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What month/year did she become popular? 1980? 1983? 1985?

People began to notice Madonna (her music) after "Holiday" and "Lucky star" were released, and then "Borderline".  This was (I think) late 1983. So she was mildly popular, girls began to do their hair like hers. (whch I despised at the time)

She became really popular after "Like a Virgin" was released, which was late 1984ish?  By 1985 she was super popular. Often wondered why she wasn't in the "We are the world" song.

People began to notice Madonna (her music) after "Holiday" and "Lucky star" were released, and then "Borderline".  This was (I think) late 1983. So she was mildly popular, girls began to do their hair like hers. (whch I despised at the time)

She became really popular after "Like a Virgin" was released, which was late 1984ish?  By 1985 she was super popular. Often wondered why she wasn't in the "We are the world" song.
Maybe because her rival(at the time) Cyndi Lauper was in the song. Just throwing that out there. Remember Cindy was pretty popular at that time too. Cyndi Lauper and Madonna were often compared with each other in the mid 80's(mainly 1983-1984I think.) I'll just leave it at that.

Maybe because her rival(at the time) Cyndi Lauper was in the song. Just throwing that out there. Remember Cindy was pretty popular at that time too. Cyndi Lauper and Madonna were often compared with each other in the mid 80's(mainly 1983-1984I think.) I'll just leave it at that.


I remember that. They were both up and coming female solo artists. Cyndi Lauper was popular too. Her "She's so unusual" album was huge.
I really liked that album and still prefer Lauper's stuff to Madonna's.

I also had a crush on Cyndi Lauper back then.  :)

I don't think people really took notice of Madonna until circa 1984 with Holiday. And with Like a virgin release in October 84 she started to become huge. But I think it was by early '85 that pretty much everyone knew her.

I remember that. They were both up and coming female solo artists. Cyndi Lauper was popular too. Her "She's so unusual" album was huge.
I really liked that album and still prefer Lauper's stuff to Madonna's.

I also had a crush on Cyndi Lauper back then.  :)


That's when both of them peaked at number 1 on the charts in 1983.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQHCVcbnJjg

This is her debut 30 years ago on October 30th,1982.^

People began to notice Madonna (her music) after "Holiday" and "Lucky star" were released, and then "Borderline".  This was (I think) late 1983. ...

Agreed about the timeframe being late 1983.  Per my recollection, Madonna came onto the scene with a bang, not a whimper.  Early on people who first heard Madonna insisted she was the next BIG THING (and they'd be right).

IMO Cyndi Lauper, though popular, never hit the same stratosphere.  I never considered the two of them rivals (if there are any old folk tales about a personal rivalry between them, which is possible, I'm unaware of it).

Agreed about the timeframe being late 1983.  Per my recollection, Madonna came onto the scene with a bang, not a whimper.  Early on people who first heard Madonna insisted she was the next BIG THING (and they'd be right).

IMO Cyndi Lauper, though popular, never hit the same stratosphere.  I never considered the two of them rivals (if there are any old folk tales about a personal rivalry between them, which is possible, I'm unaware of it).


I never thought they were rivals either. Just like you: if there was one, I was unaware of it.
When both emerged into the scene, I though of Cyndi Lauper as a rocker with bizarre hair, but she's cool. Whereas I thought of Madonna as a spoiled annoying kid with messy hair.  My opinion of Madonna has changed. I liked her music in the mid 80s.

I thought there was rivalry between the 2 and people thought around 1984 thought Cyndi would have a long career and Madonna would be a "flash in the pan".

I was only in pre-school at the time when Madonna and Cyndi first debut but I do remember hearing a few of Madonna's songs in that time period. Of course everyone remembers Cyndi's song "Time After Time" too.

Agreed about the timeframe being late 1983.  Per my recollection, Madonna came onto the scene with a bang, not a whimper.  Early on people who first heard Madonna insisted she was the next BIG THING (and they'd be right).

and after the 80's, she continued to make music into the 1990's and early 2000's but as with Cyndi Lauper, she had some hits in the late 80's but she kinda disappeared after the 1990's.

I thought there was rivalry between the 2 and people thought around 1984 thought Cyndi would have a long career and Madonna would be a "flash in the pan".

I was only in pre-school at the time when Madonna and Cyndi first debut but I do remember hearing a few of Madonna's songs in that time period. Of course everyone remembers Cyndi's song "Time After Time" too.


Cyndi Lauper had "True Colors".

Cyndi Lauper had "True Colors".
The first time I heard "True Colors" was actually the Phil Collins version in 1998 before I found out that Cyndi did the original version in 1986.

I'm probably one of the few here who liked Cyndi Lauper's songs better than Madonna's.

