She did tell the world that she was a 'Material Girl' from the very start of her career, and nobody can accuse Madonna of being a liar now. With a fortune that seems destined to grow to over $1bn, it pays to be a cultural icon. Madonna has every right to claim that she's the biggest and most influential female recording artist of all time.
Provocative and often controversial, it's hard to express today how shocking some of Madonna's material was in the 1980s, particularly the racial-divide crossing 'Like a Prayer' video, and the sexual content of both her lyrics and her performances. She even went as far as to release a book called 'Sex', mostly consisting of pictures of her in various states of undress. Many stars who have followed - Lady Gaga in particular - owe a lot of their style and success to Madonna being there to open the door for them.