The Queen of Disguise
The queen of transformation has done it again.
In Music,a new video making its premiere this week, Madonna has managed to reinvent herself one more time.
"She said that she doesn't follow fashion trends, she sets them," says Nikki Harris, Madonna's backup singer.
She's been a blonde bombshell, and she's done the dark and sultry look. She even pulled off the politician's wife look. Now the material girl is going for a funky '70s motif, Rebecca Rankin
of VH1 reports for CBS News.
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| At Grammys, in 1999 |
It's a look cultivated to go with her new video: "I'm, like, 'What's the theme of the video,' and she's, like, 'Oh, it's, '70s funk, you know like '70s ghetto.' " Harris says.
In Music, Madonna and her friends poke fun at some of today's not-so-vogue artists.
"It's a spoof on what all the rappers do in their videos," says Debi Mazar, Madonna's friend. "You know, tons of gold, looking very Extra, and she's using women in it, strippers, nudity, to sort of make fun of what rappers do, except they get away with it."
Madonna's decision to push the boundries in Music, which goes with her new album to be released Sept. 19, is just her way of playing fair.
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| At Evita premiere in 1996 |
"So if I'm gonna do a role reversal take on it, I'm gonna do it all the way, " the pop diva explains. "If Snoop Doggy Dog can have strippers in strip clubs, why can't I?"
Steven Cojocaru, West Coast style editor for People magazine, says the glitz and the glamour are a surprise but seem to work for the singer.
"I had no idea that she was going to do this disco glitter ghetto fabulous," he says. "That is her absolute talent and thing, the element of surprise."
Fast Facts About Madonna
- Born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone on Aug. 16, 1958, in Michigan.
- Studied ballet, modern dance and jazz from an early age, going on to study with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.
- Sang and played the drums, the guitar and keyboards in Paris before her first album, Madonna, soared to the top of the charts.
- Made her film debut in the 1982 low-budget independent fil A Certain Sacrifice.
- Appeared on Broadway in David Mamet's Speed the Plow.
- Married and divorced actor Sean Penn and has made no secret of her many other romantic entanglements, including a lengthy affair with Warren Beatty.
- Gave birth to one daughter, Lourdes, and has a second child on the way.
- Won the 1995 and 1999 Golden Globe awards for music and a 1996 Golden Globe for her acting in the movie Evita.
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