But aside from her ambitious, dance-inspiring music and contagious, often-imitated fashion, she’s stood out as one of the most powerful yet outspoken voices in music. From helping a generation of women defy what was expected of them, inspiring gay men to be unafraid, and educating people about AIDS to break the stigma when the world had turned its back on those suffering from it.
Madonna has been reaching people’s heads, hearts and souls since the early ’80s, so it should come as no surprise that there are some fascinating stories to tell - some more emotional than you might expect - about the effect she’s had on people’s lives.
Coming from Newcastle to Philadelphia and The Hague, here are the stories of those who will forever hold Madonna Louise Ciccone close to their hearts.
Stefan Mreczko, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Stefan started the Queerty-nominated podcast, MLVC: The Madonna Podcast, back in early 2019, feeling that “someone as iconic as Madonna deserves to have a show dedicated entirely to her”. The podcast features conversations which honour Madonna’s legacy, chats with fans from around the world, and interviews with people who have worked with her.
But why start a podcast centred purely around Madonna? “Madonna has inspired me to keep pursuing being an artist. Whether it be through my photography, my music production or through my podcast […] Art has always been a safe space for me, a place that feels welcoming and warm, and Madonna's art over the years has directly influenced my creative output. Her message to ‘express yourself, don't repress yourself’ has also always resonated with me. She helped me to consider differing points of view, embrace diversity and celebrate global cultures. She's also influenced me to seek more, to strive to be better and to not go for second best (baby…)”.
As for Stefan’s favourite Madonna song? It can’t be pinned down to one: “It’s a tie. First, I'll say ‘Vogue’, because in my opinion, that song embodies everything about Madonna as an artist. It's dance, it's pop, it's enduring, it still feels fresh and current, but also feels inherently from the 1990’s without seeming dated. But, I'd also say ‘Get Together’ because the first time I heard that song, I remember thinking that it was the type of music I had been waiting my whole life to hear from her. It's effortlessly catchy, the synths and her voice soar, and it invites you to be on the dancefloor, a place where Madonna's music feels so at home”.
Paul Winnubst, 62, The Hague, Netherlands
Since 1978, Paul has worked in radio in The Hague. From 1995, he was the owner of Hofstad Radio. From 1988 to 1991, he was also a DJ in his local gay club. Now, he’s the owner and manager of 2TheBeat which broadcasts across South Holland, The Netherlands (you can also listen via TuneIn).
These roles are how he first became connected with Madonna: “To search for new music for both the radio as well as the club, there were two main sources: MTV and the record stores”, adding that Madonna’s music was “fresh, new, brutal, and with a lot of appeal”.
“It is especially in the gay club where I felt huge admiration for Madonna. Songs like ‘Vogue’ were a sign someone heard them, someone encouraged them, someone challenged them to get everything out of life, no matter what”.
Sadly, the AIDS crisis brought unprecedented devastation to the LGBT community: “What no one knew at first was the monster that was waiting for a lot of them”, Paul recalls. “After 1991, I would say at least a third of the guys I knew at that time from the club were gone, dead. A hole that has yet to be filled, still, after all these years. And who could have thought my brother [would get] ill as well. He died of AIDS at the age of 27. Every Christmas is still a difficult time for my parents, both 87 now”.
During the AIDS crisis, a stigma became attached to gay men, and many Americans believed AIDS was a curse from God against the gay community. Madonna spoke out against the homophobia attached to the rumours surrounding the disease. At the height of her stardom, while she watched many of her best friends die from it, she delivered a safe-sex pamphlet with facts about AIDS in every ‘Like a Prayer’ album.
Paul remembers his late brother, Robert-Jan, and his warm relation to Madonna fondly: “He loved music and went a lot to concerts, movies and had his own movie program on a regional radio station. He once went to London for a Madonna concert and made it to the afterparty, where he managed to get her to sign several LPs. I still have them. I used these a few days later to make a Madonna special for the pirate radio station Radio Centraal.
“The last time I saw my brother in his house, he was listening to 'Secret' by, yes, Madonna. This was before summer. The tune, the music, the words have been for me something from my brother, not able to say he was ill, trying to ease his pain because he knew he was ill, but could not face the consequences. It still is bittersweet for me to hear it”. Madonna’s connection to his brother and her courage to fight for gay men facing prejudice in the ‘80s and ‘90s has stuck with Paul, and remains with him today as he concurs, “You can make good music. That is great. And you can hit the charts. But, really good music is music with a meaning. Music that moves people, challenges people. Madonna sure did that”.
Madonna also released ‘In This Life’ on her 1992 album ‘Erotica’, recorded at the height of the AIDS epidemic, about the close friends she lost to the disease. The track ends with the words “Someday, I pray it will end”. Artists as big as Madonna in that era were not making music that challenged the position of governments, bigots, and homophobes. But Madonna did: “Madonna was the exception. She showed you could live the way you wanted, but also was the first to name AIDS as what it was. That helped some people a lot.”
