American singer Madonna has released 84 music videos, eleven concert tour videos, two documentary videos, four music video compilations, two music video box sets, four promotional videos, and four video singles. Nicknamed as the "Queen of Videos" or "Queen of MTV", her music videos were often considered by critics as works of art, depicting various social issues. Her early videos also received a significant academic attention. Madonna has won 20 MTV Video Music Awards, including the 1986 Video Vanguard Award for which she became the first female honoree. In 2003, MTV named her "The Greatest Music Video Star Ever", saying "Madonna's innovation, creativity and contribution to the music video art form" is what puts her at the top of the list. In 2020, Billboard ranked her at the top of their list "100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time".
Madonna's first video, "Everybody" (1982), was a low-budget work. Her first video to receive attention on MTV was "Borderline", followed by "Lucky Star" and "Like a Virgin", which popularized Madonna's image and fashion among the younger generation. Her early videos were released commercially on Madonna (1984), which became the best-selling videocassette of 1985. With the title track from her third studio album True Blue (1986), Madonna's impact on MTV and popular music was established when a contest entitled Making My Video, was held to create a music video for the song. "La Isla Bonita" and "Who's That Girl", both released in 1987, showed Madonna's fascination with Hispanic culture and religious symbolism. In 1989, the video of "Like a Prayer" portrayed her dancing in front of burning crosses, receiving stigmata, kissing a black saint and having sex with him in a church altar. It faced strong reaction from religious groups and media. "Express Yourself" released the same year was critically appreciated for its positive feminist themes.
In 1990, Madonna released the video for the song "Vogue", showing the underground gay subculture dance routine called voguing, and the glamorous look of golden era Hollywood. She released her second video compilation, The Immaculate Collection (1990) to accompany the greatest hits album of the same name. She featured overtly sexual undertones with the videos of "Justify My Love" (1990) and "Erotica" (1992), which met with huge backlash. By this point, Madonna had sold between 3 and 4 million copies worldwide of her video releases. A toned down image of the singer appeared in the video for "Secret" from Bedtime Stories (1994). Inspired by paintings of Frida Kahlo and Remedios Varo, the music video of "Bedtime Story" is permanently displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Madonna incorporated Asian culture in the videos of "Frozen" and "Nothing Really Matters" from her 1998 album Ray of Light. The video for its title track was a high-speed one, portraying Japanese people going through their daily lives, interspersed with Madonna in black denim dancing to the music. Most of her 1990s videos were released on The Video Collection 93:99.
Madonna reinvented her image as a cowgirl on the videos for "Music" and "Don't Tell Me" from her eighth studio album, Music (2000). Violence and vandalism were the themes of subsequent releases, "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (2001), "Die Another Day" (2002) and "American Life" (2003), the latter being pulled from release due to the Iraq war of 2003. "Hung Up", lead single from Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) was a tribute to John Travolta and his movies. Madonna's videos for "Celebration" (2009), "Girl Gone Wild" (2012), and "Living for Love" (2015) were received favorably for paying homage to her past videos and a return to her dance roots.
Madonna's music videos continued to garner commercial interest in the streaming and digital eras. In 2019, "Vogue" became Madonna's fourth music video to reach over 100 million views on YouTube across four different decades, following "Bitch I'm Madonna" (2015), "Hung Up" (2005) and "La Isla Bonita" (1987), making her the first female artist in history to achieve this feat within the streaming era. She extended this record with "Popular". In April 2025, "La Isla Bonita", her most viewed music video on YouTube, surpassed 1 billion views.
