User:Bluesatellite/Sandbox5

1984–1987: Like a Virgin, Desperately Seeking Susan, first marriage, and True Blue
Madonna had completed recording her second studio album, Like a Virgin, by April 1984. Produced by Nile Rodgers, it kept being pushed back for release due to the continuing success of her debut album. Madonna premiered the album's title track at the first MTV Video Music Awards on September 14, 1984. Wearing a wedding dress and white gloves, Madonna appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake and then rolled around suggestively on the floor. It was widely publicized in media, with MTV retrospectively considering it one of the "most iconic" pop performances of all time. The track was subsequently released as the lead single from Like Virgin and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks. It also propelled Madonna into global superstardom, becoming her first number-one single in Australia, Canada, and Europe.

Like a Virgin was released in November 1984 and became her first number-one album in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, and the US. The first album by a female to sell over five million copies in the US, it was later certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold over 21 million copies worldwide. The second single, "Material Girl", reached number two on the Hot 100. While filming the single's music video, Madonna started dating actor Sean Penn. They married on her birthday in 1985.

Madonna entered mainstream films in February 1985, beginning with her cameo in Vision Quest. The soundtrack contained two Madonna tracks, her U.S. number-one single, "Crazy for You", and her solo-written single "Gambler" which charted in the top ten in Europe. Her first major film role was as the title characther in the 1985 comedy Desperately Seeking Susan. Her popularity caused the film to be perceived as a Madonna vehicle, despite how she was not billed as a lead actress. The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby named it one of the ten best films of 1985. Desperately Seeking Susan also featured "Into the Groove", her first number-one single in the UK.