5 Musical Chameleons
2. Madonna
Behold: the eternal queen of Pop. When Madonna debuted in the early 80's, it would have been easy to dismiss her as just another pop star that would fade after a few years. However, each passing release showed her advancing into bold new territories from an image and musical standpoint. She initially started as more dance pop, and has ventured since into pop, electronic, ambient music, and everything else you find under the pop sphere.
What hasn't changed throughout her entire career is her ability to write melodies. From the word go, Madonna's way to knock out a hook from "Like a Virgin" to "Borderline" to even later triumphs like "Hung Up," was always beyond exceptional. It's even continued so far as last year, where she began incorporating more classical instrumentation along with electronics into her sound. This has led to many different pop divas to pull a few pages out of the book Madonna helped write.
When Madonna was first asked what she wanted to do with her career at the start, she replied with "to rule the world." Now, in what will be her 5th decade making music, it seems that she has definitely kept her promise.