Madonna on Larry King Live
On January 19th 1999, Madonna appeared on the Larry King Live show for an interesting chat with the host. Here’s some interesting parts transcripted from that interview about her own name.
Larry King: How did you get that name? Why are you a one-name person?
Madonna: Well, I was born with that name. I was named after my mother. And I guess when I started making records, Madonna Ciccone seemed too long and complicated, and I just got stuck with Madonna.
King: What age did that start?
Madonna: The one-name deal? I guess when I was about 23. So I had two names until the age of 23.
King: But it took a lot of guts, right, to call yourself one name making your first record?
Madonna: No. It seemed completely natural. It means so many things. But I just felt like it was a very good stage name. And everybody actually thought it was a theatrical name that I took on, so.
King: It works, obviously.
Madonna: Yes, it’s a name to live up to.
King: Were you a singing kid? Were you in the glee club?
Madonna: I was more of a dancing kid than a singing kid. I mean, I sang in school choirs and I sang in school musicals, but I was much more interested in dancing than singing.
King:What happened? You still dance, right? Dance is part of the act.
Madonna: Absolutely. But when I left Michigan and I came to New York, that was my goal, to be a professional dancer. And I sort of fell into singing by accident in a way.
King: How?
Madonna: Well, I danced in a lot of companies in New York for years, and realized that I was going to be living a hand-to-mouth existence for the rest of my life.
King:Companies meaning Broadway shows.
Madonna: Oh, no. Modern dance.
King: Oh, troupes.
Madonna: Yes, modern dance. And you know, it was really hard living, and so then I decided to start going to, like, off-Broadway auditions and Broadway auditions, mostly as a dancer. And I started singing — I had to sing for the auditions, and then, you know, people would hear me sing. And they’d say, Hey, your voice isn’t bad. And I’d say, Oh, really?
I mean, I never had any training. I never wanted to be a singer. That’s not how I started out.
King: Would you rather have been…
Madonna: A dancer?
KING: Yes.
Madonna: No. I am quite happy with the way things have turned out. I mean, I incorporate…
King: Supposing dance paid as well.
Madonna: I’m glad that it turned out this way, because as a singer I can use all of my dance training. And I think that singing is much more of an emotional expression.
King:Are you a singer who dances and acts or are you an actor who sings and dances? Who are you?
Madonna: I don’t know.
King: What are you? (LAUGHTER) How do you think of yourself first?
Madonna: That’s hard to say. I mean, I think of myself as a performance artist. I hate being called a pop star. I hate that. And — I don’t know. I mean, I guess since my original training was dancing .. I think of myself primarily as a dancer.
King: But performance artist is pretty good. It covers a wide…
Madonna: Yes, I like that because it covers everything.
King: Covers acting, certainly.
Madonna: Covers everything. And we have to act all the time, don’t we?
Source: Larry King Live/CNN