Business News Madonna | Page 15

15

the author of five children's books. The first of these books, entitled The English Roses, was published in September 2003. The story was about four English schoolgirls and their envy and jealousy of each other. Kate Kellway from The Guardian commented "[Madonna] is an actress playing at what she can never be – a J.K. Rowling, an English rose." The book debuted at the top of The New York Times Best Seller list and became the fastest-selling children's picture book of all time.

The next year, Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company Time Warner claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, Warner filed a countersuit alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own. The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares, owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev, were purchased by Warner. Madonna and Dashev's company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music, but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract. In mid-2004 Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe. It became the highest-grossing tour of 2004, earning $125 million. She made a documentary about the tour named I'm Going to Tell You a Secret. Rolling Stone ranked her at number 36 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In January 2005, Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon song "Imagine" at Tsunami Aid. She also performed at the Live 8 benefit concert in London.

Her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, was released in November 2005 and debuted at number one in all major music markets. Musically the album was structured like a club set composed by a DJ. The songs on the album started out light and happy, and as it progressed, it became intense, with the lyrics dealing more about personal feelings, hence "Confessions." Keith Caulfield from Billboard commented that the album was a "welcome return to form for the Queen of Pop." The album won a Grammy Award for "Best Electronic/Dance Album". The first single from the album, "Hung Up", went on to reach number one in a record-breaking 45 countries, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. "Sorry", the second single, became Madonna's twelfth number one single in the UK. She embarked on the Confessions Tour in May, which had a