Lourdes Leon

Lourdes Maria "Lola" Ciccone Leon (born October 14, 1996) is an American fashion model, dancer and singer. She is the biological daughter of Madonna. In September 2021, she appeared on an ensemble cast cover of Vogue. As of August 2022, Leon began releasing her own music under the moniker Lolahol.

Early life and education

Leon was born in Los Angeles, California, on the afternoon of October 14, 1996, to American singer, songwriter, and actress Madonna Ciccone and personal trainer and actor Carlos Leon. Her mother is of Italian and French-Canadian ancestry, while her father is of Cuban heritage. She has multiple siblings from her parents' subsequent marriages and adoptions, respectively, including a paternal half-brother, a maternal half-brother, Rocco, from her mother's marriage to British film director Guy Ritchie, as well as a maternal brother, a sister and twin sisters each born in Malawi. Speaking about her life, El País mentioned "it was documented even before she was born".

While still a kid, Lourdes appeared at some events and works by her mother, including her performance at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, throwing petals on the stage, a cameo in an alternative video of "Celebration" in 2009, and provided backing vocals at MDNA's track "Superstar" in 2012, which her mother wrote about her.

Her mother put her in ballet classes beginning at age three after she expressed an interest. Leon grew up in New York City and went to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, a performing arts school in Manhattan. Among other students, actor Timothée Chalamet also attended the school and she regards him as her first boyfriend. After graduating, she began college at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus, but transferred to New York's Purchase College citing witnessing supporters of Donald Trump among the student body; she continued studying dance intensively at Purchase. Lourdes told Vogue magazine in 2021, she paid for her own college studies, driven by her desire to be independent of Madonna, whom she labeled at that time as a "control freak", though she later credited, "I didn't fully comprehend that until I realized the importance of empowerment". She also told Interview magazine, "Obviously, I grew up with extreme privilege. There's no denying that. But I think my mom saw all these other kids of famous people, and she was like, 'My kids are not going to be like this'".

Career

Lourdes' first forays in fashion began in 2010. Madonna and Leon created Material Girl, a teenage clothing line sold exclusively through Macy's stores. Leon made her modeling debut starring in a perfume ad campaign for Pop by Stella McCartney, also featuring Grimes, Amandla Stenberg, and Kenya Kinski-Jones. She has further appeared in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, Burberry, Savage X Fenty, Gypsy Sport, Dion Lee and Mugler. In 2018, she made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week. She appeared on the September 2021 cover of American Vogue with models Anok Yai, Ariel Nicholson, Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Precious Lee, Sherry Shi, and Yumi Nu. In 2023, she became the face of a limited edition flavor Coca-Cola's 3000 Zero Sugar, and made her first makeup campaign as one of the faces of Make Up For Ever.

Leon, using the stage name Lolahol, made her musical debut in August 2022 via Chemical X, an imprint of record label Mad Decent. Her first release was "Lock&Key", followed by "Cuntradiction" in November, both from her five-track debut EP Go, an experimental music project launched on November 9, 2022, in collaboration with Eartheater. On October 11, 2023, she released "Spelling". Its video's visuals paid homage to Madonna's video of "Frozen". Leon also made her first major musical performance debut at IFEMA's Brava Madrid Music Festival on September 23, 2023.

Influences

Lourdes has cited various British artists of the late 1990s and early 2000s as influences, including PJ Harvey, Massive Attack and Amy Winehouse. She commented about Winehouse: "She really didn't give a sh*t about optics of who she was and was just there to make music".

Speaking about Madonna's music and influence, she said: "My experience with my mom's music has changed so much as I've gotten older, because I'm increasingly able to recognize how influential and amazing this woman is, and how empowering to other women [...] she has always been". She further explains that she took inspiration from Madonna while building a career in fashion, denoting her advice: "It's not about the money or your face or how hot you look. It's about what you're bringing into the world and what you're going to leave behind".

Discography

Extended plays

• GO (Chemical X, 2022)

Singles

• "Lock&Key" (Chemical X, 2022)
• "Cuntradiction" (Chemical X, 2022)
• "Spelling" (Chemical X, 2023)
• "Boy Next Door" (Chemical X, 2023)