Lourdes, Rocco, David, Mercy, Stella, and Estere

Madonna’s love for her family is “True Blue.” The renowned singer-songwriter is a mom of six children: Lourdes, Rocco, David, Mercy, Stella and Estere. She’s the first to admit that balancing motherhood with her titanic music career hasn’t always been easy, describing it as “the toughest battle” in a 2023 Vanity Fair Italia cover story for the magazine’s Icon Issue.

“Even today, I struggle to understand how to be a mother as well as do my job. Because no matter where you are, whoever you are, having children and raising kids is a work of art. And nobody gives you a manual—you have to learn from your mistakes,” she told the outlet.

Her status as a legendary singer was already cemented when she welcomed her first child, Lourdes Leon, with then-partner Carlos Leon. Madonna’s next child with ex-husband Guy Ritchie, Rocco Ritchie, arrived in 2000. She expanded her family four more times, adopting son David and daughters Mercy, Stella, and Estere from Malawi, a country in southeast Africa.

The best-selling artist’s adoption journey wasn’t an easy one. She faced legal roadblocks due to Malawi laws that limit adoption to residents of the country, according to People. “Because I’m a public figure, people don’t want to be perceived as giving me any kind of special treatment, so I get the hard road,” she told People in a candid 2017 cover story. Despite the struggles, she says she wouldn’t change anything. “It’s complicated, but it’s so worth it.”

Madonna, 66, isn’t afraid to show her love for her talented children. She even got their initials tattooed on her wrist, sharing the news of her ink in a now-deleted Instagram post in 2020. The tribute reflects her journey from rejecting the idea of motherhood to embracing it, an experience she opened up about in a 2023 Mother’s Day Instagram post. Madonna’s mother, also named Madonna, died from breast cancer when the singer was just 5 years old. 

“I rejected the idea of being a mother well into my 30s because I associated motherhood with sacrifice[,] suffering and ultimately death and I wanted none of that,” she wrote. Yet she explained that her children made her feel “grounded,” giving her “my highest highs and my lowest lows.” She went on to add, “To say that I am [proud of] my children sounds arrogant or implies ownership. Better to say that they are all shining stars and I’m happy that their souls chose me to be their mother.”

While some of her children stay out of the spotlight, others are following in their famous parent’s footsteps and pursuing creative careers—including making music. Below, learn everything we know about Madonna’s six kids.

Lourdes Leon

Madonna became a mom on October 14, 1996, welcoming daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon in Los Angeles with fitness trainer Carlos Leon. She met Leon while jogging in Central Park in 1994, People reports. The pair dated from that year until 1997. 

Even before she was old enough to take to the stage herself, Lourdes was already a star. Her mother wrote her 1998 ballad “Little Star” about the sunny two-year-old who’d brightened her life. She also had an early cameo as a dancer in the alternate music video for the singer’s track “Celebration.”

Drawn to an artistic path, the NYC native attended the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan. There, she met her first boyfriend—a then-unknown actor named Timothée Chalamet. “I respect [Chalamet] a lot, we were a little item. My first boyfriend, or [first] anything,” she told Vanity Fair in 2021.

While still in high school, the burgeoning creative co-founded the Material Girl clothing line with her mother. After graduating, however, the aspiring model yearned for independence and decided to fund her own college education and apartment. “I feel like if your parents pay for things, then it gives them leverage over you,” she explained in a 2021 Interview feature. “My mom is such a control freak, and she has controlled me my whole life. I needed to be completely independent from her as soon as I graduated high school.”

In the same interview, Lourdes acknowledged her “extreme privilege,” but noted that Madonna didn’t give her or her siblings “handouts” while raising them. “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,’” she told the outlet.

The 28-year-old began her career as a model, starring in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Burberry, and Mugler among others. Alongside catwalk favorites like Anok Yai and Kaia Gerber, she covered Vogue’s ambitious 2021 September issue spotlighting modeling’s next-gen stars. 

It wasn’t until 2022 that she began releasing music under the stage name Lolahol. One of her song’s, 2023’s “Spelling,” pays homage to her mother’s 1998 track “Frozen.” Lourdes explained the connection in an Instagram post about the “Spelling” music video. “[‘Frozen’] has come up countless times in my life, connecting the two of us. I would be nothing without the woman who brought me into the world. I revere her, and hope that this translates,” she wrote.

As for her love life, Lourdes was linked to hairstylist Jonathan Puglia in 2022, per People, but the multi-talented artist keeps details of her relationship under wraps.

Rocco Ritchie

The “Like A Prayer” singer welcomed her oldest son, Rocco Ritchie, on August 11, 2000. He was born in Los Angeles. Madonna shares Rocco with her ex-husband, English director Guy Ritchie. The pair wed shortly after he was born with a high-profile ceremony at Scotland’s Skibo Castle.

When he was just 14, Rocco accompanied Madonna on her Rebel Heart Tour. Although he preferred working behind the scenes to joining her onstage, he did make a prior appearance alongside the singer during her 2012 MDNA Tour, per E! News.

