And? We're not discussing artistic quality, we're discussing influence.

well...she's the first female solo artist to last over 2 decades on top. That's got to have an influence on those who want to aspire to even a quarter of that.

And how did my post in any way not state that? Madonna has hordes of imitators, so far as I can see, none have her talent, so instead they copy/update her image and persona, that of a sexual aggressor.

I have to ask, but have you not noticed that you seem to have a great deal of trouble understanding other people's posts due to your preconceptions that they hold opinions antithetical to your own? You seem to have a remarkably closed mind and a gigantic chip on your shoulder.

I took the original post about Madonna to be extremely sarcastic. I may have read that wrong.

Sorry. Could come from a lifetime of being mocked for loving her.

I'm a fan. Been one since "Borderline".

Think of Madonna as the pop music equivalent of Michael Jordan. MJ was a great basketball player, but his influence was such that every young player coming up wanted to "be like Mike". None had his talent, so for years the NBA was wrecked by a bunch of selfish showboats who couldn't play as well as their idol. Madonna has had the same effect on female vocalists. None have her talent, so they just copy her image instead.

Oh I completely agree.

Sorry if I came across as hostile. Being a male Madonna fan growing up is shit...especially when you have to keep it up through the Erotica era and high school. ;)

Fixed.

I'm a HUGE Madonna fan and her influence has been immeasurable. From style, to lyrics, to beats, to persona, attitude etc. she has had a tremendous influence on pop music and it's cultures and subcultures. I'd argue that Pink is more like Madonna than Britney but neither is anything close. Matter of fact if you combined Christina's voice, Britney's body and Pink's atitude you still don't equal 1 Madonna because Madonna had it all and then some.
Let's face it, if it weren't for Mrs. Richie the techno movement might never have happened, and artists such as Moby, John Digweed, and those "Smack My Bitch Up" cats would never have had any mainstream love. You can love it or hate it but the progressive house / techno / trancedance genre has been around for almost 20 years and it's still growing. Madonna may not be it's mommy but she certainly resembles a Godmother.

I could go on and on but suffice to say IMO, Madonna is by far the most influential female artist of all time.

When I was about 11-12 years old (1985-6) I went on an audition for an ep of The Cosby Show which was going to spin off into The Tony Orlando Show (didn't get the part and the show never spun). The casting agent quoted me on Entertainment Tonight. The quoted convo went like this:
Agent: If you could be anyone else in the world who would it be?
TheGodfather: Sean Penn
Agent: (laughing) Why Sean Penn? He's always in trouble and angry and fighting.
TheGodfather: Because he's married to Madonna.

She's been my biggest crush ever since I saw her writhing around in that wedding dress on a gondola in Like A Virgin. I feel your pain.

20's - Scott Joplin
30's - Robert Johnson
40's - Duke Ellington
50's - Miles Davis
60's - Bob Dylan
70's - The Ramones
80's - Michael Jackson
90's - Nirvana
00's - undetermined...

madonna has definitely influenced people who lip synch in their concerts

Virgin Tour= Never lip synced
WTG Tour= Never lip synced
BA Tour- used backing track on 3 songs but always sang live
GS= used backing track on 3 songs
DW: lip synced 1 song
Re-invention- lip synced 2 songs

what's your point? This is about as old as the Madonna "sex" jokes from...well...ANY decade. Point is that she sings 95% of the songs on any tour live. She's also doing more dancing and performing that most others in one segment of a show than they do in their entire evening.

Next!