Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "mary-gabriel"

Madonna by Mary Gabriel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An engrossing and powerful biography of the Queen of Pop.

Madonna exploded onto the music stage in the early 80s and has dominated the charts worldwide for four decades, blending infectious melodies, multi-layered lyrics, provocative performances, and controversial themes into immortal pop music, propelling her to superstardom and crafting a legacy as a legendary, timeless icon.

In 'A Rebel Life', Mary Gabriel studies Madonna's life and career – from her birth in August 1958, her early childhood and the devastating loss of her mother, through her teenage years and her move to New York with dreams of becoming a dancer, and how she began to create music and signed the record deal that would change her life, beginning her meteoric rise to megastardom – and builds a portrait of the woman behind the superstar everyone thinks they know.

Exploring in detail the writing and recording of each of her albums, the creation of her concert tours and performances, the production of her movies, plus books and photographic projects, this is a rich study of her art and her impact on music, film, fashion, and popular culture. Her unique style and infusion of themes and imagery – religious and spiritual, sexual and romantic, political and social – and blending of genres – dance, rock, disco, R&B, punk, gospel – has produced a varied and diverse artistic range; infectious music always emblazoned with Madonna’s signature.

Alongside her music itself, Madonna was one of the leading artists to embrace and drive the medium of the music video, creating mini movies to accompany a single that could deliver an impactful message, tell a story, and enhance the power of a song; just one of the ways Madonna proved herself a trailblazing inspiration in the music industry and beyond, coupled with her flair for reinvention securing her longevity and an enduring impact that remains unrivalled. Madonna always has a message to deliver, and you're going to listen whether you like it or not.

As well as Madonna the artist, we examine Madonna the radical cultural icon, Madonna the philanthropist and political activist, and get to know Madonna the human being, exploring her relationships with her family, her friendships, her romances and two marriages, and as a mother to her six beloved children. Featuring insights and anecdotes from many who have known her over the years, including key collaborators, Gabriel has produced a riveting and stunning biography, with multiple facets and layers.

Often misunderstood and maligned for her artistic choices, criticised for her rebellious nature, dismissed and underestimated, at so many points during her career and personal life, Madonna could have allowed herself to break, to become the tragic and contrite figure many may have been more accepting of. But she refused. She has remained, despite all the adversity, an artist committed to her craft and her vision, and a warrior who never gave up on her dreams, always emerging as a survivor no matter the battle she has faced.

Amongst the rewards and controversies of her art, she has been confronted with staggering misogyny throughout her career, combined with increasing ageism since her thirties, through which she has beaten a path for women in the music industry in a way that no one before her had done – Madonna’s career proving to be a powerful feminist tale, inspiring countless artists who followed her. Sexism has also not been the only prejudice she has combatted – from the very beginning, her unwavering support for the gay community at a time when society wished to ignore and vilify them has proved her a true LGBTQ ally.

Suffering many tragedies throughout her life, including the loss of friends to AIDS, inspired her commitment to supporting the children of Malawi, only then to be faced with further battles and vitriol over her adoptions of David and Mercy. Often moving and deeply emotional, the stories of the injustices Madonna has overcome and the people she has helped give a voice are amongst her greatest achievements and a cornerstone of her legacy.

Madonna’s story is also a piece of history, so entwined is her art and career with the development of popular music, plus socially and culturally, both in terms of her influences and inspirations and the environment that nurtured them, and the monumental impact and influence she herself has had through the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Concluding with one of the final shows in London of the 'Madame X Tour' in early 2020, Gabriel’s biography covers over six decades of Madonna’s life and the astonishing career she built for herself. I've read several Madonna biographies and this is amongst the best and by far the most detailed and insightful.

A fascinating depiction of an icon and an entrancing revisitation of her art, ‘Madonna: A Rebel Life’ is an enthralling and captivating chronicle of one of the most important and enduring figures in popular culture – a visionary performance artist whose work and influence has already continued beyond the biography’s final pages with ‘The Celebration Tour’ in 2023-24, which concluded with a performance at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach and set a new record for the largest audience for a standalone concert. Still holding the record as the bestselling female recording artist of all time (and fourth bestselling of all recording artists) and with a new studio album poised for release, Madonna remains the unsurpassable empress of pop.



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