as a child. In the late 1970s, she learned to play drum and guitar from her then-boyfriend Dan Gilroy, before joining the Breakfast Club line-up as the drummer. She later played guitar with the band Emmy as well as on her own demo recordings. After her career breakthrough, Madonna was absent performing with guitar for years, but she is credited for playing cowbell on "Madonna" (1983) and synthesizer on "Like a Prayer" (1989). In 1999, Madonna had studied for three months to play the violin for the role as a violin teacher in the film "Music of the Heart", but she eventually left the project before filming began. Madonna decided to perform with guitar again during the promotion of "Music" (2000) and recruited guitarist Monte Pittman to help improve her skill. Since then, Madonna has played guitar on every tour, as well as her studio albums. She received a nomination for Les Paul Horizon Award at the 2002 Orville H. Gibson Guitar Awards.


title: Madonna

text: In "The Madonna Companion", biographers Allen Metz and Carol Benson noted that Madonna had used MTV and music videos to establish her popularity and enhance her recorded work more than any other recent pop artist. According to them, many of her songs have the imagery of the music video in strong context, while referring to the music. Cultural critic Mark C. Taylor in his book "Nots" (1993) felt that the postmodern art form par excellence is the video and the reigning "queen of video" is Madonna. He further asserted that "the most remarkable creation of MTV is Madonna. The responses to Madonna's excessively provocative videos have been predictably contradictory." The media and public reaction towards her most-discussed songs such as "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", or "Justify My Love" had to do with the music videos created to promote the songs and their impact, rather than the songs themselves. Morton felt that "artistically, Madonna's songwriting is often overshadowed by her striking pop videos." In 2003, MTV named her "The Greatest Music Video Star Ever" and said that "Madonna's innovation, creativity, and contribution to the music video art form is what won her the award." In 2020, "Billboard" ranked her atop the 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's initial music videos reflected her American and Hispanic mixed street style combined with a flamboyant glamor. She was able to transmit her avant-garde Downtown Manhattan fashion sense to the American audience. The imagery and incorporation of Hispanic culture and Catholic symbolism continued with the music videos from the "True Blue" era. Author Douglas Kellner noted, "such 'multiculturalism' and her culturally transgressive moves turned out to be highly successful moves that endeared her to large and varied youth audiences." Madonna's Spanish look in the videos became the fashion trend of that time, in the form of boleros and layered skirts, accessorizing with rosary beads and a crucifix as in the video of "La Isla Bonita". Academics noted that with her videos, Madonna was subtly reversing the usual role of male as the dominant sex. This symbolism and imagery was probably the most prevalent in the music video for "Like a Prayer". The video included scenes of an African-American church choir, Madonna being attracted to a black saint statue, and singing in front of burning crosses.


title: Madonna

text: Madonna's acting performances in films have frequently received poor reviews from film critics. Stephanie Zacharek stated in "Time" that, "[Madonna] seems wooden and unnatural as an actress, and it's tough to watch because she's clearly trying her damnedest." According to biographer Andrew Morton, "Madonna puts a brave face on the criticism, but privately she is deeply hurt." After the critically panned box-office bomb "Swept Away" (2002), Madonna vowed never to act again in a film. While reviewing her career retrospective titled "Body of Work" (2016) at New York's Metrograph hall, "The Guardian"s Nigel M. Smith wrote that Madonna's film career suffered mostly due to lack of proper material supplied to her, and she otherwise "could steal a scene for all the right reasons".