Madonna’s career approaches no one so much as Barbra Streisand in her feat of remaining an immensely popular female recording artist with unrivaled longevity. Among the obvious differences is that Streisand sprang full formed as an immensely gifted musical theater star; that is, she was not only a tremendous singer, but she could act. Cut to 20 years later, when Madonna parlayed a similarly protean ambition and a background as a trained dancer into a recording career of phenomenal commercial success.
