She is an icon of pop erotica, the sultry superstar who has gloried in basques throughout her career. And as she turns 60 on Thursday, chart queen Madonna will become the seductress who puts the Sex into sexagenarian. In four decades of flirting with controversy, she has sold more than 300 million albums – and is already busy on her hotly-­anticipated 14th studio release.

From tours alone, she has netted more than £1billion. Tirelessly reinventing herself as she evolved from dancer to global megastar, Madonna Louise Ciccone has earned millions of adoring admirers – including a select few who have also won her rebel heart. One of six children of Italian Catholic emigrants, Madonna was left devastated at five years old when her mum, whose name she shared, died of breast cancer. As a teen, she developed her defining rebel streak.