Madonna is one of the most successful musicians ever. Three hundred million albums sold. In the Pantheon of Top Musicians, there are the Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. These are the highest-selling artists of all time.

You would think that Madonna would have tons of celebrity friends. But, as she explained to Howard Stern recently, it doesn’t always work that way.

“I get to meet everyone, but they don’t necessarily become friends. Celebrities are really weird around other celebrities. They’re actually quite shy. I don’t have a lot of celebrity friends. Everybody is busy working. And, celebrities hooking up with celebrities is pretty rare.”

Celebrity and awards are not really the highest priority for Madonna anymore.

“When it comes to getting into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, I’m somewhere in the middle. I know it’s an honor, but I don’t really care about awards and things. I care about how I live my life, how I treat people, and if I raise good children.”

When asked if someone with her wealth and schedule actually hires people to raise her kids, Madonna almost got offended.

“It’s true I do have help, but they don’t raise my kids. They don’t teach them morals. They’re not stand-ins.”

Since Madonna’s own mother died when Madonna was only six years old, raising her children is a very important matter to her. How she manages to do that without the benefit of having watched her own mother was another question.

“I think you just learn as you go. I try to be the mother that I didn’t have. I tried to be all those things that I wanted. I tried to be nurturing. I tried to be their friend. I tried to be there for them. Sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes things don’t go the way I planned. I ask my sister for her advice, because she was raised by my grandmother, and she is a good mother.”