SHE has had a controversial career and nearly 20 years at the top of her profession. Now
Madonna has been voted the greatest woman in music history.
The American star beat such legendary artists as Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday to top a poll of 750,000 music fans.
The 44-year-old is the most successful female chart act of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 140 million records.
Of the three quarters of a million votes cast in the poll carried out by the satellite music channel VH1, Madonna - whose hits include Like A Virgin, Vogue and Ray of Light - was the clear winner with 17%.
Kylie Minogue's transition from former soap star to pop icon was also confirmed when she made second place. The 34-year-old Australian's chart-toppers include Can't Get You Out of My Head and Spinning Around.
Scots also fared well, with four singers appearing in the top 100. Annie Lennox, who was one half of the Eurythmics, appeared at number 14 with Sharleen Spiteri of Texas squeezing into the top half of the chart at number 49.
Shirley Manson, the Edinburgh-born lead singer of Garbage, was placed at number 29. Also featuring in the poll, at number 93, was 53-year-old Lulu, whose pop career has now spanned five decades. She debuted in the charts in 1964 aged just 15 with Shout.
Lorraine Candy, editor-in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine said: ''She has really worked hard on staying at the top.''
''Lulu can really sing, I think that is what is so great about her.''
Spiteri, 35, who recently gave birth to her first child, Misty Kyd Heath, was one of few band members to appear in the chart in their own right, but critics denied her fame was eclipsing that of Texas, the band she has fronted since their first hit, I Don't Want A Lover, in 1989.
Robert Sandall, a music journalist and broadcaster, said: ''Texas are very much more effective as a band and I think she is a very good band member. I think if you stick her out on her own and try and make her more of a diva, it wouldn't work.
''It isn't really fair to say that Sharleen Spiteri was successful simply because of the way she looked because let's not forget Texas came to prominence in the late 1980s when she looked exactly the same as she did later.''
Lennox topped the Scots in the poll but said she had never really understood the reason behind her success, either as a solo singer or a band member.
''I've never really stopped to analyse why the music that the Eurythmics have made in the past was successful. In the question of singing all I have to do is focus into a place that is almost meditative,'' she said.
The list of 100 women contained a few surprises - there was no place for jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald but there was room for the caterwauling Yoko Ono, although only just at number 99.
Kate Bush, placed 10th, was the highest British star on the list which also included Dido (21), Gabrielle (41), Kim Wilde (70), and the late Kirsty MacColl (74).
Sally Habbershaw, VH1 spokes-woman, said the results confirmed Madonna's long-held title of Queen of Pop.
She said: ''Madonna has truly reached iconic status and many of our viewers will know her entire career.''
FIRST LADIES
How the list of top female singers spanned generations in the VH1 poll. Scots are named in bold.
1 Madonna
2 Kylie Minogue
3 Celine Dion
4 Whitney Houston
5 Aretha Franklin
6 Tina Turner
7 Mariah Carey
8 Janet Jackson
9 Britney Spears
10 Kate Bush
11 Cher
12 Diana Ross
13 Stevie Nicks
14 Annie Lennox
15 Bjork
16 Deborah Harry
17Jennifer Lopez
18 Alanis Morissette
19 Joni Mitchell
20 Sheryl Crow
21 Dido
22 Barbra Streisand
23 Shania Twain
24 Aaliyah
25 PJ Harvey
26 Courtney Love
27 Pink
28 Janis Joplin
29 Shirley Manson
30 Dusty Springfield
31 The Corrs
32 Anastasia
33 Mary J Blige
34 Tori Amos
35 Donna Summer
36 Gwen Stefani
37 Alicia Keys
38 Natalie Imbruglia
39 Cyndi Lauper
40 Karen Carpenter
41 Gabrielle
42 Tracy Chapman
43 Siouxsie Sioux
44 Spice Girls
45 Shirley Bassey
46 Destiny's Child
47 Dolly Parton
48 Lauryn Hill
49 Sharleen Spiteri, left
50 Billie Holiday
93 Lulu
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article