Madonna joins the billion dollar club (Updated April 3, 2013)

She's sold millions of albums. Her name has blown up social media time and again. And now, Madonna is once again in a class by herself, officially entering the billion dollar club.

Yes, it's true. Madonna was pop's top earner in 2012, thanks in large part to a record-breaking MDNA tour that reportedly raked in a cool $300 million, not to mention another $75 million in merchandise sales. Reports also said she made about $60 million dollars from sales of her new perfume, and several million from a deal with Smirnoff vodka.

These numbers put Madonna among an elite club of celebs who are, quite literally, worth a fortune. Among them are famed director Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.

On the musical front, Madonna has recently dropped some hints about her latest mystery project. The collaboration with photographer Steven Klein began with several Instagram posts that ultimately became a YouTube video with a twitching and moving eye and blurry red shape. The accompanying soundtrack was mostly thuds and various ring tones.

Madonna has stirred up buzz for the project by using the hashtag #SecretProject, but has thus far offered no further details on the upcoming venture.

The songstress recently made headlines when she wore a Boy Scout outfit to the GLAAD Media Awards in New York, where she presented US talk show host Anderson Cooper with an award.

Madonna Tickets** - Not Just a Material Girl

When this little lady was born on August 16, 1958, no one knew she would then monopolize the music industry with her many transfigurations and her iconic immortal status as a platinum-selling superstar. Here we have a young Michigan native back in 1977 moving to New York with an aspiration to become a ballet dancer. It was when she discovered that she had a voice and a flair for performance that earned her a spot with Sire Records to record her first album.

Madonna Tickets - She's Definitely En Vogue

Her very first single was 'Everybody,' and it became a hit in 1982. Spurring a second single called 'Physical Attraction wasn't hard to do. Other hits from the self-titled debut album released in 1983 were 'Holiday,' 'Borderline,' and 'Lucky Star.' When her second album came out, it was obvious that she was tapping into the sex symbol ideal that was so popularized by the historic Marilyn Monroe. The album was called Like a Virgin, and it featured the title track as well as one other important hit: 'Material Girl.' It wasn't until she released Like a Prayer in 1989 that she really exploded onto multiple genres. It featured the astronomical hits, 'Express Yourself,' 'Cherish,' 'Keep It Together,' and of course 'Vogue.' Even after stretching the FCC regulations big time with the heavy releases of Erotica and Bedtime Stories, featuring a much more sexually charged Madonna, she was still selling huge amounts of CDs. But she then returned to a more sentimental side with Ray of Light in the late '90s with the hit singles 'Frozen,' 'Ray of Light,' and 'Don't Tell Me.' She didn't stop there, releasing yet another album entitled Music with the massive title track hit making more and more waves with the music crowd.

Madonna Tickets - The Sound and Style of Madonna

Can you count just how many 'versions' there are of her? Probably too many. You had the poppy bubblegum sweet sexy girl, the vivacious upscale vixen, the dominatrix, the spiritual, the upper-class western groove. She was all over the place, and it worked. The whole world -- other worlds in the universe, too -- probably know who Madonna is.