Aly Smith, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
Aly considers herself a 1980’s-era Madonna fan. “When I think of seeing Madonna for the first time, I go straight to the ‘Like a Virgin’ video. The lace gloves, the piles of jewellery, the messy hair, ribbons, the wedding dress…”.
Early in her career, one of the key staples of Madonna was her iconic, punky fashion sense, which challenged women to defy traditional gender roles when it came to clothing. “She didn’t just wear clothes, she weaponised them”, says Aly. “I was 14 at the time, really into goth and punk and going to school and youth club discos as well as hitchhiking or walking 3 miles each way to alternative clubs and pretending to be 18! I would pretend to be too cool for pop (I loved it secretly), but what always sticks with me about Madonna is how she took a predominantly pop sound and layered it with an attitude that echoed punk’s defiance and goth’s theatrical edge. Lace gloves and leggings under skirts, the best fashion ever!”.
A memory akin to many women of the ‘80s, Madonna’s defiant nature resonated with Aly: “I valued rebellion, theatricality, and self-invention. Madonna wasn’t part of the subcultures I mixed in, apart from the LGBTQI+ community that supported, kept me safe and influenced me as a teenager living away from home in the ‘80s, but she had the defiance of punk, the drama of goth and fused it with pop in a way that made it feel accessible without diluting it. She made it feel possible to love pop without betraying your alternative identity.”
As for her favourite Madonna song? 'Like a Prayer'. “In 1989, I was 18, and this incredible piece still makes me so emotional, I actually cry thinking about it! Uplifting gospel choir, a beautiful, black Jesus with whom she was having an intimate relationship in the video. This was unbelievably radical in the late 1980s when women were still expected to be passive within religious narratives. Madonna stood in a church, touched the statue, cried, prayed, and sought comfort on her own terms. It's just so beautiful and never ever dates!”.
Christine Brydon, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
“I feel Madonna represents all women at some point in their lives”, declares Christine. Among her many, ever-changing eras, that’s a likely notion. “She was the wild youth, a party girl, but also expresses herself really well emotionally and spiritually through her lyrics. She is a chameleon and the queen of reinvention. She supports the evolutionary theory that the greatest chance of survival lies with the ability to evolve.”
Madonna’s knack for reinvention isn’t just to keep things fresh, it’s how she’s learned to adapt to the world’s ever-changing boundaries, especially as a woman in an industry - and a world - controlled by men.
Christine’s favourite track was a no-brainer “I think, ultimately, it's got to be ‘Cherish’ as I had it at my wedding”.
Jessica Escalona, Lake Worth, Florida
Jessica has loved Madonna since she was a toddler. Now 38, she has a tattoo of the pop legend from the 1987 film Who’s That Girl?, which Madonna produced, starred in and released a song for, under the same name. “I would dress like her. I was always inspired by her constant change, and she inspired me to embrace constant change in my appearance and style and to embrace all styles of music and culture. Madonna not only inspired fashion for me but also how I explore music and singing.”
Favourite song? "I love ‘Over and Over’ because it inspires you to never stop, even when you fall down and make a mistake. Mistakes are a lesson to be learned and embraced, and to continue forward and never give up because there is a pay-off. Every time I fall, I will get up 'Over and Over’”.
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Annabella Marczewska, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
Annabaella is a DJ (@ladyannabelladj on Instagram) who plays eclectic tunes in bars around Newcastle and got into Madonna from an early age in a less conventional way.
“I was about eight, and I lived above a pub called the Free Trade Inn that my Dad managed at the time. There was a really lovely man who worked at the bar, who would’ve been in his early 20s at that point, who loved Madonna, and he would bring in video tapes for me like the Blonde Ambition Tour and the movie Desperately Seeking Susan. I absorbed so much Madonna in such a quick time, and living above a pub was quite a weird environment to grow up in, as you can imagine, so a lot of my childhood memories are of being upstairs above the pub and doing dance routines to Madonna!”
Annabella, like many, credits Madonna with empowering her through a feminist perspective. ”It’s all about empowerment. I imagine there are legions of women (and LGBTQ+ people, obviously) who would say the same thing. She has literally raised a generation to believe in themselves, to be fearless, to own their sexuality, to reinvent, to have freedom of expression, and to love the arts. As a kid, I just loved her boldness, her sassiness and intelligence. There’s no doubt it shaped me. Madonna gave me strength.”
This story is a testament to Madonna’s dynamic artistry and proof that she was never in the industry to get popular, make money and get out. She has not only inspired, she has educated. To put it succinctly, Annabella says, “I’m sure there are so many people who, like myself, ask, “what would Madonna do?” […] I also learned so much about AIDS at such a young age because of Madonna. So, she influenced me a lot, for sure, but I also learned a lot”.
