Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta known by her stage name
Lady Gaga, is an American singer,
songwriter, record producer, activist, businesswoman, fashion designer
and actress. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at
the
Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended
New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She soon began performing in the rock music scene of
Manhattan's
Lower East Side. By the end of 2007, record executive and producer
Vincent Herbert signed her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of
Interscope Records. Initially working as a songwriter at Interscope Records, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist
Akon, who also signed her to
Kon Live Distribution, his own label under Interscope.
Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album,
The Fame (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped
charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "
Just Dance" and "
Poker Face". After embarking on the
The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with
The Fame Monster (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "
Bad Romance", "
Telephone", and "
Alejandro".
The Fame Monster's success allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long
Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the
highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album,
Born This Way (2011), topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, including "
Born This Way", "
Judas", and "
The Edge of Glory".
Influenced by
Britney Spears,
David Bowie,
Michael Jackson,
Madonna, and
Queen,
Lady Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré
contributions to the music industry through her fashion, performances
and music videos. As of October 2011, she had sold an estimated 23
million albums and 64 million singles worldwide and her singles are some
of the
best-selling worldwide.
[2] Her achievements include five
Grammy Awards and 13
MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on
Billboard magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), ranked fourth in
VH1's list of 100 Greatest Women in Music, is the sixth best selling digital singles artist in US according to
RIAA,
[3] is regularly placed on lists composed by
Forbes magazine, including
The World's 100 Most Powerful Women from 2010 to 2013,
[4] and was named one of the most influential people in the world by
Time magazine.
[5][6] Besides her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and
LGBT activism.
Life and career
1986–2004: Early life
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986, in New York City, to Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur.[7][8] Descending from Sicilian/Italian roots, Gaga is the elder of two children.[9][10] Her sister, Natali, a fashion student, was born in 1992.[11][12] Despite her affluent upbringing on Manhattan's Upper West Side,
Gaga says that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so
we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the
house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."[13][14] Gaga was raised Roman Catholic. From age eleven she attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side.[15][16][17]
She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very
studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure": "I used to get
made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I
started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak."[18][19] Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school.[20] Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four, wrote her first piano ballad at thirteen, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of fourteen.[21][22] She performed lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in Guys and Dolls and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.[23] She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series The Sopranos in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" and auditioned for New York shows without success.[13][24]
After high school, her mother encouraged her to apply for the
Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training
conservatory at
New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts.
[13] By age seventeen, after becoming one of twenty students to gain early admission, she lived in an
NYU dorm on 11th Street.
[23]
In addition to sharpening her songwriting skills, she composed essays
and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics,
including a
thesis on pop artists
Spencer Tunick and
Damien Hirst.
[22][25][26] She also auditioned for various roles and won the part of an unsuspecting diner customer for MTV's
Boiling Points, a prank reality television show.
[13][27]
2008–10: The Fame and The Fame Monster
By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles in order to work extensively
with her record label to complete her debut album and set up her own
creative team Haus of Gaga, modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory.[32][47] The Fame
was first released on August 19, 2008 to slow radio play. Gaga
supported it by performing around Europe and in small gay clubs around
the US in addition to being billed as a supporting artist on the North
American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour.[48][49] A sleeper hit, lead single "Just Dance"
had preceded the album's release by four months but only hit the summit
of the international charts in January 2009, provoking the instant
success of the album, earning her first Grammy Award nomination (for Best Dance Recording) and becoming one of the best-selling singles worldwide.[48][50] Gaga achieved a greater unexpected success when "Poker Face",
another sleeper hit, reached number one in most major music markets
worldwide in early 2009, selling 9.8 million singles worldwide.[51][52] The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
The Fame itself was nominated for
Album of the Year while winning
Best Dance/Electronica Album at the same ceremony.
[53] Contemporary critics lauded the album, describing it as an exploration of her obsession with
fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, noting its combination of genres "from
Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on
urban tracks", the inspiration drawn from 1980s synthpop and incorporation of dance music with clear
hooks.
[33] The Fame
went to number one in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland
and the UK and appeared in the top five in Australia, the US and 15
other countries.
