Listening to Material Girl at the moment & I remember at the time being struck at how ingeniuos (at the time) the video was. Nothing like that had been done before & it was really striking. Like a Virgin video was special too.

But was this too early in her career to say that it was obvious that Madonna was "something else", not just another pop star.

And what have been the "moments" for the current crop of girls?

like a virgin....oooh...touched for the very first time. that line alone made her an icon!! she blasted to superstardom! and it simply continued from there

Josh Pinder will give you the full explanation

her performance at Live Aid made her.

a major superstar by the time like a virgin came out and already an icon after like a prayer

personally, i think when `like a virgin` dropped, people started to take notice. the imagery together with the music was so intriguing and different. by the time `true blue` was launched, she was one of the most talked about women in the world at that time. the music just got even better and she started her first image overhaul at that point.

by the time `like a prayer` was released, she was at one of her creative peaks. although the album is not one of her best selling, artistically it was perfect. the tour that followed was just bonkers. everywhere she went there was outrage and hysteria in equal measures. so at some point during her first decade in the industry, she was considered by many an icon.

Material Girl wasnt ingenious at all, if anything it was her most derivative video. That said, I think it was probably around the time of True Blue that she transcended popstar and became, and continues to be the icon she is.

She achieved her artistic and commercial peak between 89-91 with the Like A Prayer album, Blonde Ambition Tour and Immaculate Collection release. Prior to that she was world renowned and well known but it was the above mentioned era and that which elevated her to the next level

Her peak was 1990. By that point she was/still is, the biggest female popstar on the planet. She became a global icon in 1989. Purely because of the Like A Prayer outrage. This then made Madonna push the limits of popstars more and more.

However her career took off on a megga global scale at the time of True Blue being released.

Yep, True Blue and it's influx of great singles sent her soaring in a similar vein to Lady Gaga but after Like A Prayer and the Pepsi commercial,the MTV awards performances and then later the Tour and greatest hits release it took her to the stratosphere and cemented her place amongst legends

I think it was the 'Like A Prayer' album and 'Vogue' (the songs, the videos, the performances) that cemented her position as an icon.And then 'Ray Of Light' got her much closer to legendary status

She had a dip and a bit of a backlash for the first time during erotica and Bedtime Stories didn't get a great reaction. Then she came back with Evita and smashed it with ROL and people fell back in love with her again after that. After some subdued years (by her standards) ROL really got her back on track

I agree.

The period 1989 to 1991 was when icon status was achieved.There was also a lot of diversity in her out put-Like A Prayer, Vogue, Hanky Panky and Justify My Love couldn't be more different from one another.

That was a very special time and she was literally revered from that point. I think it was quite noticeable how the public in general and indeed the media regarded her at this point.

Evita, the Golden Globe Award and Ray of Light just cemented that position again after a shaky few years.( I say shaky although personally I think Erotica is the best album of them all although to be fair time has passed and it is more appreciated now generally).

She has had,irrespective of whether your a fan or not, the most incredible career.

Madonna became a Pop Icon with Like A Virgin, The Madonna-Wannabe craze was at its height late 84 and 1985 when she took the Virgin Tour on the road and performed at Live Aid that year too.

Her debut album then was re-released to to such massive popularity and Into The groove on new prints of her LAV album and Borderline, LAV and Material girl really reflected the era of the time with her irony and wit in the lyrics and style...and Dress You Up was one of the ten pop songs to trigger the Parental Advisory Sticker.

True Blue certified she was here to stay...pushing boundaries. Papa Dont Preach, Live To Tell, Open Your Heart and La Isla Bonita took the world by storm!

And then after her Penn divorce, theatrical productions and Whos The girl world tour etc.etc. and film ventures she came back MASSIVE with Like A Prayer which pioneered her to new artistic levels and critical attention and broke the boundaries even further! and since then she became a music legend and The Queen Of Pop music and culture world renowned.

