SEPTEMBER 9, 2007
Birth of an Icon
1984: During the first-ever VMAs, Madonna stunned the live audience with a controversial performance of her 1984 hit "Like a Virgin." Dressed in a white-lace bustier, fingerless gloves and a “Boy Toy” belt, the singer popped out of a wedding cake before writhing around the stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Though relatively tame by today's standards, the performance pushed the envelope and made the then 26-year-old a bonafide star. "People were gasping in the audience," said Madonna’s longtime publicist, Liz Rosenberg. "Madonna took it so much further than anyone knew she was capable of." The performance marked the start of a 20-year relationship between MTV and the material girl.