Having sold over 300 million records, Madonna Louise Ciccone has sold over 300 million records which makes her as the Queen of Pop. She is an idol to many owing to the unique style she delivers her amazing music. This successful singer, who has a net worth in excess of $600 million, is without a doubt an influencer in the music industry because of her unique taste.
Other than singing, Madonna is a songwriter, she has done a bit of acting, and she has several business ventures. Her business interests are in the fashion and film making industries. Madonna is also an author of children’s books.
The pop singer has been married twice to Sean Penn from 1985 to 1989 and to Guy Richie from 2000 to 2008. Before she married Guy, she was in a relationship with Carlos Leon from 1995 to 1997. Although Madonna is a solo mom, she has six children; two of them are her biological children while the other four are her adopted children from Malawi.
With six children, Madonna is definitely a veteran mom. She is the authority figure in her home and like most parents; she has her own set of rules that run her household. Here is a sneak peek into the life of Madonna and her family.
20. MADONNA AND ROCCO HAVE HAD A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP
Madonna and her firstborn son, Rocco have not always had the best relationship, and arguably, his parents splitting up was the cause for this. Rocco used to appear in his mother’s arms or in her tours, and sometimes they would dance together, but these mother-son moments declined soon after his dad moved to London.
Rocco had a tight relationship with his father and the custody battle affected him greatly. According to eonline.com, Rocco also felt like her mom was focusing too much on work to spend time with him. In addition, he does not like the fact that her mother has a habit of oversharing things on social media especially those that involve him. Nevertheless, the two seem to have a better relationship these days.
19. SHE LIMITS TV TIME AND USE OF SMARTPHONES
Madonna’s family are not fans of TV probably because, in her house, TV time is restricted. Madonna does not allow her kids to watch TV shows and therefore rations screen time to one movie a week, as stated by femalefirst.com. The music star also grew up without it and she feels like she did not miss a thing. According to her, TV is not safe.
Madonna’s kids, who can afford some of the best Smartphones out there, have strict rules regarding their use, how much time they spend with them, and at what age one can own one. Lourdes got her first phone when she was 15.
18. MADONNA IS THE ONLY MOTHER MERCY KNOWS
Madonna has two biological kids (Lourdes Maria and Rocco Ritchie) and four adopted children. David Banda was the first, followed by Mercy James, and then the twins Esther and Stella Mwale. Mercy’s biological mom passed away eight days after her birth and the father chose to hand her over because he was not able to take care of her.
According to people.com, when Madonna found her she was living in an orphanage in Malawi and was struggling with malaria. After three and a half years of legal battles, Madonna successfully adopted her and is, therefore, the only mother figure she knows.
17. THE KIDS CANNOT DATE UNTIL A CERTAIN AGE
Parents in general usually have strict rules about their kids dating young and this was not different for Madonna especially after growing up as a wild-child. Madonna did not intend to allow any of her children to start dating before their 18th birthday, which sounds quite reasonable. Even Lourdes’ dad, Carlos Leon, was not looking forward to her daughter’s dating life.
However, some of these rules change because Lourdes started dating when she was 16. According to dolly.com, Lourdes once dated homeland star Timothee Chalamet. She had the permission to go on dates but as long as a bodyguard was present. We wonder if the rules will be the same for the other kids.
16. MADONNA FACED LEGAL PROBLEMS ADOPTING HER KIDS
Madonna has six children and her family came about through all sorts of unique avenues. As previously stated, the mother has two biological children Lourdes and Rocca, and then the other four David, Mercy, and twins Stella and Esther come from Malawi.
At the time of the adoptions, the country only allowed people to adopt Malawian kids only if they had lived there for longer than 18 months. Madonna did not meet this requirement; however, for her case, she got a waiver. When it came to adopting Mercy, Madonna—who had already separated from her husband—did not get custody from the presiding judge because of her divorce. After a three-year-long court battle, she finally won and got the opportunity to call Mercy her own, according to Elle.
15. THE KIDS HAVE TO FOLLOW A STRICT MEAL PLAN
Madonna has always abided by her macrobiotic meal plan since she was very young and her kids have to follow this meal plan as well. They do not take sweets, chocolate, salt, dairy products or anything with preservatives. This is the reasons Rocca wanted to leave her mother’s place and move in with his dad because at his dad’s place he had the freedom to eat whatever he wanted.
