Madonna
Legacy

She's a major historical figure and when she passes, the retrospectives will loom larger and larger in history.

—Academic Camille Paglia on Madonna (2017).

Madonna has built a legacy that transcends music and has been studied by sociologists, historians, and other scholars, contributing to the rise of Madonna studies, a subfield of American cultural studies. According to Rodrigo Fresán, "saying that Madonna is just a pop star is as inappropriate as saying that Coca-Cola is just a soda. Madonna is one of the classic symbols of Made in USA." Rolling Stone Spain wrote, "She became the first master of viral pop in history, years before the internet was massively used. Madonna was everywhere; in the almighty music television channels, 'radio formulas', magazine covers and even in bookstores. A pop dialectic, never seen since the Beatles 's reign, which allowed her to keep on the edge of trend and commerciality." William Langley from The Daily Telegraph felt that "Madonna has changed the world's social history, has done more things as more different people than anyone else is ever likely to." Professor Diane Pecknold noted that "nearly any poll of the biggest, greatest, or best in popular culture includes name". In 2012, VH1 ranked Madonna as the greatest woman in music.

Spin writer Bianca Gracie stated that "the ' Queen of Pop ' isn't enough to describe Madonna—she is Pop. formulated the blueprint of what a pop star should be." According to Sclafani, "It's worth noting that before Madonna, most music mega-stars were guy rockers; after her, almost all would be female singers... When the Beatles hit America, they changed the paradigm of performer from solo act to band. Madonna changed it back—with an emphasis on the female." Howard Kramer, curatorial director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, asserted that "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 redefined what the parameters were for female performers." Andy Bennett and Steve Waksman, authors of The SAGE Handbook of Popular Music (2014), noted that "almost all female pop stars of recent years— Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and others—acknowledge the important influence of Madonna on their own careers." Madonna has also influenced male artists, inspiring rock frontmen Liam Gallagher of Oasis and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park to become musicians.

Madonna's use of sexual imagery has benefited her career and catalyzed public discourse on sexuality and feminism. The Times wrote that she had "started a revolution amongst women in music... Her attitudes and opinions on sex, nudity, style, and sexuality forced the public to sit up and take notice." Professor John Fiske noted that the sense of empowerment that Madonna offers is inextricably connected with the pleasure of exerting some control over the meanings of self, of sexuality, and of one's social relations. In Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture (2009), the authors noted that Madonna, as a female celebrity, performer, and pop icon, can unsettle standing feminist reflections and debates. According to lesbian feminist Sheila Jeffreys, Madonna represents woman's occupancy of what Monique Wittig calls the category of sex, as powerful, and appears to gleefully embrace the performance of the sexual corvée allotted to women. Professor Sut Jhally has referred to her as "an almost sacred feminist icon".

Writing for The Guardian, Matt Cain stated that Madonna has "broke down social barriers" and brought marginalized groups to the forefront, by frequently featuring LGBT, Latino, and black culture in her works. An author said that "by making culture generally available, Madonna becomes the culture of all social classes". Canadian professor Karlene Faith gave her point of view saying that Madonna's peculiarity is that "she has cruised so freely through so many cultural terrains" and she "has been a ' cult figure ' within self-propelling subcultures just as she became a major." GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis stated that Madonna "always has and always will be the LGBTQ community's greatest ally ", while The Advocate dubbed her as " the greatest gay icon ". Madonna herself stated in 2024, "Aside from my birthday, New York Pride is the most important day of the year."

Madonna has received acclaim as a role model for businesswomen, "achieving the kind of financial control that women had long fought for within the industry", and generating over $1.2 billion in sales within the first decade of her career. According to Gini Gorlinski in the book The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time (2010), Madonna's levels of power and control were "unprecedented" for a woman in the entertainment industry. London Business School academics called her a "dynamic entrepreneur" worth copying; they identified her vision of success, her understanding of the music industry, her ability to recognize her own performance limits (and thus bring in help), her willingness to work hard and her ability to adapt as the keys to her commercial success. Morton wrote that "Madonna is opportunistic, manipulative, and ruthless—somebody who won't stop until she gets what she wants—and that's something you can get at the expense of maybe losing your close ones. But that hardly mattered to her."
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