London - From Material Girl to earth mother, Madonna, officially the world's most successful female artist, has proved to be a master of reinvention.

Now, at the age of 50, and with a reputed fortune of 400 million pounds (700 million dollars), the superstar will make yet another start in life following the breakdown of her marriage to British film director Guy Ritchie.

The news of the separation comes almost eight years after the couple's celebrity-studded fairytale wedding at Skibo Castle in Scotland, on December 22, 2000.

For Madonna, it was her longest stab at settling down. Her tumultuous four-year-marriage to Hollywood actor Sean Penn ended in divorce in the late 1980s.

In 1994, she met Cuban actor Carlos Leon who became her fitness trainer and lover and with whom, two years later, she had a daughter, Lourdes, who turned 12 this week.

Madonna and Ritchie have a son, Rocco, aged 7, and David Banda, a 3-year-old boy she adopted from Malawi in 2006.

One of the biggest stars of a generation, Madonna is officially the most successful female solo artist.

Born on 16 August 1958, Madonna is a singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress, documentary maker and author.

The third of seven children born to an Italian American family in Michigan, Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone always dreamed of being a star.

Her mother died of breast cancer when she was six and she was raised by a strict father, taking dance lessons and becoming a high school cheerleader.

A year after winning a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan, Madonna headed for New York, where she was said to have arrived with just 35 dollars in her pocket.

Two years later, her first single, Everybody, became a club hit. But it was her third release, Holiday, which launched Madonna as an international star.

Borderline became her first Top 10 hit in March 1984, followed by a string of hits including Like A Virgin, Material Girl and Lucky Star.

Her first Hollywood film was Desperately Seeking Susan and her career exploded with her second album, Like A Virgin, which was accompanied by a sexy image.

The singer has explored religious symbolism and sexual themes which have drawn criticism from religious leaders and women's groups, and immersed herself in the teachings of the Jewish religion kabbalah.

Madonna met Ritchie in 1998 at a dinner party in London hosted by Trudie Styler, the wife of Sting.

In 2002, the US star was entered into the Encyclopaedia Britannica as a modern day icon of pop.