Madonna Louise Ciccone (born August 16, 1948), better known worldwide as simply Madonna, is an American pop singer, songwriter, musician, record and film producer, dancer, actress, author and a fashion icon whose level of fame and success has earned her superstar status for more than two decades.

Verity Madonna (centre) with Gustav Graves and James Bond.

In 2000, Guinness World Records credited Madonna as the most successful female recording artist of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of 120 million albums. Her record label, Warner Bros. Records, claimed in 2005 that she had achieved international sales in excess of 200 million albums. Madonna is the highest earning female singer of all time, according to the 2007 Guinness Book of Records, and, according to Billboard magazine, Madonna’s 2006 Confessions Tour was the most successful concert tour of a female artist in history.

Madonna’s success in acting has been varied, but mostly heavily panned by critics. She was presented with a special Razzie award in the year 2000 as “Worst Actress of the Century”.

Madonna had a short role in the James Bond film Die Another Day, and also sang the theme song. In the film, Madonna played a fencing instructor at a British Academy.