In 1998 Madonna reinvented herself yet again. During 1996 and 1998 she began studying mystical Judaism and The Kabbalah. She took Yoga lessons and pursued a vigorous exercise regime that brought her body to a peak of toned fitness. She became pregnant by her then lover, personal trainer Carlos Leon, and gave birth to her daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, on October 14, 1996. In 1998 she released Ray of Light, an album co-produced by European techno music performer William Orbit, and co-written by Orbit, Patrick Leonard and Rick Nowels.
Her first critically-acclaimed recording since 'Like a Prayer', the album became her biggest hit in nearly ten years, selling over 15 million copies. It spawned the top ten singles 'Frozen', 'Ray of Light', 'Drowned World / Substitute For Love', 'Nothing Really Matters' (accompanied by a video in which she portrayed a cross between a clubber and a geisha girl), and 'The Power of Goodbye'.
Her vocals were notably stronger, likely an after effect of the vocal training she received for 'Evita'. The lyrics were some of Madonna's most introspective. 'Mer Girl' dealt with motherhood from the perspective of a woman who had lost her own mother as a child; 'Little Star' was a paean to the wise choices her own daughter would make in the future; 'Swim' addressed the topic of violence in popular culture. Still, critics were quick to note that Madonna was doing only what she knew best: taking things from the cultures around her (in this case, techno, Eastern mysticism and alternative rock) and refining them for mass consumption.
Madonna received her first Grammy award in her 15 year career for Ray of Light.After endlessly promoting Ray of Light, Madonna focused next on her pet project, a film called The Next Best Thing. Co-starring her friend, the openly gay actor Rupert Everett, the film told the story of a heterosexual woman and her gay best friend. After a drunken night of sex they discover that she is pregnant, and decide to raise the child together, but outside romances intervene to cause conflict and estrangement. Critics praised the first half of the film, but panned the second half in which it assumed the trappings of a courtroom drama.
The soundtrack spawned the worldwide (excluding the US, where it was not commercially released) number one hit 'American Pie', a dance cover version of the Don McLean classic. The film itself, released in 2000, was a flop. Madonna contributed the top ten hit 'Beautiful Stranger' to the soundtrack of the Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me film in the same year.