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Lady Gaga

Joanne Stefani Germanotta[3] (born March 20, 1986), best known by her stage name Lady GaGa, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Born in Yonkers, New York, to an Italian family, Gaga is known for work in the electronica genre, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award.[4]

At age twenty she began working for Interscope Records as a songwriter, penning songs for pop acts such as the Pussycat Dolls, and has been asked to write for a series of Interscope artists.

Throughout 2008 GaGa finalized tracks for her debut album, The Fame. She explained that the album is "about how anyone can feel famous".[5] To date, the album spawned the singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". Both singles topped the Canadian Hot 100.[6][7]

Early life and career

She remembers singing into a plastic tape recorder to the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson as a little girl. By age four, Lady GaGa had taught herself to play the piano by ear. When she was a teenager, she penned her first song.

Germanotta attended the private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart, whose alumni include the Hilton sisters and Caroline Kennedy. However, she stated that "never saw those girls for more than 10 seconds down the hallways."[8] By the age of fourteen, she was playing open-mic nights at New York’s Bitter End. She was a fixture in the productions of the Regis High School Repertory, including the roles of Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anna Andreyevna in The Government Inspector, Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and Alice More in A Man for All Seasons. She also sang in the productions of the Regis Jazz Band.

Germanotta started hanging out downtown, performing in the Lower East Side club scene with previous bands, Mackin Pulsifer and SGBand. Finding herself surrounded by singers who all wrote the same style of music, she decided to do something fresh and provocative in the rock'n roll underground: pop music.[9] Her entrepreneur father was shocked when his daughter ran off to the Lower East Side to dabble in drugs and appear in burlesque shows at dive bars with drag queens and go-go dancers. "He couldn’t look at me for a few months," she admits of her early experimentations. "I was in leather thongs, so it was hard for him — he just didn’t understand. But my parents saw me getting better, and now my father cries when he sees me perform."[8]

In 2006, she started working with music producer Rob Fusari, with whom she wrote several of her early downtown hits like "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich", "Dirty Ice Cream" and "Disco Heaven". It was when she performed the song "Again, Again" for Fusari that she created the stage name, Lady GaGa (which is a reference to the song "Radio Ga-Ga" by Queen).[10]

Music career

2007: Career beginnings

Lady GaGa was originally signed to Def Jam when she was nineteen years old but was dropped after three months. "It [Me] just wasn’t for them," she said nonchalantly.[8] She was spotted a couple of years later by the music executive Vincent Herbert and signed to Interscope in January 2008. Impressed by her ear for melody and knack for spotting a great hook, various acts — Akon’s Konvict label, as well as Fergie, Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears and New Kids on the Block — have hired her as a songwriter.[8]

While working on demo tracks for an artist signed to Konvict Muzik, Tami Chynn, Akon would have GaGa go into the booth to lay down reference vocals. Realizing her singing talent and after listening to her demo recordings, Akon later signed her to a joint deal with Kon Live.[11]

During this time, GaGa met the similarly named Lower East Side DJ/go-go dancer/performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped Lady GaGa create her onstage fashions.[12] The pair collaborated on many projects such as "Lady GaGa and The Starlight Revue"- a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts which featured Lady GaGa on synth, Lady Starlight spinning beats, choreographed "go-go" moves, shiny disco balls, and hairspray lit on fire and sprayed into the audience.[13]

It was through her affiliation with Akon that GaGa started to work on her own new material for her debut album with producer RedOne. Already having a solid selection of electro-glam, David Bowie-esque, Queen inspired songs, GaGa wanted to mix her retro dance beats with urban melodies, a pop chorus and still retain a rock 'n' roll edge. The first song they produced was "Boys, Boys, Boys," a track inspired by Mötley Crüe's hit "Girls, Girls, Girls" mashed with AC/DC's "T.N.T."[14]

GaGa started to work with a collective called the "Haus of GaGa", who collaborate with their muse on clothing, stage sets and sounds. "In this industry, you get a lot of stylists and producers thrown at you, but this is my own creative team, modelled on Warhol’s Factory. Everyone is under 26 and we do everything together."[8]

In August 2007, GaGa and The Starlight Revue performed at Lollapalooza, where the Ladies entertained the crowd with their performance art piece. While walking around the concert grounds, Lady GaGa received an indecent exposure citation from a bicycle cop for wearing "hot pants".[15]

2008–present: The Fame

Main article: The Fame (album)

By 2008, Lady GaGa had relocated to Los Angeles, working closely with her record label to finalize her debut album The Fame. "The Fame is about how anyone can feel famous,” she explains. "Pop culture is art. It doesn’t make you cool to hate pop culture, so I embraced it and you hear it all over The Fame. But, it’s a sharable fame. I want to invite you all to the party. I want people to feel a part of this lifestyle."[5]

GaGa performing in a concert.

