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The Queen Of Pop, a Material Girl, a gay icon and a self-proclaimed “warrior” – Madonna is many things to many people.

Rihanna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga have all recognised her influence on their careers, with Beyonce hailing her a “masterpiece genius”.

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Pictured with Taylor Swift in 2015. Pic: AP

She’s had more top 10 hits than Elvis, sung a Bond song, met Queen Elizabeth and performed at Super Bowl half time. There’s even part of an academic discipline devoted to her – Madonna studies.

But now, following news of a stint in intensive care following a “serious bacterial infection”, fans have been left scrabbling for positive news around the pop icon’s health, not to mention the ticket-holders for her now-on-pause tour which had been due to kick off next month.

While the star is understood to be home and recovering, the media frenzy around her illness is just a small sign of the impact Madonna has had on the world, transcending the music industry to become one of the most recognisable faces of the 20th and 21st centuries – a post-modern icon playing the game by her own rules.

The best-selling female recording artist of all time, her sparkling four-decade career has earned her multiple awards and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

A master of reinvention, those of a certain age who have followed her over the years have been treated to numerous musical styles, as well as a succession of colourful personas.

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Hits have ranged from her early pop tunes Into The Groove and True Blue, to the electronic dance beats in Ray Of Light, a country vibe in Don’t Tell Me and classic musical theatre in Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.

As for her physical makeovers, they have spanned the fingerless gloves and lacey look of her first number one, Holiday, aged just 27, to the much-imitated Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra and scraped back hair of her Blonde Ambition tour 10 years later.

Then there was the earth goddess hippie look for her Ray Of Light album, her first as a mother, and then the Farrah Fawcett flip hair and leotard look to usher in her 50s.

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In 1985. Pic: AP

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In 1987 Pic: AP

With each different phase as distinctive as the next – and each one signalling a mini-comeback of sorts – her skill at keeping herself in the headlines means she’s rarely been out of the public conscience over the last 44 years.

Always aware of the selling-power of controversy, many moments in her career have dominated the cultural conversation over the decades.

In 1989 her Like A Prayer video scandalised many featuring burning crosses, bleeding stigmata and a sexually active black saint. The Vatican condemned it and Pepsi cancelled a sponsorship deal. The resulting outcry helped the single become a massive hit and her seventh number one on the Hot 100.

In 2003 after opening the MTV VMAs with a performance of Like A Virgin, an on-stage snog with Britney Spears went viral – two years before YouTube came into existence.

And when during a performance in 2015 a wardrobe malfunction saw her pulled backwards down a flight of stairs live on stage, she picked herself up and carried on. She later denied the fall – which left her with whiplash – was a publicity stunt.

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With Donatella Versace and Cher in 1997. Pic: AP

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Performing in 2004. Pic: AP

And of course, she’s got another string to her bow – not just a singer, but also an actress. While many have maligned her acting ability, she has starred in over 20 feature films – including the Oscar-winning 1996 drama Evita – as well as numerous TV shows and commercials.

She’s starred opposite industry heavyweights including Rosanna Arquette (Desperately Seeking Susan); Antonio Banderas (Evita) and Warren Beatty (Dick Tracy). And she’s also performed on Broadway and the West End.

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With Rosanna Arquette on set in 1985. Pic: AP

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On the Slammer film set in 1986. Pic: AP

Plus, she has literature – her 1992 coffee table book Sex, featuring softcore pornography and sadomasochism – topped the New York Times best-seller list for three weeks, selling over 150,000 copies on its first day, becoming the fastest-selling coffee table book of all time.

Considered a bold post-feminist work – and featuring a naked Madonna to boot – it remains one of the most in-demand out-of-print publications of all time.

When it comes to managing her own destiny, Madonna has led the charge from the get-go, writing and producing the majority of her own music from early on in her career, succeeding in moulding and steering her career her way.

A businesswoman as well as an artist, Forbes has named her the top earning female musician 11 times, and estimates her to be worth $580m (£457m) as of 2023.

In 2013 she launched her own skincare range – MDNA Skin.

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With Iggy Pop and Justin Timberlake in 2008. Pic: Jackson Lee/starmaxinc.com/AP

Unsurprisingly, as a woman at the top of her game and in financial control of her art, her business acumen has led to the Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello-winning singer being labelled a “control freak”.

However, Madonna insists she values collaboration, saying in a 2012 interview: “I can’t work on my own… I need to hear what people think all the time.”