I never considered the two of them rivals (if there are any old folk tales about a personal rivalry between them, which is possible, I'm unaware of it).



I never thought they were rivals either. Just like you: if there was one, I was unaware of it.


Thirded.  Memory's foggy, but I don't remember any rivalry.  There was the punkish one (Cyndi) and the scandalous (by the standards of the early 80s) one.

The first time I heard "True Colors" was actually the Phil Collins version in 1998 before I found out that Cyndi did the original version in 1986.


She also had The Twelve Deadly Cyns album in 1994.

I'm probably one of the few here who liked Cyndi Lauper's songs better than Madonna's.


I agree there.

I remember that. They were both up and coming female solo artists. Cyndi Lauper was popular too. Her "She's so unusual" album was huge.
I really liked that album and still prefer Lauper's stuff to Madonna's.

I also had a crush on Cyndi Lauper back then.  :)


I still have a crush on Cyndi! She's still a gorgeous woman at nearly 60. Amazingly she was already an 'older' celeb in the 80s - 31 in 1984, older than Carly Rae Jepsen, who is considered 'older' compared to Rihanna, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s4J5eBz6XpQ/TgIWqzd3dLI/AAAAAAAAx4g/uv5-gZ2Vb00/s1600/cyndi%2Blauper.jpg

I still have a crush on Cyndi! She's still a gorgeous woman at nearly 60. Amazingly she was already an 'older' celeb in the 80s - 31 in 1984, older than Carly Rae Jepsen, who is considered 'older' compared to Rihanna, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s4J5eBz6XpQ/TgIWqzd3dLI/AAAAAAAAx4g/uv5-gZ2Vb00/s1600/cyndi%2Blauper.jpg


I liked Cyndi when she had that oranged-flamed hair.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/545533/Cyndi+Lauper+clothes+pegs.jpg

http://atticempire.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/vintage_icons_1980s_madonna_1983.jpg

and this was Madonna in 1983 (almost 30 years ago).

Oh, Madonna  :-*  How I love thee!

By 1984, fans were dressing like Madonna and record stores were having Madonna look-a-like contests.
Her first claim to fame was as backing vocalist on the 1979 hit Born to Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez, but the song that put her on the way to stardom was Holiday

By 1984, fans were dressing like Madonna and record stores were having Madonna look-a-like contests.


Yes, I remember that. Many young girls were dressing like Madonna. Once I was with a friend of mine of Yonge St (Toronto), he really despised the Madonna trend. He saw 2 girls who dressed like Madonna and something snapped in him, he yelled at the girls and said "Comb your f***ing hair and stop dressing like a cheap slut!"  ;D

I laughed my ass off at that. The year must have been 1984.

By 1984, fans were dressing like Madonna and record stores were having Madonna look-a-like contests.
Her first claim to fame was as backing vocalist on the 1979 hit Born to Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez, but the song that put her on the way to stardom was Holiday


I remember the fad where girls were looking like Madonna.

She posed for Playboy in 1979 a couple of years before she was immensely popular.

Lake many singers, Madonna had some underground popularity in nightclubs before her first chart hit. Her single "Everybody" is typical of this era. But on New Year's Eve they played this clip of Madonna's first TV appearance on American Bandstand from January 14, 1984:
hvP8fB972naM

Note the crowd enthusiasm, and typically a show like American Bandstand is a gateway to stardom. Basically as 1984 progressed, Madonna's impact into mainstream culture continued to grow, which each new single charting higher than the previous, until finally peaking in 1985 with Material Girl/Crazy For You/Desarately Seeking Susan/Virgin Tour/Her first marriage with Sean Penn bringing a media frenzy. Afterwards, she would never quite have the same level of popularity, but still had periodic moments of fame, most recently at last year's Superbowl Halftime Show to promote her MDNA album.

Before Madonna/Cyndi Lauper, the most popular female singer was probably Pat Benatar. Around the end of 1985/beginning of 1986, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson had surged in popularity forcing Madonna to share the spotlight for her True Blue/Who's That Girl era, and then around late 1987/1988, Madonna took a break and caused some more teenybopper singers such as Tiffany and Debbie Gibson to dominate. Although Paula Abdul became popular around the time Like A Prayer was released, Madonna remained popular through 1989/1990 until around the time the controversial "Justify My Love" was released, along with some less favorable press by the tabloids. Since then, Madonna would periodically wax and wane through a cycle of being popular one year and out the next (though less so as the years go on as younger stars emerge) that contains some of her more deep work, such as Confessions, Music, and Bedtime Stories. The generation gap seems to work less in her favor though as time wears on, especially in North America.

I remember when she used to wear those breast cones on stage and twirl them around. ;D

http://www.fuzzyredrobe.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/madonna-cone-bra.jpeg