MADONNA

Madonna used a mixture of talent, pulchritude and relentless self-promotion to become one of the most famous recording artists of the 20th century. She released her self-titled first album in 1983 in the guise of a streetwise pop ragamuffin, and over time she kept one step ahead of the game by jumping from persona to persona: dance club queen, balladeer, cowgirl, channeler of the Mysterious East. Her other albums have included Like a Virgin (1984, with the hit single "Material Girl" giving her a new nickname), Ray of Light (1998), Music (2000), American Life (2003), Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (released in 2008, the year she turned 50). She has also acted in over a dozen movies, including Dick Tracy (1990, with Warren Beatty) and A League of Their Own (1992, with Rosie O'Donnell).

No stranger to controversy, Madonna has long been a favorite of the tabloids on topics ranging from her racy videos and TV appearances to her sometimes-mystical religious beliefs to her marriages to actor Sean Penn (1985-89) and filmmaker Guy Ritchie (they married in 2000, and announced in 2008 that they would divorce). Her daughter Lourdes was born in October of 1996, fathered by Madonna's personal trainer, Carlos Leon. In August of 2000 Madonna and Ritchie had a son, Rocco. In October of 2006 they adopted a motherless 13-month-old child, David Banda, from the African country of Malawi.

Extra credit: Madonna attended the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship... Her daughter Lourdes is named for the site where Bernadette Soubirous saw visions of the Virgin Mary... A fall from a horse in 2005 left the pop star with a broken collarbone and three cracked ribs... The RIAA reported in 2008 that Madonna had sold over 63 million albums in her career.

As a show of togetherness, Madonna and Guy Ritchie's glittering red carpet parade at the Cannes Film Festival last week did little to scotch persistent rumours that their seven-year marriage is on the rocks.

Madonna throws a party to celebrate her divorce as Guy Ritchie's miserable life as 'Mr Madge' is revealed

The superstar singer, resplendent in a sparkling black and white fitted sequined dress, was about to show her rather earnest documentary about the plight of Malawian orphans.

But as she smiled and waved beguilingly at the assembled paparazzi, her husband stood woodenly by her side and could muster little more than a grimace.

Madonna, 49, has allegedly had enough of the constant arguing 'about everything' with husband Guy Ritchie, who is ten years her junior Indeed, Guy gave every appearance of being a man who had been forced into his designer tuxedo and paraded at yet another high-octane celebrity party for the benefit of marital solidarity - when he would have preferred to be down the pub with his mates instead.

But this was Madonna's big event and Guy's appearance, however reluctant, was part of a deal they have struck to support each other's careers, even though their turbulent union is now based more on pragmatism than passion.

As one observer put it: "They did not look like two people who were very happy in each other's company. She looked frail and pale, like someone under tremendous strain, and he seemed utterly miserable."

Together but miles apart: The strain shows on Madonna and Guy in Cannes last week

The singer out alone at a charity event at the film festival

The news will come as no surprise to those who have followed the turbulent marriage of these two volatile individuals who fell in love but who came from different worlds - she the celebrity former wild child turned diva and he the English gentleman and director of gangster films with a passion for country pursuits.

Now it seems Madonna, 49, one of the richest women in the music industry, has had enough of the constant arguing "about everything" with Guy, who is ten years her junior.

She has complained he often treats her with cold indifference in public, drinks 'way too much for his own good' and spends little time with her and their three children - adopted son David Banda, who is two, 11-year-old Lourdes, Madonna's daughter by dancer Carlos Leon, and their own son Rocco, seven.

Friends say the couple have been living virtually separate lives since the start of the year and have even divided their homes into his and hers quarters so they can avoid each other.

There are indications that Madonna is now planning to live in New York.

She has owned a 6,000sq ft duplex apartment overlooking Central Park - complete with gymnasium and beauty salon - for 20 years and is enlarging it to accommodate her children and staff.

She has recently bought an adjoining apartment in her maiden name.
One source said: "Madonna is miserable and has lost her desire to live full-time in the UK."

She is planning a solo trip to New York next month ahead of her gruelling world tour and, apart from her 50th birthday celebrations, there appear to be no concrete plans to spend time with her husband.

"Madonna is preparing for the busiest few months of her year," said the source.
And now, despite both publicly insisting that their bond is as strong as it was on the day they married at Skibo Castle in Scotland at the end of 2000,

The Mail on Sunday has learned that after years of rowing and long periods apart, the couple are heading for a trial separation . . . albeit a very civilised one.
"She leaves for NY at the start of June and won't be back until October. She has talked about the children going with her but she hasn't mentioned Guy once."

Although Madonna insists she is planning to spend only some of her time in America, the move is being seen as a signal about where she is going to base herself for the next ten years.

