FACTBOX: Key facts about pop singer Madonna

(Reuters) - Speculation that pop singer Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie plan to divorce grew on Wednesday after a report in a British newspaper said the couple would announce the split "imminently."

Here are some facts about Madonna, one of the most successful pop stars of all time:

* BIRTH:

-- Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan on August 16, 1958, the third of eight children in a devout Italian Catholic family.

* MUSIC/FILM CAREER:

-- Her breakthrough came in 1984 when she signed a record deal and made her first two big hits "Like a Virgin" and "Holiday." She was on her way.

-- In 1985 she married Hollywood wild boy Sean Penn and landed one of her most memorable screen roles in "Desperately Seeking Susan."

-- Madonna convinced director Alan Parker to give her the biographical role of Eva Peron in the musical film "Evita" that won her a Golden Globe Award. She has so far appeared in about 20 films.

-- The Recording Industry Association of America has described her as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million certified album sales.

-- Guinness World Records list her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time and the top-earning female singer with an estimated net worth of more than $400 million, having sold more than 200 million records worldwide.

* CONTROVERSY:

-- In 1989, the video for "Like A Prayer" (her third transatlantic chart-topper), with its links between religion and eroticism, was condemned by the Vatican and caused Pepsi-Cola to cancel a sponsorship deal with the star. Madonna surprised fans last month by dedicating another of her hits, "Like a Virgin," to the pope at a concert in Rome.

-- The resulting publicity helped the album of the same title to become a global best-seller.

-- In her 1990 "Blonde Ambition" tour, she famously wore a Jean Paul Gaultier conical bra and covered the stage in religious imagery. The Vatican called it "one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity."

-- In 1992, her erotic book "Sex," in which she posed nude in a series of provocative poses, was panned.

-- At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards Madonna french-kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as they performed her classic song "Like A Virgin."