Women We Love: Madonna

Object of our affection: Madonna, actress/singer.

- Born Madonna Louise Cicconi, she has gone by many names -- The Material Girl, Madge, Esther -- not unusual for the pop goddess best known as the queen of reinvention.

- Best-selling albums, sold-out concert tours and Grammy and MTV Video Awards make up her recording career, recently capped off with her pending induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; her latest album, Hard Candy,is due to be released next month.

- On film, she has fared well in smaller roles (Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own) or where she is basically playing herself (Desperately Seeking Susan, Truth or Dare), less so when she is the star (she has "won" nine Razzie Awards for such movies as Shanghai Surprise, Who's That Girl, Body of Evidence, The Next Best Thing and Swept Away, directed by her husband Guy Ritchie).

- She gained some critical respect -- and a Golden Globe Award -- for her passionate performance as Eva Peron in Evita; the Academy passed her over, but she still showed up at the big show to deliver a moving performance of the Oscar winning song "You Must Love Me"; she also sung another Oscar winner, "Sooner of Later (I Always Get My Man)" from Dick Tracy.

- Other soundtrack hits of hers include numbers from Vision Quest, At Close Range, With Honors, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Die Another Day.

- Adding yet another credit to her resume, she recently made her directorial debut with the appropriately titled Filth & Wisdom, proving once and for all that you can never underestimate the one and only Miss Cicconi.

UPDATE: Video tribute from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.