But for the time being at least, Madonna and Guy have agreed to make the split appear as innocuous as possible.

A public announcement of a break-up on the eve of such an important tour would be disastrous for Madonna, especially as she is said to feel vulnerable about turning 50.

Guy, whose new movie RocknRolla is due to be premiered in October, is suffering from similar anxieties.

After a string of flops he is said to be deeply concerned that any negative publicity about their private life could spoil his chances of the movie becoming the hit he and his battered ego so desperately need.

New base: Madonna is extending her luxury flat in this Manhattan block
He has been devoted to the project for the past 18 months, keenly aware that it's been ten years since his biggest hit, the gangster movie Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.

And, as much as she needed him last week at Cannes, it will be imperative for him to have his powerful and glamorous A-list wife at his side at his premiere to give the occasion the kind of celebrity sparkle that can generate worldwide publicity.
Of course, the couple have been dogged by rumours of disharmony for several years. Madonna herself admitted she can be difficult to live with and that the union has been punctuated by fall-outs.

Cracks first appeared in their relationship four years ago amid claims they were rowing over Lourdes' and Rocco's schooling - Guy was unhappy about the length of time the children spent on tour with their mother.

Since then, they have clashed over her devotion to the Kabbalah Jewish sect, her controversial decision in 2006 to adopt baby David from Malawi and, more recently, when Madonna was forced by Guy to scrap plans to adopt a baby girl from India.
"They had the mother of all rows," said another source. "The circus that surrounded the first adoption put a lot of strain on their marriage and so he went ballistic when she suggested a second."

There have also been rumours, all denied, of other relationships on both sides. Some months before she adopted David, Madonna was said to have grown close to her 30-year-old record producer Stuart Price.

At the same time, she admitted in an MTV documentary she "got married for all the wrong reasons". "My husband did not turn out to be everything I imagined him to be...I wanted to end everything," she said.

Although Madonna and Guy resolved their problems after visiting renowned Harley Street therapist Tricia Barnes and even received counselling from close friend Sir Elton John, they were, it is claimed, soon fighting again.

But where once the rows would be followed by passionate reconciliations, Madonna recently revealed that they now go to bed with their BlackBerrys and text each other, seemingly supporting claims that they no longer share a bedroom.
In fact, it is said that the couple, who live in London with their three children, have peculiar domestic arrangements.

"They never see each other and sleep in separate rooms,'"said a friend last week.

"Madonna's day revolves around herself and her children and her work, and not Guy. "Yet she is still trying to control his life and hounds him on the phone constantly, wanting to know where he is every day.

"It's not unheard of for her to call him six times an hour if she doesn't know where he is. But they just don't spend much time together unless they are with the children.

"Madonna does three hours of exercise a day when she's in London, with just Sunday off, then there is a party to plan for her 50th and her movie has consumed almost all her time." Guy, on the other hand, prefers to spend most weekends without his wife at their Wiltshire country estate.

"Its very much his retreat," the friend explained. "There was a rumour they were planning to sell it. But that's not true, Guy loves it, and he is down there most weekends.

"Madonna stays in London with the kids, if Guy doesn't take them, or sees friends like Gwyneth Paltrow who is up in North London. It is amazing the amount of time they don't spend together."

Guy was noticeably absent when Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.

And the couple were said to have had a "major fall-out" after Guy failed to show up at the premiere for his wife's film at the Tribeca festival in New York last month.
Their separations have prompted so much comment that their Los Angeles-based publicist was forced to issue a defensive statement in March saying:

"Just because Madonna and Guy haven't been expressing themselves in public lately doesn't mean their seven-year marriage is on the rocks. I am delighted to confirm that Mr and Mrs Guy Ritchie remain happily married."

But it was evident to all who saw them at Cannes that, even though they shared the same hotel suite, they spent most of their time apart.

Indeed, when a television interviewer asked about her husband, Madonna complained: "I think he's in a bar somewhere. While I'm working, he's playing."
Such is the state of their delicate truce that they failed to attend a lunch planned in Madonna's honour on fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg's yacht, because Madonna's former husband Sean Penn was also on the guest list and she did not feel Guy could cope with meeting him.

One of the rare occasions that they were seen out together was last Wednesday night when, instead of going to the party organised by Soho House - a private club for film industry movers and shakers - they dined at a local restaurant in Cannes.

"They were very low-key and sat at the back of the restaurant," said a fellow diner.
A new source of friction is said to have been Guy's desire to promote his forthcoming movie while they were at Cannes. Madonna wanted publicity only for I Am Because We Are, her documentary about Malawi.

This was to have been directed by Guy until his wife replaced him with Nathan Rissman, who had previously wor