Since her debut in 1982, Madonna has released many
chart-topping albums and singles, and has sold more than 200 million
albums worldwide. Billboard reported that her 2006 Confessions Tour
holds the record for the highest grossing concert tour by a female
artist. According to both the 2007 Guinness Book of Records, and
Forbes, she is the top earning female singer in the world with an
estimated net worth of over $325 million. In 2001, the Guinness Book of
World Records listed Madonna as the "World’s Most-successful
Female Musician". She is the 2nd most successful top selling female
artist in the US according to the RIAA, and 15th biggest selling artist
overall In the UK she is the most successful female in the UK album
chart history, having sold 3.9 million copies of her compilation The
Immaculate Collection there alone. In 2005, she tied with Elvis
Presley's record of 36 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Madonna has recently announced her departure from record company
Warner Bros. and a new $120 million, 10 year contract with pop concert
promoters Live Nation. She will be the founding recording artist for
the new music division, Artist Nation, and the deal will consist of
albums, tours, merchandise and promotion. The Warner Bros. deal will be
completed with her 2008 forthcoming studio album and compilation album
due at the end of the year.

Madonna's most recent tour, the 'Sticky and Sweet' tour, got kicked off in Cardiff, Wales on August 23, 2008.
It is Madonna's
first tour since striking a deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc.
worth an estimated $120 million over 10 years. The partnership gives
Live Nation a stake of future music and music-related business she
generates, including touring, merchandising and albums. Madonna's last tour was her 2006 "Confessions."