Music

Madonna

Landed in New York at 20 with $35, by her account — first plane ride, first taxi.

Born: 1958 · Bay City, Michigan, US
Roots: Italian-American father, French-Canadian mother
Family: Middle class; Her defense-engineer father raised six children alone after her mother died of breast cancer when Madonna was five.
Education: Dance scholarship at the University of Michigan (left for New York)
Started with: $35; What she carried to New York in 1978, by her account; Dunkin' Donuts shifts and dance auditions followed.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1978 · age 19
New York$35
Drops the scholarship for the city; years of squats, day jobs, and drum kits in downtown bands.
1982 · age 24
Everybody
A club single signed off a demo tape.
1984 · age 26
Like a Virgin
The MTV Awards performance makes her the network's defining star.
1990 · age 31
Blond Ambition
The tour template — theatrical, controversial, imitated ever since.
1992 · age 33
Maverick$60M
Her own label and media company, in one of the largest deals a female artist had signed.
2008 · age 50
Guinness listing
Recorded as the best-selling female recording artist in history — a listing she has held since.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.