According to moms.com, Madonna believes that macrobiotic foods are a healthy choice for her children. The kids hardly have permission to eat food from outside and when they do, their mother is not always happy about it.
14. MADONNA’S KIDS HAVE TO WORK HARD FOR WHAT THEY WANT
The singer has really worked hard to get to where she is today and for that reason, she wants her kids to work as hard. She always encourages them to pursue their dreams. Madonna is strict on disciplining her kids and that is why she has all these rules in place. When she was married to Guy, it was obvious that Madonna was the disciplinarian while Guy was the spoiler.
When the couple split, the kids had no choice but to abide by the rules. According to pagesix.com, Madonna’s mother was a staunch Catholic who disciplined her daughter to the point of self-punishment. Madonna also strives to introduce her children to the business world even when they are still young.
13. SHE NAMED LOURDES AFTER A TOWN IN FRANCE
Madonna’s first daughter Lourdes Leon Maria has a unique name. Lourdes is actually the name of a town in southwestern France. According to therichest.com, Lourdes is a place of healing as well as a place where miracles keep occurring. Other than that, Madonna also said she just loved the name.
Lourdes also got the name as a tribute to her grandmother who dreamed of visiting the town but unfortunately died before she had the opportunity to travel there. This was such a good gesture considering Madonna never spent much time with her own mother since she died of cancer before she was five years old.
12. THE KIDS LOVE HER BOOKS
Many fans do not know that apart from singing, Madonna is also a children’s books author. She has written seven picture books and 12 chapter books. She wrote her first children’s book The English Roses back in 2003 and then the others followed suit.
Fortunately, she has six kids who enjoyed her books. According to thetalko.com, when she split from her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, her son had to go for sleepovers at his new place. When he was there, Madonna requested Guy to read him The English Roses book as he was used to that one. The other four kids also enjoyed the books.
11. MADONNA LIKES SILENCE
As a singer, songwriter, and performer, no one would guess that Madonna likes pin drop silence when she is sleeping. Is it probably because she is always around loud music most of the time? According to a former nanny of Madonna’s children, the queen of pop values her silence very much when she is sleeping.
The kids are also aware of this and they do not have the permission to make noise when mom goes to bed. As stated by thetalko.com, Madonna does not even like the noise of a running shower when she is sleeping. Therefore, her children have to take showers before she retires to bed.
10. LOURDES ALSO WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Just like her mother, Lourdes is attending the University of Michigan to pursue her majors in performing arts. Her mother earned a dance scholarship from there as well. Lourdes is trying to lead a relatively normal student life there and has even lived in dorms but only for a while. However, we wonder how this is possible given that she is Madonna’s daughter.
According to thefamouspeople.com, prior to joining the University of Michigan, Lourdes also attended La Guardia School of Performing Arts back and graduated in 2014. Lourdes—who already has great job opportunities in fashion and modeling—has to still study hard because her mom considers education very important in her household.
9. THE FAMILY LOVES TO GIVE
Madonna is one of the wealthiest women in the music industry and somehow she finds time to give back to the community. In 2006, she and Michael Berg started a charity non-profit organization in Malawi known as Raising Malawi.
According to top5.com, the charity was set up to help orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi. It provides them with food, shelter, clothing, education, and emotional care. Raising Malawi also supports other charity organizations in Africa. In 2014, the newly elected leader of Malawi Peter Mutharika named Madonna the Goodwill Ambassador for Child Welfare. Her children are also always by her side attending charity events with her.
8. MOTHER AND DAUGHTER ARE IN BUSINESS TOGETHER
Madonna’s eldest daughter Lourdes is very much on the limelight, attributed by the fact that she is the first born in the family. Her sisters, Mercy and the twins, will most likely follow suit. By the time Lourdes was 13 years old she already had an impeccable fashion sense. She could easily help her mother pick out her clothes when she had to step out.
According to top5.com, mother and daughter have launched a clothing line called Material Girl inspired by the ’80s chic fashion sense. The clothes, which feature in Macy’s stores, carry the name of a song but the name also sounds enticing for a clothing line.