Being a hardcore Madonna fan, Annabella’s pick for all-time favourite track was never going to be one of her mainstream hits. “My favourite song is ‘Secret Garden’. It’s the last track on the ‘Erotica’ album, and it’s honestly mind-blowing. It’s her jazziest track ever; she talks the verses and sings the chorus like it’s a nursery rhyme. The lyrics are whimsical, evocative and feminine. It’s rich, lush and not like any other song you’ve ever heard, by Madonna or anyone. An overlooked deep cut!”
Robert Ell, Pasadena, California
Having worked as a talent executive and producer in Hollywood, Robert’s LA connections have helped him come excitingly close to the Queen of Pop on more than one occasion, including being one of the first to see her in Evita when working as a producer at E! News. “Living in Los Angeles, near Hollywood, was often surreal because the stars were just a few freeway exits away and you could just go out to see them in person. It was so cool to see [Madonna] in her black wig disguise at the clubs dancing, and see her making an appearance at her brother's restaurant bar on Beverly with Sandra Bernhard, and to get to go backstage at the Who's That Girl concert at Angel Stadium.”
Robert’s first memories of the ‘Into the Groove’ singer seem to cement her status as a gay icon. “The first memory I have of her was when my high school friend Peter Brundige brought his tape and boom box to school and he played the ‘Like a Virgin’ album for us. It was the first time any of us had heard this new artist, Madonna. From that point on we wanted to dress like her, sound like her, be like her. Now that I think about it, that entire group all turned out to be gay!”
“Hands down, it's ‘Vogue’”, says Robert when asked to pick a favourite track, the 1990 hit being the one that felt most electrifying in clubs. “I had just come out as a gay man and was an avid West Hollywood club kid. One of the most famous dance bars was called Studio One. Sadly, it was just torn down. It was probably the closest thing we had to Studio 54 in LA back in the early ‘90s. There were these huge fans to keep the dance floor cool and when ‘Vogue’ would come on the room became charged and electric and everyone rushed to the dance floor. I would stand in front of the fan with my puffy silk sleeve shirt so I could move like the dancers did in the video. There was this feeling of euphoria and empowerment. We were here and we were queer. Madonna was our God on the dance floor and in the streets! Dancing to ‘Vogue’ felt like we were making a statement for our civil rights somehow and on the dance floor we felt free. For the MTV awards Madonna did her - now famous - Marie Antoinette performance and the next day she agreed to perform that exact performance again in full costume with all the dancers to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles. I was there!”
Madonna’s immense dancefloor presence and unshackling acceptance are near-certain to remain etched in Robert’s body and mind, but not only that, as he’s another who witnessed, first-hand, her unwavering support to those who suffered during the AIDS crisis. “In the early ‘90s the AIDS pandemic was in full force and AIDS Project Los Angeles was leading the fundraising efforts with their annual Commitment to Life benefit. It was the largest single-night fundraiser at the time, making over six million dollars in one night. My friend Wendy Reise had been asked by Bernie Taupin's assistant Benita Karroll to help coordinate talent for the event. Bernie was producing a show to honor Elton John and I was brought in to work with Wendy. The talent that night included the likes of George Michael, Tom Hanks, Julie Andrews, RuPaul and Madonna. My boyfriend at the time, Shawn Mason, was in the hospital with AIDS related symptoms. He was Madonna's number one fan. [...] I thought perhaps if I told him that, if he gets better, he can escort his idol Madonna then maybe he'd have a chance at recovery.
Sure enough, Shawn recovered! I had to let Madonna's rep Liz Rosenberg know Shawn's story so there were no issues. Liz assured us that it was no problem because Madonna would be waiting in her car and arriving moments before she had to go on and so he probably wouldn't even get to see her. [...] I felt so sad to have to tell him that she was going to be rushed inside instead.”
In true Madonna fashion, she didn’t let anyone rush her inside and instead took the time to speak with Shawn. “When her car finally did pull up, the door opened and she stepped out to the chaos of photographers. She stopped and turned to him and said, "You must be Shawn." She then proceeded to take his arm and walk in with him past all the world media. Then she asked him to stay with her in the dressing room where he witnessed all the stars coming in to meet her. When it was time to walk to the stage for her entrance she asked Shawn to go with her. They talked about his dog, her music, AIDS, and he got to tell her how much he loved her. She even joked that he should go on the stage instead. It was his dream realized. The next week a package arrived at Shawn’s door. She had signed a photo to him and his call sheet. It read, "Shawn. Thanks for Everything. Madonna". Shawn passed away shortly after but that night will live on forever!”.
Madonna has shown what it really means to be an artist in the modern world. The stories of Stefan, Paul, Aly, Christine, Jessica, Annabella, and Robert prove that we need more artists like her. Madonna showed us the importance of not taking the easy route, the necessity to step out of line and be different, and to always stay educated. But most of all? To never stop being inspired by music.