While he dabbled in modeling, Rocco is best known as a visual artist. He credits his two creative parents with helping him discover his passion for painting. “It certainly helped growing up in a house that was passionate about art and culture. Neither of my parents are painters, but both are artists in their own right and they taught me to appreciate and respect it,” he told Vogue Man Hong Kong. “Their shared fascination eventually piqued my interest and since I can remember I’ve always been surrounded by it.” 

A 2024 ArtNet feature reported that the painter is an alum of London’s Central Saint Martins and the Royal Drawing School. Now UK-based, Rocco returns to the States for the occasional gallery opening. In April 2024, his famous mom joined him in Miami for his art show Pack A Punch, featuring works inspired by Muay-Thai fighters.

Rocco has been romantically linked to fashion publicist Olivia Monjardin, whom he met at Central Saint Martins, since 2023. The couple made their red-carpet debut at the March 2024 London premiere of The Gentlemen, a series directed by his father, Ritchie.

David Banda

Madonna’s second son, David Banda, was born in Malawi on September 24, 2005. The following year, Madonna and her then-husband Ritchie took a humanitarian trip to the country, where the singer runs the charitable foundation Raising Malawi. There, they met David at the Home of Hope orphanage in Lilongwe.

While legal complications slowed the process, she and Ritchie officially adopted David on May 28, 2008, according to People. News of the adoption was met with criticism by the media, causing the “Papa Don’t Preach” hitmaker to experience emotional distress. “Every newspaper said I kidnapped [David],” she told People in a 2017 cover story. “In my mind, I was thinking, ‘Wait a minute. I’m trying to save somebody’s life. Why are you all s—-ing on me right now?’ I did everything by the book. That was a real low point for me. I would cry myself to sleep.”

Madonna praised the then-13-year-old’s “focus and determination” in a 2019 British Vogue cover story. “I’m pretty sure [David] got it from me,” she said, adding, “He’s the one I have the most in common with. I feel like he gets me; he has more of my DNA than any of my children so far.”

David is indeed taking after his mom in the realm of music, working as a performing guitarist and guitar teacher in NYC where he lives with his model girlfriend, Maria Atuesta. He shared the stage with his mother during her 2023 Celebration Tour—along with his three younger sisters, Mercy, Stella, and Estere. Madonna beamed about getting to perform with her children, telling W in a tour diary, “When I go on tour, nothing brings me more happiness to know, we are all working on the same show creating the magic together. It would be boring if they were just traveling from hotel to hotel, and occasionally coming to watch the show.”

Outside of music, the 19-year-old is also passionate about fashion. His NYFW debut came in September 2024, when he walked for Off-White’s spring 2025 presentation.

Chifundo “Mercy” James

Madonna’s second daughter, Chifundo “Mercy” James, was born January 22, 2006, per People. Madonna divorced from Guy Ritchie in 2008, before applying to adopt Mercy, and her adoption application was initially rejected by the courts. She says that Malawian officials cited her divorce. “The way I was treated—that sexist behavior—was ridiculous,” she told People of the experience in 2017. After a successful challenge to the decision, Madonna welcomed Mercy to her family in 2009.

Madonna opened a pediatric surgery and intensive care center in Malawi—the first of its kind—and named it after Mercy. She brought sons David and Rocco, Mercy, and her two younger daughters to the opening celebration, held in July 2017. Mercy gave a speech at the event, saying her mom was “the bomb,” People reported.

Mercy celebrated her 18th birthday during Madonna’s Celebration Tour. While Mercy went on stage with her mom ready to sing their usual duet, the artist cued the audience at Madison Square Garden to sing “Happy Birthday” instead. A fan video of the moment uploaded to TikTok shows the sweet mother-daughter moment taking Madonna’s fourth child by surprise.

In a since-deleted Mother’s Day Instagram post, Madonna shared that her son David and daughter Mercy graduated from high school in May 2024.

Stella and Estere Ciccone

Madonna’s two youngest children, twins Stella and Estere, were born on August 24, 2012. The pop icon adopted them in February 2017, People reported. She told the publication she felt drawn to the twins in a way she can’t explain. “It’s like saying, ‘Why do you fall in love with the people you fall in love with?’ You look into the eyes of somebody, you feel their soul, you feel touched by them—that’s it.”

The decision to expand her family was an obvious choice. “Sometimes I would just close my eyes and just think, ‘Why isn’t my kitchen filled with dancing children?’ There’s so many children that need a home,” she explained to People in her 2017 cover story. “I thought, ‘What am I waiting for? Just do it.’”

Ever the supportive parent, Madonna has cheered on her 12-year-old twins as they grow and discover their passions. Her Instagram has featured clips of the girls dancing and Stella playing the piano, suggesting the stage might be in their futures. She also applauded their graduation from elementary school in 2023, describing them as “2 Kweens” in her Instagram Story about the milestone moment.

Madonna reflected on her first time meeting her youngest children in a heartwarming Instagram post when the twins turned 11. “I will never forget [t]he first time we met you in Machinji,” she wrote in the caption. “Your eyes held the whole world in them. The same way we now hold you locked inside of our hearts.”

Like their older siblings, Stella and Estere joined Madonna on her Celebration Tour. A then-11-year-old Estere vogued onstage while Madonna and sister Lourdes Leon looked on with pride during the tour’s opening night in London, Good Morning America reported. At the end of the performance, her family both held up cards with “10” on them, letting her know she aced it.