Heartbreaking: Madonna American singer-songwriter and actress Just Passed Away At the Aged of 66..see..more..

Heartbreaking: Madonna American singer-songwriter and actress Just Passed Away At the Aged of 66..see..more..Perhaps the single most recognizable pop artist of her era, Madonna maintained a prominent role in the public consciousness beginning in the early ’80s. Born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in Bay City, Michigan in 1958 and raised in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, Madonna excelled in dance and cheerleading during her teens. She enrolled at the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship, but dropped out after two years to embark on a professional career, moving to New York City in 1978 where she further trained in dance and became embroiled in the city’s burgeoning dance and punk scenes.

She would dance, sing, and play drums in a number of projects before finally landing a recording contract with Sire Records in 1982. Her subsequent eponymous album spawned a number of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, but her follow up, 1984’s Like a Virgin proved to be her breakthrough, skyrocketing Madonna to instant pop fame. Her keen fashion sense and highly performative style made her a perfect artist for the music video format, which was exploding thanks to the recent advent of MTV.