The following introduction is adapted from an excellent biography by Michael Joseph (Ed. David Richter, Pub. Arrows Books) called The Madonna Diaries on the Rock On ROM CD on Madonna (STP, 1999).

I N T R O D U C T I O N

For all the fuss about the Spice Girls and the column inches devoted to feisty females, little has been said of the one woman who can truly lay claim to being the first true exponent of girl power - Madonna. If you've ever wondered how it all started, how the way was paved for artists as diverse as Courtney Love and the Riot Grrls in what was rightly perceived as a male-dominated industry, this is for you. It's about a person who started out as just one more singer/dancer who had a hit, but went on to become what can only be described as a superstar who crossed the boundaries between on-stage performer and behind-the-scenes mover and shaker.

Sometimes, through no fault of your own, something you do captures the spirit of the moment and from then on, everything you touch turns to gold. It's not a fair system and it has led far more people to ruin and obscurity than it has to fame and fortune, but for those lucky enough to open the door when opportunity knocks, it will change your life forever. For an unknown Italian-American girl in the early eighties, just before the western world was about to discover the yuppie generation, it happened with a song that got everybody talking and a video that had everybody watching - Madonna Ciccone had arrived on the scene and everyone had something to say about her. Provocative, sexual and with the sassy confidence that was to become her trademark, she even had the nerve to say what she meant and to ignore the fact that she had worked her way up via the traditional actresses role in the nude scene, rather than denying any murky past and suppressing the negatives.

Whatever you may have thought of her at the time, you knew that this was one personality that was going to last. Her platinum-blonde locks coupled with her sultry mediterranean face gave her a look like no-one else around (and led to comparisons with Marilyn Monroe that, in retrospect, were so wide off the mark as to be laughable). She could dance forever with a self-assurance few possess and, amazingly, she could sing as well. This heady combination of talent in one person has so far resulted in a woman who can justly call herself a star. The fact that she knows it is a sore point for all those less fortunate souls condemned forever to be support acts in the concert of life, but nobody said it was going to be a rose garden - then again, when you're as fabulously wealthy as Madonna is, you can take the odd knock to the ego.

If you had seen the young girl cavorting about provocatively in a wedding dress on her first [major] video, this future would have been hard to imagine. Not considered a great beauty by most and with no history or even any [known] proven music-writing credentials to her name, it would have been easy to dismiss her as another one-hit wonder from the States. What was it about this girl that would lead her to become the phenomenon we know today? The first time I saw her was on 'that' video, but even though it seemed tailor-made to cater to the fantasies of adolescent males, Madonna has an appeal that crossed the gender gap with ease. Never one to miss an opportunity, she has since capitalised on her sexuality to great success across a broad spectrum of media and often to the point where it has exceeded her musical reputation.

Before the rise to megastardom was complete, she was to try her hand at every aspect of the entertainment business, both in front of and behind the scenes. We, the record-buying public, have watched as she has grown from the brash, in-your-face rock chick of "Like A Virgin" and "Holiday" into the supremely confident media-mogul she is today; a transition that has been far from smooth for a woman never afraid of courting controversy and offending the sensibilities of the press. She has never been one to back away from publicity in either her public life or her stormy private relationships and the events she has lived through.

Certainly the woman beyond the music has now become as famous - if not more so - than the recording artist, and that is what this book is all about. When writing about a public figure as well-known as Madonna, a person whose reputation for being famous now eclipses what she is famous for, it can be difficult to find a path through the jungle of information available. There is not only the singer and dancer to contend with but the would-be actress, the writer and now the mother. If you are a long-time fan then the exclusive interview will offer new insights into the character that is Madonna and for those of you just returned from your tour of the outer reaches of the Solar system who want to see who she is, "The Madonna Diaries" will tell you all you could ever want to know about a woman whose music has come to dominate the pop scene and whose sheer force of personality has created an icon of femme power.

Love her or loathe her, she has succeeded like no other solo female act before her and remains a profound influence on today's music. Female artists have her to thank for giving them all a much-needed boost of credibility in a world dominated by the Whitney Houstons and Mariah Careys knocking out well-crafted hits to order.

This is her story.