Madonna matters because her message is relevant, says the artist's biographer

The fans of Madonna who want to know more about the life of the singer, who ends the tour “The Celebration Tour “, there is a new biography available. “Madonna: A rebellious life ” has just been released in Brazil by the publisher BestSeller.

After five years of research and dozens of interviews, American journalist Mary Gabriel was beyond the life of a pop star . The biography talks about Madonna as an artist, activist, and behavior changer and draws a parallel between Madonna Louise Ciccone's 40-year career and the cultural history of the world.

In an interview with CNN , Mary Gabriel explains: “Some artists live in a protective bubble, shielded from the world. Madonna is the opposite. Her work reflects and responds to what is happening around her, whether it is where she is living, what is happening politically and socially in the world, or what is happening in her personal life.”

“If her work is not contextualized, if we do not know that she wrote her famous song 'Like A Prayer' during times of rampant racism in the United States, we cannot understand the importance of the work or its message “, adds the journalist.

The author continues: “Everyone in the world – or almost everyone – has heard of her, and many of these people have an opinion about her. But I discovered that the Madonna the world knows best is the celebrity Madonna.”

“The real Madonna, the much more interesting character, is the artist Madonna. I discovered that Madonna is little known and understood even less. I felt it was important to tell her story because This Madonna changed the world “, adds the writer.

AIDS stigma and glamorous mother

Mary Gabriel remembers the artist's important role at the beginning of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, when she used her voice and resources to try to end the stigma and fear surrounding HIV . Madonna would lose some of the people she loved most to illness – among them, artist Keith Haring.

The author also cites another moment that contributed to changes in behavior. In 2000, at the “Music” tour show at Brixton Academy, in London, Madonna performed wearing a t-shirt with the names of her daughter Lola (Lourdes Maria), daughter of the dancer Carlos Leon, and her son Rocco, from her relationship with the filmmaker Ruy Ritchie.

Madonna Live @ Brixton Academy

On November 28, 2000 Madonna performed a mini-set at London's Brixton Academy. The show was part of the Don't Tell Me Promo Tour, which began only 2 months after the birth of her 2nd child, Rocco. It was streamed live across the internet to an… pic.twitter.com/EY9rfocW7l

— Greg Engler ㊙️ (@IknoWTFhappened) February 13, 2024

Mary Gabriel considers that this gesture contributed to changing the concept of motherhood and sexuality . At that moment, Madonna was the most glamorous of working mothers: tough, muscular, aggressive and sensual, singing “Runnaway Lover”.

At the show, Madonna said: “I don't want to sound insolent, but I think I didn't stop being sexy after having kids . There is nothing sexier than a mother.”

Michigan, New York, the world

“Madonna: A Rebel Life” also covers her childhood, her family life, her mother’s religiosity, her move to New York to enter the world of dance and the discovery that she could and wanted to make music.

The achievements were made amid several difficulties in staying in New York – he took food from the trash can, lived in inappropriate places, found a way to get money without asking his father for help.