[54][55] It also stayed atop the
Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 106 non-consecutive weeks and, since its release, has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
[56] The album's success spawned many 2009 honors including
Billboard magazine's Rising Star award and the accumulation of 3 of 9
MTV Video Music Awards nominations, winning
Best New Artist with the video for her single "
Paparazzi" gaining
Best Art Direction and
Best Special Effects.
[57][58] In addition to being an opening act on the
Pussycat Dolls'
Doll Domination Tour
during the first half of 2009 in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked
on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour
The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.
[59][60]
While she traveled the globe, she wrote
The Fame Monster,
an EP of eight songs released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with
the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a
monster
metaphor. Making Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three
singles (alongside "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four
million mark in digital sales, its lead single "
Bad Romance"
topped the charts in eighteen countries and reached the top two in the
US, Australia and New Zealand while accruing the Grammy Awards for
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and
Best Short Form Music Video.
[61] The second single "
Telephone", which features singer
Beyoncé, was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
and became Gaga's fourth UK number one single; its accompanying music
video, although controversial, received positive reception from
contemporary critics who praised her for "the musicality and showmanship
of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts
of Madonna."
[62][63] Her following single "
Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer
Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the
Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of
blasphemy.
[64] Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion
viral views on video-sharing website YouTube.
[65] At the
2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won 8 of her 13 nominations, including
Video of the Year
for "Bad Romance" (with "Telephone" also nominated), which made her the
first female artist to be nominated twice for the award.
[66][67] In addition,
The Fame Monster garnered a total of six nominations at the
53rd Grammy Awards – equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received – winning
Best Pop Vocal Album and earning her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year.
[68][69] The Fame Monster and the 2010 compilation
The Remix
were Gaga's final releases under Cherrytree Records. While her reasons
for departing the label are unknown, her manager Troy Carter stated in
2011 that they still collaborate with label head Martin Kierszenbaum on
strategies for marketing Gaga overseas.
[70]
The success of
The Fame Monster allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour,
The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of the album and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour.
[71]
Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially
accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and grossed $227.4
million, making it one of the
highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist.
[72] Concerts performed at
Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a
HBO television special titled
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden. The special accrued one of its five
Emmy Award nominations and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray.
[73] Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009
Royal Variety Performance where she sang "
Speechless", a
power ballad, in the presence of
Queen Elizabeth II;
the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the
song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "
Your Song" with
Elton John; and the
2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "
Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend,
Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony.
[74] Other performances may have included her participation in
Michael Jackson's
This Is It concert series at London's
O2 Arena.
"I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We
were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it
happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers,
doing duets with Michael on stage."
[75]
In 2009, she collaborated with consumer electronic company
Monster Cable Products
to create a pair of in-ear jewel-encrusted headphones titled
Heartbeats. "They are designed to be the first ever fashion accessories
that double as the absolute best sonically sounding headphones in the
world," she commented.
[76] Gaga also partnered with
Polaroid in January 2010 as their Creative Director.
[77]
Excited about "blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film
with the digital era," Gaga unveiled the first trio of new products
called Grey Label: a pair of picture-taking sunglasses, a
paperback-sized mobile printing unit and an updated version of the
traditional
Polaroid camera at the 2011
Consumer Electronics Show.
[78]
But her collaboration with past producer Rob Fusari led to her
production team, Mermaid Music LLC, being sued in March 2010 when he
claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of the company's earnings.
Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as
"unlawful" and declined to comment, but five months later, the
New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga.
[79][80] In addition to such strife, Gaga was tested borderline positive for
lupus,
but claimed not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused
considerable dismay among fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in
an interview with
Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
[81][82]
2011–present: Born This Way and Artpop
Gaga released her second studio album,
Born This Way,
on May 23, 2011. Described as a marriage of electronic music with
metal, rock 'n' roll, pop and anthemic style melodies with
sledge-hammering dance beats and referred to as an album "about what
keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid," Gaga characterized it as
"something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat
dress" and, upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to
the "next level."
[83][84]
Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music
critics, who praised its range of different styles and her vocals.
