Enter Ritchie, whom Madonna met at a garden luncheon hosted by Sting's wife, Trudie Styler. Having split from boyfriend Carlos Leon two years earlier, Madonna was instantly drawn to Ritchie, the London-bred son of John, a retired advertising exec, and his ex-wife, Lady (Amber) Leighton. "He had an incredible light around him," she says. Plus, "he was not intimidated by me. I felt the sparks. He did too." For the next year, Madonna says, "we did everything we could to make it not happen." Why? "You go into denial," she muses. "You say, 'Oh no, I'm not ready for that.' " But eventually they dropped the act, and in August 2000 they welcomed Rocco. Four months later they married at Scotland's Skibo Castle. "My wedding was a great day," she says. "A fairy tale."

Not that marriage has always been happily ever after. "I think it's a lot different than what we expected," she says. "Guy and I have done a lot of growing up in the last few years, and we understand that marriage is about having shared goals. We have things we each want to do, but we're clear that partnership comes first." As do the kids. "She's definitely a hands-on mother," says choreographer James King. "We'd be in the middle of rehearsal on the Drowned World tour and, say, in the middle of doing 'Holiday,' Lourdes would come in and Madonna would stop everything and ask what kind of day she had at school."

Even if Swept Away was just that, Ritchie and "the Missus" continue to collaborate unofficially. Just as Madonna reads every draft of Ritchie's scripts, she played him numerous versions of each song on American Life. It was Ritchie who bought Madonna her first acoustic guitar three years ago. "It was like a whole new world," says Madonna about composing on guitar. "I'm a late bloomer, but hey, better late than never." The songs on her lush new album explore her personal evolution as a result of marriage, motherhood and Kabbalah, or as she says, "the nitty-gritty and what is important." The title track, she says, is a reflection on the meaning of her own success. "I symbolize the American dream, someone who came from nothing and then supposedly had everything. But did I? Is the American dream everything? I think the answer is no. There's more."

Not only that, but the former Material Girl – whose personal fortune is estimated at more than $300 million – says she has changed her tune. "Don't get me wrong. It's fabulous I have these beautiful homes and paintings," she says. "But the most important thing in life is love. I know it sounds corny, but everybody knows it's true."