The Fame was released in August in Canada, Australia and some European countries, peaking at number two in Canada[16] and seven in Australia.[17] On October 28, 2008, Gaga released The Fame in the U.S. The album has reached at number 17 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 24,000 units.[18] It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart.[19] The album received mostly positive reviews from critics, according to the music review aggregator Metacritic, it has received an average score of 73.[20] Billboard magazine praised the album as full of hits.[21]

The album's lead single, "Just Dance" was released on April 8, 2008 and has reached number one in Australia and Canada.[22] The single then started to gain radio airplay in the U.S. by October, and hit number one in 2009 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Pop 100 charts.[23] GaGa told that her debut single is about "being totally wasted at a party [...] in that situation we never really want to stop the party so we just dance through it."[24]

The second single, "Poker Face", was released on September 29, 2008 and has reached number one in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.[25] Poker Face has also started to climb the charts in the U.S. currently standing at number eighty one. On December 5, 2008 she was added to the BBC Sound of 2009 longlist.[26]

In the fall of 2008 Haus of GaGa turned their focus upon the USA market, with Lady GaGa going on her first ever concert tour with fellow Interscope pop group, the reformed New Kids on the Block. GaGa started her stint with New Kids on the Block in Los Angeles on October 8, and continued through the end of November.[27] Collaborating with New Kids on the Block, Lady GaGa is a featured guest on the song "Big Girl Now" from their new album, The Block.[28] To coincide with her newest releases, ABC commissioned a video promo uniting GaGa's song "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" with their similarly-titled hit show Dirty Sexy Money.[29]

Fashion

Towards the end of 2008, American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera was "attacked" by the media in general, pointing out the similarity of Aguilera’s styling, hair and make-up in recent months, to Lady Gaga’s signature look.[8] Aguilera later claimed she was "completely unaware of this person" and even "didn't know if it [Lady GaGa] is a man or a woman".[8]

After that, GaGa released a statement where she said that it was very flattering when it happened. "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way."[30] However, she later stated that nobody can't copy her because she can't be copied.[8]

In a interview to Times Online GaGa said that she "is very into fashion" and also consider Donatella Versace as her "muse" in many ways. "She’s iconic and powerful, yet people throw darts at her. She’s definitely provocative."[8]

Discography

Main article: Lady GaGa discography

Studio albums

References

  1. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Lady GaGa: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  2. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a139140/ones-to-watch-in-2009-lady-gaga.html
  3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7766439.stm
  4. ^ "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Nominations List". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  5. ^ a b "Bio". LadyGaga.com. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  6. ^ Billboard magazine (September 13, 2008). "Canadian Hot 100 – Just Dance". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  7. ^ Billboard magazine (December 13, 2008). "Canadian Hot 100 – Poker Face". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Lady GaGa: the future of pop?". Sunday Times. Times Online. 2008-12-14. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  9. ^ Perry, Clayton (2008-09-24). "Interview: Lady GaGa - Singer and Songwriter". Blog Critics. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  10. ^ Slomowicz, Ron (2008-06-10). "Lady Gaga Interview - Interview with Lady Gaga". About.com. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  11. ^ Concepcion, Mariel (2008-09-12). "Lady Gaga". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  12. ^ "Interview with Lady GaGa May 2008". BAMScc. 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  13. ^ Lady GaGa. Kia Who’s Next? Exclusive Interview (Critical Eye). Yahoo!. Retrieved 2009-01-03. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  14. ^ H., Steven (2008-08-26). "Lady Gaga Exclusive Interview". Kiwibox. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  15. ^ D'Souza, Nandini (2007). "Going GaGa for Lady Gaga". W. Retrieved 2009-01-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  16. ^ John Williams. "Nickelback tops final week of '08". Canadian Online Explorer. Canoe. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  17. ^ "Lady Gaga - The Fame". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  18. ^ "AC/DC Fends Off High Debuts To Remain No. 1". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  19. ^ "Artist Chart History - Lady GaGa". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  20. ^ "The Fame". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  21. ^ Kerri Mason (2008-11-01). "The Fame". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2009-01-8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ "Lady Gaga and Colby O'Donis - Just Dance". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  23. ^ "Artist Chart History - Lady GaGa". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  24. ^ Nick Levine (2008-12-31). "Ones To Watch In 2009: Lady GaGa". Digital Spy. Digital Spy.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  25. ^ "Lady Gaga - Poker Face". aCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  26. ^ "BBC Sound of 2008: The longlist". BBC. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  27. ^ "International Pop Star Lady Gaga Set to Tour With New Kids on the Block". Reuters. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  28. ^ "Big Girl Now (featuring Lady Gaga)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  29. ^ "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich - Music Video". Apple.com. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  30. ^ "GaGa: I'm thankful for Christina". OK! Magazine. 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2009-01-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
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