The English Roses book and its characters were named after Madonna's daughter Lourdes' school friends at Lycée Franco-Libanais Tripoli. It tells the story of four friends who are jealous of a girl called Binah. However, they come to know that Binah's life is not easy and decide to include her in their group. A moral tale, while writing "The English Roses" Madonna drew from her own personal experiences, including her mother's death at an early age. Jeffrey Fulvimari spontaneous line drawings illustrated the book. The book was released simultaneously in more than 100 countries worldwide and translated into 42 languages. Promotional activities included
Icon & The Black Roses (album) extend the release to a full album. The band flew to Berlin to record the extra material and in June 15, 2004, their self-titled debut album was released by Dark-Wings with distribution by SPV. http://www.iconandtheblackroses.com/album/icon-the-black-roses/ Icon & The Black Roses (album) Icon & the Black Roses is the debut studio album by Portuguese band Icon & The Black Roses. It was released on June 15, 2004, following a demo released 2001 and an EP released in 2003. In this early period the band recorded a demo called “4 Winter Songs” which allowed them to secure a deal with Dark-Wings records