Like A Prayer/Blonde Ambition/Dick Tracy/Immaculate COllection.....it was the biggest peak any artist could have!....and in 1992 - 1995 it really tested her status no one else would have survived the backlash of that time frame accept from Madonna and what she did. Erotica has since became something of a cult album and IMO and many critics one of the greatest ever albums recorded in the 90s for what it achieved....and then of course Evita, golden globes and Ray Of Light have proven that Madonna is forever basically and since then record after record have been broken and she continues to shock, bend the rules, remain unpredictable and reinvent herself imagery and musically and is the greatest female legend alive....even her greatest detractors know this, fan or not....you cannot deny her impact and the fact that Madonna is in fact the last standing music legend....STILL on a peak possible level

Josh has pretty much summed it up
Plus i think Madonna really became an Icon before she even became famous. She did what I think is already one of the best things any Female can do and was establish an ever growing and such a loyal Gay fanbase. The minute Gay men loved her, there was really no going back for her. She was in it for life.

Fans desert artists but the Gay fanbase never do and always remain the most loyal.

Isnt that how it works really.

the gays love them
women love them
everyone loves them.

Its how you get a pop song popular

But yeah Madonna pretty much has it set as a loyal fanbase....the gay/lgbt community have really stuck by her her entire career and Erotica showcased that militant attitude....in the AIDs climate it was tough to not only make an experimental album in Pop but also an album that was about love in such an era.

Also Madonna always has the Club scene in there not just Pop....due to her in Studio 54 etc and the Koko Clubs etc Madonna established her Dance in her blood as well as performance with smaller gigs...which is quite fun to watch back really and see...damn just how far she has come with it.

It can only be a winning formular with certain artists i feel

achieved legend status with ray of light

She became a popstar with her debut (obviously), a superstar with Like a Virgin, a megastar with True Blue, and an Icon throughout that entire Like a Prayer, Blond Ambition and Immaculate Collection time in her career.

She maintained that status with Erotica and Bedtime Stories - they were less successful but she was just as famous.

I think the first time people started considering her a legend was with The Drowned World period of her career. Ray of Light, Music and the DWT were all huge successes critically and commercially.

Honestly, I think she has now reached that level now where she can release 10 shit albums and still maintain legendary status.

When she did Material Girl dressed like Marylin Monroe surrounded by men in suits, she showed she could also do tongue in cheek pop, by the time she did the True Blue album with blonde hair showing she could change image over night, she was an international superstar and every bit the icon that Marilyn Monroe was. It all happened in the summer of 1985, when she was brilliant at Live Aid, married Sean Penn and stole the movie in Desparately Seeking Susan.

Love reading posts here too...makes me wish i did live moments of the 80s to say....yeah, i was there since the beginning. But i also think it is more fun going back, watching performances, interviews etc from each era.

She is absolutely massive! I mean look at the hysteria she is causing online since her announcement as Super Bowl headliner, and new album news/leaks etc....and we dont know everything about the album itself yet really.

Only Madonna

I WAS there from the beginning & remember it well.Your assessment is very accurate.

I think whats hard to understand is that back in the day there really was ONLY Madonna, as a female pop star breaking these boundaries. There were other females: Kylie, Janet jackson but they did not push boundaries or effect image change in anyway like Madonna. she was singular & I think that set her apart..

Most definitely....i mean no one else could rival it.

even Janet with Control and Rhythm Nation later and Kylie/ SAW domination...it cannot touch what Madonna did as a solo artist...they made an impact YES, but on such a grand scale yeah it is so different and unparalleled to this day.

That is why Madonnas fanbase to this day are...basically from the range of 8 - 80 tbh....everyone was/is/will be a Madonna fan really because her music, imagery transcends generations....which has resulted in her impact to Pop today...and continues to do so

I would've said when she released "Ray of Light". After she continually tested the public (with Erotica, Sex and Body of Evidence), and took a break (and had Lola) she came back and I think was then crowned icon. I think when she tried to tone down her image with Bedtime Stories, Erotica really hurt it as it was still fresh in the public's eyes, and had the domino effect onto Something to Remember.

True Blue baby I love you!

Madonna is up their with them legends