Born and raised in Michigan, Madonna was one of seven children in a big Italian family named after her French-Canadian mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone, who died at 30 from breast cancer. The loss changed the Material girl's life forever.

As her mother's death drew near, Madonna noticed the difference in her but was too young to understand what was happening. The singer feels that her mother's death has played a part in her thought process and that her passing created a void that Madonna herself or her stepmother have never been able to fill.