Madonna may be the Queen of Pop (and the queen of the VMAs), but she’s also a mother of six children.
The legendary artist first became a mom in 1996, when she welcomed her eldest daughter, Lourdes Leon. Since then, her family has grown to include son Rocco with ex-husband Guy Ritchie and adopted kids David, Mercy, Stella, and Estere. Throughout her motherhood journey, Madonna has balanced raising her kids with her career, and the two have naturally intertwined over the years—from collaborating with Lourdes on her latest album, Confessions on a Dance Floor II, to welcoming David and Mercy onstage as instrumentalists during her Celebration Tour.
For her 2023 Vanity Fair cover story, the “Like a Prayer” singer got candid about the challenges of motherhood: “Even today, I struggle to understand how to be a mother and do my job. Because, no matter what, whoever you are, having children and raising them is a work of art. And no one gives you a manual. You have to learn from your mistakes,” she admitted.
Madonna poses with all six of her children in 2017. (@madonna / Instagram)
Though they range from ages 14 through 29, all six have followed in their mother’s creative footsteps in their own way. “The thing that makes me happiest is seeing how each of them has found their own creativity,” Madonna told Vanity Fair. “I never encouraged my daughter Lola to make music or my son Rocco to paint. But I always exposed them to art and music. I’m happy with who they are today. And I’m proud of their work.”
Whether they’re joining their mother onstage, walking the runway, or pursuing creative endeavors of their own, Madonna’s six children have each carved out their own paths. Here’s everything to know about Lourdes, Rocco, David, Mercy, Stella, and Estere.
Lourdes Leon
Madonna welcomed her first child, Lourdes “Lola” Leon, on October 14, 1996, in Los Angeles with her then-boyfriend, Carlos Leon. Of her six children, Lourdes has stepped into the spotlight the most, frequently collaborating with her mom over the years. As a kid, she helped Madonna write her first children’s book, The English Roses, and as a young teenager, she collaborated with her mom on a clothing line aptly called Material Girl, which reimagined the singer’s iconic ’80s style for a new generation.
Lourdes eventually stepped into the fashion industry on her own, making her runway modeling debut in 2018 at Gypsy Sport. Since then, she’s walked shows from Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty to Versace and Marine Serre, while also becoming a familiar face in front rows from Marc Jacobs to Saint Laurent.
Lourdes walking Versace’s Spring 2022 runway. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images)
But fashion isn’t Lourdes’s only creative pursuit. She’s also followed in her mother’s musical footsteps, releasing her debut single, “Lock & Key,” in 2022 under the name Lolahol.
Most recently, Lourdes teamed up with her mom on “The Test,” a song featured on Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor II. The track explores their mother-daughter relationship through the complicated lens of Madonna’s fame. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Madonna revealed that Lourdes was the one who approached her about writing the song together, having spent much of her adolescence working through the complexities of growing up with a globally famous parent.
