Madonna turns 60 on Thursday, and celebrates not only a birthday but a place in the celebrity spotlight that has spanned more than 30 years.
Her career has not been without controversy.
Just weeks ago, she told an interviewer that she moved her family from New York City to Portugal to escape Donald Trump's presidency.
"I felt like we needed a change, and I wanted to get out of America for a minute," the singer told Vogue Italia, according to News.com.au.
During last year's Women's March, she said she'd considered "blowing up the White House" after Trump was elected.
The president reacted by calling Madonna "disgusting."
"Honestly, she's disgusting," Trump said during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity. "I think [Madonna] hurt herself very badly. I think she hurt that whole cause."
Trump added that what the Queen of Pop said along with a "couple of others" was "disgraceful to our country."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told "Fox & Friends" that Madonna "ought to be arrested" for her White House comment.
But Madonna clarified on social media that she "spoke in metaphor" and that her comments were "taken wildly out of context."
Previously, she told Harper's Bazaar in 2017 that Election Night in November 2016 "was just like watching a horror show," and prayed Trump wouldn't get elected.
Whether fans approve or disapprove of her outspokenness, Madonna has sold more than 300 million records, making her the best-selling female recording artist of all time, according to the Guinness World Records.
She grew up in Michigan and moved to New York in 1977 to study dance and model.
In the early 1980s, she launched her music career with smash hits like "Holiday," "Lucky Star," and "Like a Virgin."
Then came the chart-toppers "Material Girl," "Into the Groove," and "Papa Don't Preach" in the mid-1980s.
The early 1990s brought "Vogue," from her album "I'm Breathless," and her controversial book "Sex" in 1992.
In 1996, she landed the coveted role of Evita Duarte in the film "Evita" portraying the wife of Juan Peron, the Argentine president during the 1940s and 50s.
Her other films have included "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985), "Dick Tracy" (1990), "A League of Their Own" (1992) and "Swept Away" (2002).
The mega pop-star collaborated with pop icon in Britney Spears for "Me Against the Music" in 2003.
She continued to make music into the 2010s, including a recent collaboration with Nicki Minaj.