Y'all are familiar with the rags-to-riches storyline that never fails to tug at our heartstrings. But only a select few of these very fortunate people can match the success that has been achieved by the Queen of Pop, Madonna.

To date, Madonna holds the record of the highest earning female musician of all time. She has even achieved record sales of at least 200 million albums worldwide! And this was merely in the year 2005! Imagine how large the figure should be now! And her concert tours? Oh, they are definitely something to watch out for, because her concert tours are one of the top-grossing by any female musician!

Singing was not always Madonna's forte, so to speak. In fact, she started her career with a strong inclination towards dancing. She even left her hometown to build a dancing career of her own in New York City, with only $35 to her name. But through her early years in the business, she quickly developed an interest in singing as well. Thus, the formative years of Madonna's musical career.

Her self-titled debut album was released in 1983, and brought forth the tracks Holiday and Lucky Star. These tracks were strong enough to make an appearance on the Hot 100 Singles chart. But it wasn't just the lyrics of her music that captivated audiences worldwide. Her clothing style wowed fans so much that any woman who sees gallery pictures of Madonna try to dress just like her! She has really become a fashion icon in her own right.

But music clearly wasn't enough for Madonna. As early as 1985, she delved into the movie industry, to appear on the film Vision Quest. And it was for its soundtrack that the huge hit Crazy for You came off. To this day, Crazy for You remains the huge hit that it always has been since its release.

And the road to success doesn't end there! In 1989, Madonna released her album, Like a Prayer, containing the huge hit of the same title. The track stayed at the top spot on the Hot 100 for many consecutive weeks. Then came Vogue, from the 1990 album I'm Breathless. This went on to become a huge house music track.

But for a brief time, Madonna's image was tainted by controversy. Sure, we have gotten used to her antics of topless people in her videos, even to the point of nudity at times! But this time around, Madonna enraged fans from Puerto Rico during a concert, where she rubbed the pole of the Puerto Rican flag between her legs. This action was viewed as obscene, and insulting to the Puerto Ricans.

Nevertheless, she bounced back with the release of her 1998 album, Ray of Light. This time around, Madonna took her music into a whole new level. With the influence of Eastern music, matched with pensive lyrical content, Madonna's Frozen hit the charts like wild fire! The album has since then become one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Madonna then made another theme song for yet another James Bond movie, Die Another Day. The track is also of the same title. Although the track did pretty well, even earning a Golden Globe nomination, it was also nominated for Worst Song at the Golden Raspberry awards.

But there really was no time to fret about that because then came the controversial kiss that she shared with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera during MTV's VMAs in 2003. Her kiss with Britney stirred more controversy than that with Aguilera. And this led to her being featured on Britney's Me Against The Music.

Madonna's music just kept getting better and better after that! Her 10th album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, spawned the hits Hung Up, Jump, Sorry, and Get Together. The chart performance of these tracks proves that Madonna's music definitely has what it takes to go down in history!

But never mind history for now. What's up with Madonna lately? Well, she has started her own clothing line, M by Madonna, which has fans falling in line, just to get a glimpse of the pop icon's collection. And in just two hours, some items from her clothing line have already been sold out! A lot of people are pleased that Madonna opened a clothing line of her own. Not just because she's a fashion icon indeed. But also because this proves how versatile an artist Madonna really is. Right now, she is truly beyond music!