Stephen Bray met Madonna during her pre-stardom when she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for dance. The pair went to New York and became part of the band The Breakfast Club. Eventually they began writing songs together on their own, and when Madonna obtained her recording contract with Sire Records, she continued collaborating with Bray.

Together, they have written and produced some of the biggest hit songs of the 1980s, including several of Madonna’s biggest hits. The songs Bray and Madonna composed often followed a distinctive structure, many of which repeats the song’s second verse and bridge before fading out with the chorus. Their partnership appears to have concluded with their work on Madonna’s Like a Prayer album.

Bray still holds the master recordings to many unreleased Madonna songs, including those on the album Pre-Madonna (which Bray released in 1997 without Madonna’s authorization), and is married to movie producer Stephanie Allain, who produced Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan.

While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour, Madonna became romantically involved with the musician Dan Gilroy, with whom she later formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club, in New York. She sang and played drums and guitar for the band, but soon departed from them and formed another band called Emmy in 1980, with drummer and former boyfriend Stephen Bray. Together they wrote and produced dance-pop songs, that brought her to the attention of DJ and record producer Mark Kamins. He was impressed by Madonna’s demo recordings, so he brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.

Madonna signed a singles deal with Sire Records, a label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her debut single, “Everybody”, was released on April 24, 1982, and became a dance hit. Her debut album, Madonna, was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas.

By the end of the 1980s, Madonna had become the most successful female artist of the decade, with three number-one albums and seven number-one singles, surpassed only by Michael Jackson.