MADONNA has gone through many image changes in her tumultuous career, but yesterday she announced her most bizarre to date – she now wants to be called Esther.
The Material Girl, often dubbed Madge, claims she was inspired to take on the name by her study of Jewish mysticism, known as kabbalah.
In an interview with ABC News, the wife of Guy Ritchie, the director of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, spoke about her new name.
"I was named after my mother. My mother died when she was very young, of cancer, and I wanted to attach myself to another name. This is in no way a negation of who my mother is. I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name."
She said she had taken on the Hebrew name of Esther.
Elsewhere in the interview, Madonna/Esther described a normal home life with messy children and marital tiffs.
"Even my children have to clean up their mess, clean up their rooms. Manners, thank you, please, take your dishes to the sink. If it's traditional to be a decent human being, then I'm traditional." Less traditional is her tidiness mantra for her children: "Pick up your s**t."
The Ritchies have a son, four-year-old Rocco, and Madonna/Esther has a daughter, Lourdes, seven, from her previous relationship with Carlos Leon, her former personal trainer.
She said the best thing about growing older was becoming smarter and that the key to a successful marriage is learning to apologise.
The interview shows a mature Madonna/Esther who has put her wild days behind her and prays daily. She admitted: "I brought a lot of chaos to people's lives because of my selfish behaviour."
But despite being a mother and children's author, she insists that being a rebel is still good. She said kabbalah was incredibly punk rock and anti-establishment. "Kabbalists believe in immortality. They believe you can overcome death, overcome illness, whatever, so it's incredibly good to be a rebel."
She also spoke of her and Ritchie's ritual after she has had a tough stage performance – she takes a bath and he comes and chats about his day.
The singer is not the only celebrity to have embraced the pseudo Jewish cult. Other followers are believed to include the Beckhams, Britney Spears, Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Hall, Winona Ryder, Demi Moore, and Courtney Love.
Devotees, who are encouraged to pamper themselves and pursue their own happiness, commonly wear a red string knotted around their wrist which they believe wards off the evil eye.