7. THE FAMILY DOES NOT CELEBRATE HOLIDAYS THE TRADITIONAL WAY
Madonna’s family is not like any other celebrity family. Most celebrities throw lavish parties, dinners, and lunches and can invite everyone from coworkers to friends and family to celebrate with them during the holidays. This is not the case with Madonna’s crowd.
During the 2018 Thanksgiving holiday, the family left the U.S. and spent their time in Malawi where her four children were born, as stated by thetalko.com. The pop star shared a rare photo of all her six kids while they were there captioning it, “My children have led me down roads and opened doors I never imagined I’d walk through.” The family entertained guests by performing a song.
6. THE SINGER IS CLAUSTROPHOBIC
Most of the time, Madonna performs in places with large crowds so this may come as a surprise to many but the pop star is claustrophobic. Yes, she is afraid of confined in small spaces. Madonna herself has also admitted that she sometimes suffers from panic attacks and becomes anxious when performing on stage.
Madonna has confessed that there are times she feels invincible and there some days she feels crowded. As pointed out by popcorn.com, she gets the panic attacks, especially when performing in indoor sports arenas or in the middle of crowds. This is mostly because of her displeasure of small spaces and not of performing.
5. THE KIDS HAVE TO BE TIDY
Madonna had a long custody battle when she broke things off with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie. In the process, the world discovered she had hardcore parenting styles. Her kids had to maintain tidiness all the time. If any of the kids left anything on the floor, whether it was a cloth item or toy, mom would take it away.
As stated by moms.com, in order to earn the clothes back, one had to stay out of trouble, practice tidiness and make their bed every day in the morning. Lourdes was fond of leaving things lying around when she was younger, therefore she had to wear the same outfit every day to school until she learned her lesson.
4. MADONNA SOMETIMES BRINGS HER KIDS ALONG ON TOURS
Madonna’s kids are not allowed too much TV time and neither are they allowed to read certain magazines and newspapers but the irony is, their mom does not mind when they join her on tours. A typical Hollywood star tour can give her kids access to profane dressing, heavy drinking, and misbehaving which is exactly what Madonna tries to shield her kids from by limiting their media time.
Rocco, Madonna’s son, spent nearly half of 2015 on tour with her. He even joined her on stage on a few occasions. According to thetalko.com, Madonna only allows her kids to join her on tour because she barely gets to spend enough time with them.
3. THEY ALL ONLY DRINK KABBALAH WATER
Fans of Madonna are well aware that she is a devoted follower of Kabbalah and follows many religious practices affiliated with Judaism. All her children had to abide by the Kabbalah teachings until they were old enough to decide what was best for them.
As moms.com points out, her kids were only allowed to drink Kabbalah water which is expensive spring water blessed by Kabbalah religious leaders. They did not have permission to buy or drink water from anywhere else. Although her devotion to Kabbalah has declined over the years, we are not sure if the kids still follow this rule.
2. THE KIDS ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO WEAR CERTAIN TYPES OF CLOTHES
The Madonna household has a number of rules that the pop star expects her children to follow. These rules apply both in her house and at Guy’s place, especially when the kids go for sleepovers. According to thetalko.com, the kids had to play with toys that were ethical from when they were young. She considered ethical toys harmless when she compared them to others and considered safe to use.
Another rule in Madonna’s house states that the kids could only wear clothes made of natural fibers such as cotton or wool. Madonna insisted that the kids could not wear anything made out of synthetic fiber. Madonna felt that natural fibers were safe and a good choice for the kids.
1. MADONNA DOES NOT COOK
Although Madonna makes all the rules about what her kids should eat, she does not cook for her family. She has clearly taken celebrity pampering to a new level. Back in 2012 when she just had four kids, Madonna while in an interview with dailymail.com, admitted that she has never cooked an entire meal in her life.
She says that her kids are all good at cooking but the same skill is not in her DNA and that is why she hires chefs. Even though she is not the one doing the cooking, her family meals have to be healthy and simple. When Madonna has to cook, she revealed that she makes scrambled eggs, coffee, pasta, and sandwiches.