[85][86] Born This Way sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the
Billboard 200, and topped the charts in more than 20 other countries.
[87] In addition to exceeding 8 million copies in worldwide sales,
Born This Way received 3 Grammy Award nominations, including her third consecutive for Album of the Year.
[88] In March 2012, Gaga was ranked fourth on
Billboard's list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing $25,353,039 dollars, which included sales from
Born This Way and her Monster Ball Tour.
In the months prior to its unveiling, Gaga released the singles "
Born This Way", "
Judas" and "
The Edge of Glory" alongside promotional single "
Hair".
The lead single and title track, first sung live at the 53rd Grammy
Awards in a performance that saw Gaga emerge from an egg-like vessel,
deals with self-acceptance regardless of
race or
sexual orientation. The single debuted atop the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts.
[90]
It sold more than 3 million digital copies in the US by October 2011,
becoming her eighth consecutive single to exceed sales of 2 million and,
with worldwide sales of 8.2 million copies by November 2011, one of her
five best-selling singles worldwide.
[91]
Critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised the concept
of the song's accompanying music video, in which Gaga gives birth to a
new race amidst surrealistic images.
[92][93] The video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays
Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as
Jesus Christ and
Judas Iscariot
are also featured, was criticized for its religious references but
received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who
claimed that there was nothing offensive about it.
[94]
"Judas" also peaked within the top ten in several major musical
markets, while "The Edge of Glory", first a commercial success in
digital outlets, was later released as a single to critical
appreciation, accompanied by a video which was notably stripped down
from her usually "extravagant" efforts.
[95][96] She released "
You and I" and "
Marry the Night" as the following singles from
Born This Way.
Although their "crazy and ambitious" videos were praised for their
audacity, both songs failed to match the similar international success
that their predecessors achieved.
[97] Gaga was later ranked as the second most-played artist of 2011 in the UK by the
PPL.
Throughout 2011, Gaga continued her musical endeavors by pairing with veteran artists like
Tony Bennett to record a jazz version of "
The Lady Is a Tramp".
[99] She also recorded a duet with
Cher on a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which Gaga says that she wrote a long time ago, but had not put it on any of her albums.
[100] Gaga also lent her vocals to an original duet with Elton John for the animated feature film
Gnomeo & Juliet. The song, "Hello, Hello", was released without Gaga's vocals but the duet version features in the film.
[101][102] She also continued her live appearances in 2011, performing a one-of-a-kind concert at the
Sydney Town Hall in promotion of
Born This Way and at the celebration of former US president
Bill Clinton's 65th birthday, wearing a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of
Marilyn Monroe for
John F. Kennedy and changing the lyrics to "You and I" specifically for the performance.
[103] Televised appearances comprised her own Thanksgiving Day television special titled
A Very Gaga Thanksgiving which was critically lauded, attained 5.749 million American viewers, and spawned the release of her fourth extended play
A Very Gaga Holiday.
[104] Her second performance on
Saturday Night Live saw her singing a selection of
Born This Way songs alongside appearing in number of sketches with
Justin Timberlake and
Andy Samberg.
[105] Lady Gaga also appeared in
Times Square to perform songs from
Born This Way on the 40th anniversary of
ABC's
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and in addition, she also had the honor of welcoming 2012 by dropping the famous
Times Square Ball with
New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg at midnight. In 2012, Gaga also guest-starred on the 23rd season finale of
The Simpsons titled "
Lisa Goes Gaga".
[106] In June 2012, Gaga announced her first fragrance in association with
Coty, Inc.,
Lady Gaga Fame, which was released worldwide in September 2012.
[107] In December 2012, Gaga made an appearance at the final show of
The Rolling Stones' 50th anniversary concert series to perform "
Gimme Shelter", along with
Bruce Springsteen and
The Black Keys.
[108]
he accompanying tour for
Born This Way, titled simply
The Born This Way Ball, kicked off at the end of April 2012 at
Seoul's
Olympic Stadium in South Korea.