Battling her way in the industry years before the #MeToo movement, she reportedly rejected the advances of Harvey Weinstein (whose then company Miramax produced her 1991 documentary Truth Or Dare) telling him: “Get away from me, you smell like a f****** ashtray.”

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On her Sticky & Sweet tour in 2009. Pic: AP

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Performing in 2012. Pic: AP

Her more recent criticism of ageism and sexism in both the music industry and society, has received widespread media coverage.

So where did it all begin? The eldest girl of a Catholic family of six children, she was born Madonna Louise Ciccone in Michigan in August 1958.

She was named after her mother, whose death from breast cancer when she was aged just five left her bereft. This early loss resulted in Madonna rejecting the idea of having children for many years, saying she “associated motherhood with sacrifice, suffering and ultimately death”.

Dropping out of college, and moving to New York in 1978 to pursue a career in entertainment, the then-19-year-old Madonna was raped at knifepoint during her early days in the city.

She has since said she never reported it to police, fearing the humiliation.

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Beatles-like levels of excitement greeted her first UK concert tour in 1987. Pic: AP

Refusing to let the attack phase her, she found a series of jobs including at Dunkin’ Donuts and as a coat check girl, before segueing from a backing singer and dancer to a solo performer.

Multiple number one hits followed, across 14 studio albums. And as well as singing, she also plays the piano, guitar, ukulele and drums.

An early adopter of the hands-free headset microphone, the piece of kit has since been informally named in her honour, dubbed the “Madonna mic”.

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Blonde Ambition tour in 2000. Pic: AP

A woman who clearly knows the power of fame, she’s used it for good on many occasions.

In 1998 she set up the Ray Of Light Foundation – named after her seventh studio album – promoting peace, equal rights and education for all.

In 2006 she founded the non-profit organisation Raising Malawi, supporting orphans and vulnerable children, many of whom have been directly affected by HIV and AIDS.

And in 2014 she donated money to her hometown Detroit after the city declared itself bankrupt, and in 2020 – as COVID spread around the world – she donated $1m (£788,000) to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help find a vaccine.

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With Sean Penn in 1986. Pic: AP

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With Guy Richie and baby son Rocco in 2000. Pic: AP

As for her personal life, she’s been married twice. First, her notoriously fractious marriage to actor Sean Penn which came to a close in 1989.

She then became an honorary Brit – buying a Wiltshire estate and a London pub and even adopting the accent – after wedding English film director Guy Richie. The couple split in 2008 after eight years of marriage.

She’s had many other well-documented relationships with stars – albeit some of them brief – including with Michael Jackson, Tupac, Vanilla Ice and Dennis Rodman.

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Out for dinner in LA with Michael Jackson in 1991. Pic: AP

Alongside her performance career, she is also mother to six children – Lourdes, 26, Rocco, 22 – both her birth-children – and David 17, Mercy, 16, and twins Estere and Stella, 10, who were all adopted from Malawi.

Raised a Catholic, in the early 2000s her devotion to Kabbalah – a form of Eastern mysticism – led her to change her name to Esther, which means “star”.

One constant in her career has been her ferocious work ethic. An exercise lover, she has at times worked out for five-hours per day as well as following a strict macrobiotic diet. It’s a dedication which has allowed her to maintain a peak level of fitness and tour into her 60s.

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With daughter Lourdes Leon 1998. Pic: John Barrett/PHOTOlink/AP

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With son David and daughter Mercy in 2014. Pic: AP

So far, she’s completed 11 gruelling concert tours – many of them sold out – and two of those broke records.

Her Sticky & Sweet tour, which ran from August 2008 to September 2009, and her 60-date Confessions tour in 2006 both topped the most money grossed on tour by a female entertainer ($194m and $411m respectively).

However, her last few tours have been beset by illness, leaving her unable to satisfy her own brutal work ethic. Multiple dates of her 2019-2020 Madame X tour were called off due to “overwhelming pain”, with the star pictured walking with a cane and wearing knee braces.

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Jogging in 1987. Pic: AP

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An acrobatic performance in 2004. Pic: AP

Now of course, The Celebration tour is on hold following a “serious bacterial infection”.

Madonna has previously called cancelling gigs a “punishment”, and at the time of her Madame X cancellations told fans that despite considering herself to be “a warrior I never quit, I never give in”, she had been forced to stop performing “so that I don’t inflict further and irreversible damage to my body”.

