ARTIST & RELEASE INFO:

Madonna Louise Ciccone born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She achieved popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Madonna is known for reinventing both her music and image, and for maintaining her autonomy within the recording industry. Music critics have acclaimed her musical productions, which have generated some controversy. Often referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she is cited as an influence by numerous other artists around the world.

Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she signed with Sire Records (an auxiliary label of Warner Bros. Records) in 1982 and released her self-titled debut album the following year. She followed it with a series of commercially successful albums, including the Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). Throughout her career, Madonna has written and produced most of her songs, with many of them reaching number one on the record charts, including "Like a Virgin", "Into the Groove", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes".

Madonna's popularity was further enhanced by her film roles, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), and Evita (1996); the latter earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. However, most of her other films have been panned by critics. Her other ventures include fashion design, writing children's books, and filmmaking. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, particularly after she founded entertainment company Maverick (including the label Maverick Records). In 2007 she signed an unprecedented US $120 million 360 deal with Live Nation.

Having sold more than 300 million records worldwide, Madonna is recognized as the best-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) listed her as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second best-selling female artist in the United States, with 64.5 million certified albums. According to Billboard, Madonna is the top touring female artist of all time, grossing over a billion dollars from her concerts. She was ranked at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of American singles chart. Madonna became one of the five founding members of the UK Music Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility.

"La Isla Bonita" was released as the fifth and final single in February 1987. The song describe Madonna as a tourist who prays "that the days would last, they went so fast". The first line refers to an island called San Pedro although this has not been clearly stated by Madonna in any interview. The song received positive response with critics calling it one of Madonna's greatest, most influential songs as well as the best song on the album. "La Isla Bonita" was a worldwide hit, reaching number one in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, while reaching a peak of four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"La Isla Bonita" (English: The Beautiful Island) is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album True Blue (1986). It was released as the album's final single on February 25, 1987 by Sire Records. The instrumental version of the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna both accepted it and wrote the lyrics and melody. "La Isla Bonita" is noted for being the first Madonna song to have a Latino influence in it, with arrangements of Cuban drums and Spanish guitar, maracas, harmonicas and a mix of synthesized and real drumming. The lyrics of the song tell about a beautiful island and was a tribute to the beauty of the Latin people according to Madonna.

Following its release, "La Isla Bonita" received positive appreciation from critics. It also achieved worldwide popularity, topping the record charts in countries such as Austria, Canada, France, Germany and Switzerland. It became Madonna's fourth number-one single in the United Kingdom, giving her the record for most number-one singles among female artists. In the United States, it reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the accompanying music video, Madonna portrayed two opposite characters – a pious girl and a passionate Latina. The Latin style and the flamenco red dress she wore became a trend later. The song is one of the most performed live songs by Madonna, appearing in six of her world tours, the most recent being 2015's Rebel Heart Tour. Madonna has regularly performed the song in its Spanish form, sometimes with tribal or folk songs and remixes to accompany it. The song has been covered by a number of artists including Mexican recording artist Byanka (1988) and French recording artist Alizée for her album Psychédélices (2008).

Writing and inspiration

"La Isla Bonita" was written by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch. The song was previously written as a lament for the town of San Pedro in the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize and was offered to Michael Jackson for his Bad album, who, according to Gaitsch, turned it down. While working with Leonard on the True Blue album, Madonna accepted it in Jackson's place and wrote the song's lyrics and melody, thus earning herself a co-writing credit.

"La Isla Bonita" was the first Madonna song to employ Spanish motifs, going so far as to include Spanish lyrics. The Spanish theme would reoccur throughout her career, manifesting itself in lyrics for "Who's That Girl" (1987), "Spanish Eyes" (1989), "I'm Going Bananas" (1990), the Spanish version of "You'll See" (1995) called "Verás", "Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazón)" (1999) which was a duet with Ricky Martin, "Lo Que Siente La Mujer" – the Spanish version for "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (2001), "Sorry" (2005) and "Spanish Lesson" from Hard Candy (2008). Madonna described the song as her tribute to the "beauty and mystery of Latin American people". According to her "Latin rhythms often dominate our uptempo compositions. It's like we're possessed. We both think that we were Latin in another life."