[109]
Although the tour – consisting of 110 shows across the globe – was a
commercial success with positive reviews, several conservative political
commentators denounced the Born This Way Ball shortly after the
conception of the tour. This early controversy, particularly notable in
several locations of the tour's leg in Asia, saw protests from several
religious groups who viewed the tour as satanic and against religious
values, resulting in protests mainly from the
Islamic Defenders Front, causing a cancellation in the Indonesian city of
Jakarta,
where Gaga was denied a license to perform. She and promoters were
initially optimistic that the performance would go on but, due to
threats of violence from Muslim hardliners, Gaga decided to cancel the
concert although 52,000 tickets had sold out in just a few days.
[110][111][112] Due to a
labral tear of her right hip, Gaga announced on February 12, 2013, that the remainder of her Born This Way Ball was canceled.
[113] She posted on her blog February 20, 2013, that she had hip surgery, and was recovering.
[114]
New songs for her new album
Artpop (stylized as
ARTPOP)
[115] were "beginning to flourish" as she worked with producer
Fernando Garibay in early 2012.
[116][117] Gaga's manager,
Vincent Herbert,
said that Gaga began work on her upcoming album during the Born This
Way Ball tour, stating that the material is "insane, great records."
[118] She is also planning to record a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett whom she has already collaborated with.
[119] Gaga will make her debut film appearance in
Robert Rodriguez's upcoming movie
Machete Kills.
She will play the role of La Chameleón, starring alongside an ensemble
cast in the action film that is due to hit cinema screens on September
13, 2013.
[120][121] On December 25, 2012, Gaga announced that
Terry Richardson was also working on a documentary about Gaga's life, the
Haus of Gaga and "the creation of
Artpop".
[122]
Philanthropy and political activism
Besides her career in music, Gaga has also contributed to various
charities. For natural disasters, Gaga has helped various relief
efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "
We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the
2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's
Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund.
[196]
All profits from her official online store on that day were also
donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of US$500,000 was
collected for the fund.
[197] Hours after the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, Gaga
tweeted
a message and a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a
bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to
relief efforts.
[198] As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million.
[199]
However, attorney Alyson Oliver filed a lawsuit against Gaga in Detroit
in June 2011, noting that the bracelet was subject to a sales tax and
an extra $3.99 shipping charge was added to the price. She also believed
that not all proceeds from the bracelets would go to the relief
efforts, demanding a public accounting of the campaign and refunds for
people who had bought the bracelet. Gaga's spokesperson called the
lawsuit "meritless" and "misleading".
[200] On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at
MTV Japan's charity show in
Makuhari Messe, which benefited the
Japanese Red Cross.
[201]
In October 2012, Gaga was reported to have met the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.[202] On October 9, 2012, Yoko Ono gave Gaga and four other activists the LennonOno Grant for Peace in Reykjavík, Iceland.[203][204] On November 6, 2012, Gaga pledged to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.[205]
Born This Way Foundation
In 2012 she launched the Born This Way Foundation (BTWF), a non-profit
organization that focuses on youth empowerment and issues like
self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring, and career
development. It takes its name from the 2011 single and album. The
foundation plans to work with a number of partners, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.[208][209][210][211] Media proprietor Oprah Winfrey, writer Deepak Chopra, and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the inauguration at Harvard University.[212][213]
The foundation's original funding included $1.2 million from Lady Gaga,
$500,000 from the MacArthur Foundation, and $850,000 from Barneys New York.[214] The foundation works in partnership with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, the MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment,[215] and, as lead media partner, Viacom.[216][217] In July 2012, the BTWF partnered with Office Depot,
which will donate 25% of the sales-a minimum of $1million-of a series
of limited edition back-to-school products that promote the foundation's
message[218][219]
The foundation's initiatives have included, in March–April 2012, a
poster competition that asked participants to submit images that answer
the question "What does bravery mean to you?";[220][221] the "Born Brave Bus" that would follow her on tour as a youth drop-in center as an initiative against bullying;[222][223] and the "Born Brave" community and school groups.[224]
One of the customs of the asiatic people is the removal of their shoes when they get in home. In Asia this custom is also practiced before the people enter in their office.
