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Johann Sebastian Bach had 20 children, but it didn't affect his career: He was the breadwinner, not the caregiver. It's not quite the same for women in music, who sometimes have to choose between raising their brood and forging a career. Here's a look at some musical moms:

Madonna

  • Number of children: Four (two adopted)
  • Dad: Carlos Leon (Lourdes), Guy Ritchie (Rocco)
  • Career impact: Publicity boost mostly, particularly with the adoptions.

Chrissie Hynde

  • Number of children: Two
  • Dad: Ray Davies (Natalie), Jim Kerr (Yasmin)
  • Career impact: Her experiences as a new mother helped inform the 1984 album Learning to Crawl. Took a year off for Yasmin between that album and Get Close.

Whitney Houston

  • Number of children: One
  • Dad: Bobby Brown
  • Career impact: None: The Bodyguard, which was released mere months after the birth of her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was the most successful album of her career.

Celine Dion

  • Number of children: One, although she's pregnant with twins.
  • Dad: René Angélil
  • Career impact: Took a year off after the birth of René-Charles.

Britney Spears

  • Number of children: Two
  • Dad: Kevin Federline
  • Career impact: Spears, who put her career on hiatus after marrying Federline, was lambasted after photographs showed her driving with son Sean on her lap. She and Federline divorced; in the same month he was awarded sole custody of their children, she released her first studio album in four years.

Sheryl Crow

  • Number of children: Two
  • Dad: Both children adopted
  • Career impact: Her son Wyatt can be heard on Lullaby for Wyatt on the album Detours.


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