Despite the setbacks, her tour record as highest-grossing female performer of all time was only broken last year, when she was overtaken by Taylor Swift’s The Eras tour.

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At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2021. Pic: AP

Perhaps the last word should go to the curatorial director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Howard Kramer, who said: “Madonna and the career she carved out for herself made possible virtually every other female pop singer to follow… She certainly raised the standards of all of them… She re-defined what the parameters were for female performers.”

A re-inventor, a re-definer and a role-model – Madonna may be briefly out, but as her history proves – she’s unlikely to stay down for long.

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.

Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.

“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.

The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.

Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.

He also set up social media accounts in his name.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.

Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.

Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
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Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA

In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.

‘I know where you live’

On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.

The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.

Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Man accused of stalking Shirley Ballas
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Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA

Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.

The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

Kyle Shaw leaves Liverpool Crown Court, where he is charged with stalking Strictly judge Shirley Ballas.
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Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA

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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.

He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.

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Gary Glitter made bankrupt after failing to pay £500k compensation to victim

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Gary Glitter made bankrupt after failing to pay £500k compensation to victim

Gary Glitter has been made bankrupt after failing to pay more than £500,000 in damages to a woman he abused when she was 12 years old.

She sued the disgraced singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, after he was found guilty of attacking her and two other schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.

Glitter, 80, was jailed for 16 years in 2015 and released in 2023 but was recalled to prison less than six weeks later after breaching his parole conditions.

A judge awarded the woman £508,800, including £381,000 in lost earnings and £7,800 for future therapy and treatment, saying she was subjected to abuse “of the most serious kind”.

The court heard she had not worked for decades due to the trauma of being repeatedly raped and “humiliated” by the singer.

Gary Glitter has lost a parole board bid to be freed from jail.
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Glitter was jailed for 16 years in 2015. Pic: Met Police/PA

Glitter was made bankrupt last month at the County Court at Torquay and Newton Abbot, in Devon – the county where he is reportedly serving his sentence in Channings Wood prison, in Newton Abbot.

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing the woman, said: “We confirm that Gadd has been made bankrupt following our client’s application.

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“As he has done throughout, Gadd has refused to cooperate with the process and continues to treat his victims with contempt.

“We hope and trust that the parole board will take his behaviour into account in any future parole applications, as it clearly demonstrates that he has never changed, shows no remorse and remains a serious risk to the public.”

Glitter was first jailed for four months in 1999 after he admitted possessing around 4,000 indecent images of children.

He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002, and in March 2006 was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam where he spent two-and-a-half years in prison.

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His sentence for the 2016 convictions expires in February 2031.

Glitter was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February 2023 after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence.

But he was back behind bars weeks later after reportedly trying to access the dark web and images of children.

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Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan revealed in line-up for Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films

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Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan revealed in line-up for Sam Mendes' four Beatles films

Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan will play Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles films – with a Stranger Things star also portraying one of the Fab Four.

The two Irish actors will be joined by London-born performers Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.

The cast for the Sam Mendes project was revealed at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, with all four appearing on stage and taking a bow together in Beatles style.

Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan and Harris Dickinson stand onstage to promote the upcoming "The Beatles" movies during a Sony Pictures presentation.
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(L-R) Mescal, Quinn, Keoghan and Dickinson appeared together at the announcement. Pic: Reuters

Mendes is making four interconnected films – one from the perspective of each of the band members – and they are all set to be released “in proximity” to each other in April 2028.

It marks the first time The Beatles and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.

Playing McCartney is another big role for 29-year-old Mescal, who recently starred in the Gladiator sequel and was nominated for an Oscar in 2023 for Aftersun.

Barry Keoghan – who also got an Oscar nod for The Banshees of Inisherin – will portray the other surviving Beatles member, Ringo Starr.

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Pic: PA

Meanwhile, Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn, who appeared with long hair as Eddie Munson in the fourth series, takes up the role of George Harrison.

Harris Dickinson has the challenge of stepping into the shoes of perhaps the most famous Beatle, John Lennon.

The 28-year-old recently starred in erotic thriller Babygirl with Nicole Kidman and also appeared in satire Triangle of Sadness.

Mendes told the industry audience at CinemaCon there is “still plenty to explore” despite the Beatles’ rise having being well chronicled.

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The Oscar-winning British director is known for films including American Beauty, First World War movie 1917, and Bond outings Skyfall and Spectre.

Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman said the close release of all four films in three years’ time will be “the first bingeable theatrical experience”.

“We are going to dominate the culture that month,” he added.

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