IN BED WITH MADONNA - INTERVIEWS
NY Rock Interview with Madonna by Gabriella
Few women have had as much pull and power in the entertainment industry as Madonna. The Material Girl was born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone on August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, the daughter of Silvio, a design engineer for Chrysler/General Motors, and Madonna Ciccone, a housewife who died of cancer when Madonna was only six. Who knew this little girl would go on to change perspectives and fashion?

Madonna's career kick-started with the 1986 American Music Award for Pop/Rock Best Female Video Artist, and there are few she hasn't won since (including People's Worst Dressed in 1999).

Her lovers are legion (even Madonna herself might be hard pressed to remember them all), among them Dennis Rodman and Warren Beatty. She was married twice, once to actor Sean Penn and in December 2000, to British director Guy Ritchie. With this latter marriage, Madonna – who once changed lovers and incarnations as often as people change clothes – seems to have settled down, at least for the moment.
You toned down your recent video ("American Life") and pulled the original version shortly after its release. Were you worried about the backlash it might create?
(Laughs) That's a funny question. I've provoked all my life, not for the sake of creating scandals or to be political, but for my sake, my rights as a woman in a male-dominated society. Plenty of my videos were banned from daytime TV; I think that shows that I wasn't afraid of a ban or a backlash. I simply felt that the violent images featured in the video were not appropriate. There was a war and no matter what I personally think about the war, it would have been disrespectful to anybody losing or risking their lives. The sad fact of a war is simply that there are always innocent people losing their lives. I do respect the people serving in the Armed Forces and with a war I certainly didn't want to offend them.
But didn't you know this before? Letting the video run for only a few hours, then pulling it and replacing it with another version could be seen as a publicity stunt?
I'm not obsessed with publicity or celebrity anymore, honestly. I had it and it didn't make me a happier person. Actually, I quite hate it when the media doesn't leave me and my family alone, but accept it as the price of success.

What happened with the video was that I filmed it in January. And by the time the video was finished, we were at war. And many of the things that I sort of was trying to depict or warn people of were already happening in the world. But with everything going on right now, the soldiers being killed and wounded and the destruction that's taking place, I just don't think it's appropriate. And for anybody who might say "She just did it for cheap publicity," I would like to point out that I did lose a lot of money because I insisted on remodelling and re-shooting the video.
You have taken on religion and male domination before, so this sounds like a new Madonna...
I didn't want to be provocative for the sake of being provocative... I'm very willing to push some buttons. I don't have a problem with that. But I think people would misconstrue that I was making light of what's happening to the soldiers in Iraq, which I am not. I just don't think that people right now – things are so serious – do really reflect and think about what I was actually trying to say. And people are so volatile that they're not going to see irony. Let's face it, most people only go for the obvious and don't really think twice. The older I get, the more I start to realize that there are a lot of stupid people around and stupidity can make them dangerous.
You're an American citizen, but live in the UK. In the UK and the rest of Europe, Blair and Bush currently aren't very popular. May I ask about your political view of the war? What did you think about it?
I'm not a political person. I'm not pro-Bush and I'm not anti-Bush. I'm pro-peace, pro-democracy. I think people should have the right to express themselves freely and I'd like to point out that what is happening to the Dixie Chicks and a lot of other artists – the boycott of their albums and shows – is not very democratic. They used their freedom of speech and now they get punished for it.
A lot of people claim that the pop culture shouldn't be mixed with politics. Do you agree?
No, in fact I violently disagree! The very root of democracy is all about Pop – the popular vote. Like I said before, punishing us for saying anything against the war or the President is pure intolerance. Anyone that disagrees with us is obviously not supporting democracy. And there's nothing popular about that, is there?
So what did you want to say with the song "American Life"?
I feel like I've sort of had a revelation, basically a realization that nothing is what it seems. That is what I say in my song – that there's absolutely nothing in the material world or the physical world that is going to bring you happiness. The only thing that matters is the way you treat people and love them.
How does London agree with you? I remember that you said once that you often felt very lonely because the Brits are quite different from their American cousins....
I'm settling down nicely. I used get very lonely when I first started coming here. I used to get really sad and complain a lot to Guy, but I've got friends here now. It's kind of cool because I see them when I come here and I see my other friends when I go there.
Anything you particularly like about England?
I like pubs. I like my husband. I like the sense of humor here, that most people have. I like the architecture. There's really cool scenes here – there's a really cool art scene, there's fantastic theatre, great music, cool fashion... I could go on and on.
But the press in the UK seems to be a lot more vicious than in the US....
I didn't mention the press among the things I like about here, did I? We even made it a rule in our house – nobody can bring magazines or newspapers into the house. Most magazines are just full of lies and I don't want to have anything to do with them.

Source: NY Rock by Gabriella / Posted: August 2003
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A series of promotional photos which were used for the promotion for Madonna's 2003 American Life Album. The photos were taken by Craig McDean

Some of the photos were first published in UK's 'Q Magazine' but were censored (all guns were removed) for later publishement after the controversy of Madonna's American Life-Video