Music videos
1980s Title Year Director(s) Description "Everybody"1982Ed SteinbergAn in-house video featuring Madonna singing with a group of dancers against a neon-lit background"Burning Up"1983Steve BarronThe video portrays Madonna, in a white dress, writhing on a road, singing the song about her lover, who drives a car around."Holiday" 1984UnknownThe video features the footage of Madonna performing at Solid Gold in 1984. "Lucky Star"1984Arthur PiersonThe video portrays Madonna in her boy-toy image, dancing in front of a white background, flanked by two dancers, one of whom is her brother, Christopher Ciccone. There are 2 versions of the video, a 4-minute and a 5-minute version."Borderline"1984Mary LambertThe video portrays Madonna as a young woman who is dancing in the streets when she catches the eye of a professional photographer. She leaves her boyfriend and goes with the photographer. After accidentally spray painting the photographer's car during a photo shoot, he yells at her and she returns to her boyfriend."Like a Virgin"1984Mary LambertIn the video, Madonna roams around the streets of Venice and through marble-pillared rooms wearing a white wedding dress; this clip is interspersed by images of a lion and a man wearing a lion mask. There is an alternate edit of the video with slight changes."Material Girl"1985Mary LambertPictured as a video-within-a-video, Madonna sings the song dressed up in a pink sleeveless gown, flanked by boys in black coats. The video imitated Marilyn Monroe's version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."Crazy for You"1985Harold BeckerThe music video consists of scenes from the film Vision Quest."Angel"1985Warner Bros. Records (compilator)The music video consists of scenes music videos of "Burning Up", "Borderline", "Lucky Star", "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl"."Into the Groove"1985Susan SeidelmanThe music video consists of scenes from the film Desperately Seeking Susan. There is an "Extended Version" of the video."Dress You Up"1985Daniel KleinmanTo promote the Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour release, filmed in Detroit, the song's performance was released as music video."Gambler"1985Harold BeckerThe music video consists of scenes from the film Vision Quest."Live to Tell"1986James FoleyThe video portrays Madonna with a new pale and subtle look, her shoulder-length hair is wavy and golden blond. Footage from the film At Close Range is interspersed, with Madonna appearing to speak for the character."Papa Don't Preach"1986James FoleyIn this video, Madonna adopts the gamine look portrayed by Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn during the 1950s. She portrays a tomboy who wants to tell her father (played by Danny Aiello) about her pregnancy. Despite his concern and disappointment, they find reconciliation in the end. Interspersed with scenes of a sexier Madonna with a toned body, wearing a black bustier."True Blue"1986James FoleyThe American version from MTV's "Make My Video Contest" was directed by Ángel Gracia and Cliff Guest, where Madonna does not appear. The international release directed by Foley portrays Madonna and her friends in an all-blue colored diner."Open Your Heart"1986Jean-Baptiste MondinoThe video pays homage to actresses Liza Minnelli and Marlene Dietrich. Madonna plays an exotic dancer in a peep-show club who befriends a little boy and escapes from there. There is an edit of the video with an alternate ending."La Isla Bonita"1987Mary LambertMadonna plays a woman living in a Spanish barrio. She portrays two characters: a boyishly-dressed Catholic woman and a colorful Flamenco dancer. The video portrays Madonna's fascination with Hispanic culture and the inclusion of religious symbolism."Who's That Girl"1987Peter RosenthalThe video portrays Madonna dressed in Spanish style as a young lady in search of a treasure. It includes scenes from the film Who's That Girl."The Look of Love"1987James FoleyThe music video consists of scenes from the film Who's That Girl."Like a Prayer"1989Mary LambertThe video portrays Madonna to be a witness of an interracial murder and goes to pray in a church. Various scenes like Madonna kissing a black saint, receiving stigmata, scantily dressed and dancing in front of burning crosses are shown. In the end, she helps to free the man who is falsely accused of murder."Express Yourself"1989David FincherInspired by the film Metropolis, the video portrays Madonna as the leader of a company, and later as a glamorous lady and chained masochist. Muscular men act as her workers. In the end, Madonna picks one of them to be her date. The music video for "Express Yourself" was the most expensive video at the time of its release with production cost of $5 million. There are 2 versions of the video, the original uses the Shep Pettibone House Remix, while a later version released on DVD uses another Shep Pettibone remix similar to the album version."Cherish"1989Herb RittsA black-and-white video showing Madonna playing on the beach with mermen and merchild. In the end she falls in love with one of the mermen."Oh Father"1989David FincherA black-and-white video portraying the death scene of a young mother and the tempestuous relationship that ensues between the husband and the daughter. Years later Madonna, as the grown-up daughter, reconciles with the father at the woman's grave. There are censored and uncensored versions."Dear Jessie"1989Derek HayesAn animated video featuring Madonna as an animated fairy. Madonna does not appear in the video. The video was released in limited territories only outside the United States.
1990s