Madonna is a huge star. She rocketed to stardom so quickly that it obscured most of her musical virtues. Madonna is the quintessential celebrity, famous for her fame, and her prominence in the media, so that her actual exploits in the worlds of music and cinema are of secondary importance. She really was a pioneer - not in her musical style, or her fashions, but in her ability to attract the attention of a culture.

Family problems

Madonna said to be devastated her brother Christopher Ciccone is writing an explosive book on the singer's sex and drug-fuelled past, something which he blames the breakdown of her marriage on. An insider said: "Madonna is very saddened by Christopher's behaviour. Madonna is big news in the UK so she’s constantly in the tabloids, often front page. One day they’re divorcing, another day they’re renewing their vows. Madonna is no longer jogging through our parks surrounded by bodyguards as she did in the Eighties. She's no longer spraying profanities on chat shows or feeling up lesbian friends to wind up the media.”