Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), best known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer-songwriter, and musician. The latter part of the name is variably spelled either GaGa or Gaga, both on her websites and by her record label. She has been influenced by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen as well as '80s pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson.
After singer-songwriter and record producer Akon recognised that Gaga also had vocal talent, he signed her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution, and then started to work on her own new material for her debut album. In 2008, Gaga released The Fame, which she explained was "about how anyone can feel famous". To date, the album spawned the international hit singles "Just Dance" (nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards) and "Poker Face".
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), best known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer-songwriter, and musician. The latter part of the name is variably spelled either GaGa or Gaga, both on her websites and by her record label. She has been influenced by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen as well as '80s pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson.
After singer-songwriter and record producer Akon recognised that Gaga also had vocal talent, he signed her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution, and then started to work on her own new material for her debut album. In 2008, Gaga released The Fame, which she explained was "about how anyone can feel famous". To date, the album spawned the international hit singles "Just Dance" (nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards) and "Poker Face".
Lady Gaga was born in Yonkers, New York, to Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur and his wife Cynthia, a business partner, both of whom are Italian Americans. As a child, she attended the private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart. Having learned piano by ear at the age of four, Gaga went on to write her first piano ballad at 13 and began performing at open mic nights by the age of 14. At the age of seventeen, gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied music. She honed her writing skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion and socio-political order. However, she withdrew from New York University. At age 20, she began working for Interscope Records as a songwriter, penning songs for pop acts such as the Pussycat Dolls. After she moved out of her parents' house, Gaga started performing downtown, in the Lower East Side club scene with bands Mackin Pulsifer and SGBand. Wanting to differentiate herself from the rock and roll typical of the scene, she chose to focus instead on pop music. Speaking to her father's reaction to her drug use and performance in burlesque shows, "He couldn't look at me for a few months...I was in leather thongs, so it was hard for him — he just didn't understand".
Gaga got her stage name when the music producer Rob Fusari compared her vocal style to that of Freddie Mercury, and took the name 'Gaga' from the Queen song, "Radio Ga-Ga". It was Fusari who helped her to write some of her early hits, including "Disco Heaven", "Dirty Ice Cream" and "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich".
Gaga was originally signed to Def Jam when she was 19 years old; it happened after the record executive L. A. Reid heard her singing down the hallway from his office. However Gaga states Reid never met with her. "I used to wait outside his office for hours, hoping he'd take meetings with me about my songs, but it never happened." Reid dropped Gaga from the label after three months. 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. Gaga also sparked the interest of Interscope's Chairman Jimmy Iovine in early 2007. He offered her a label deal via Streamline/Interscope and partnered her with singer-songwriter Akon. It was Akon, who, upon hearing her sing a reference vocal for one of his tracks, recognized that Gaga also had vocal talent. Akon ultimately convinced Jimmy Iovine to sign her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution.
Throughout 2007, Lady Gaga collaborated with the similarly named Lower East Side Rock DJ, go-go dancer and performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped Gaga create her onstage fashions. The pair began playing gigs at downtown club venues like Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and Rockwood Music Hall, with their live performance art piece, "Lady Gaga and The Starlight Revue". Billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque RockShow", their act was a low-fi tribute to 1970's variety acts. In August 2007, Lady Gaga and The Starlight Revue were invited to play at American music festival Lollapalooza, where they shocked audiences with their wild performance. The show was critically acclaimed and their performance received rave reviews.
Having initially focused on avant-garde, electronic dance music, Gaga found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the vintage glam-rock of David Bowie and Queen into the mix. "Queen and David Bowie were the key for me...I didn't know what to do until I discovered Bowie and Queen", Gaga says. "When I was playing the New York rock clubs, a lot of record labels thought I was too theatrical. Then, when I auditioned for stage musicals, the producers said I was too pop".
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 a mash-up of Mötley Crüe's hit "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.".
By 2008, 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." To this album, Gaga also stated she "married" a lot of different genres – "from Def Leppard drums and handclaps to metal drums on urban tracks".
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."
The Fame received mostly positive reviews from critics, according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it has received an average score of 71 out of 100. Times Online described the album as "a fantastic mix of Bowie-esque ballads, dramatic, Queen-inspired midtempo numbers and synth-based dance tracks that poke fun at celebrity-chasing rich kids".
The album's lead single, "Just Dance", was released on 8 April 2008 and has reached number one in seven countries. One of those countries was the US, where "Just Dance" started to receive radio airplay in October, and hit number one in 2009, becoming Gaga's first US number-one single. The second single, "Poker Face", was released on 29 September 2008 and has reached number one in nearly 20 countries, including almost all major music market in the world. "Poker Face" became Gaga's second consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2009.
The Fame peaked at number one in the Canada and Ireland and four in Australia. Afterward "Haus of Gaga" turned their focus further upon the US market with 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. She appeared as a featured guest on the song "Big Girl Now" from their new album, The Block. In late October, Gaga released The Fame in the US, where it debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 24,000 units, and has thus far peaked at number four.
On December 5, 2008, Gaga was added to the BBC Sound of 2009 longlist, which features the best rising music stars. Gaga was confirmed as the support act for Pussycat Dolls on their Europe and Oceania arena dates from January until May 2009. The tour started in Aberdeen, Scotland on January 18, and ends in Perth, Australia on May 30.
On December 3, 2008, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced the nominees of the 51st Grammy Awards, which took place on 8 February 2009 and was held in the Staples Center. Gaga's "Just Dance" received a nomination for the Best Dance Recording, but lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". On February 18, 2009, Gaga, along with Brandon Flowers of rock band The Killers, joined on stage with eletronic dance duo Pet Shop Boys at the 2009 BRIT Awards. Pet Shop Boys performed a medley of their hits when Gaga and Flowers joined for final number, the 1985 hit single "West End Girls".
Gaga's first North American tour, The Fame Ball Tour started on March 12, 2009 and was critically appreciated. Beforehand, Gaga has promised her fans that they can expect plenty of high drama from her upcoming performances, "I consider what I do to be more of an Andy Warhol concept: pop performance art, multimedia, fashion, technology, video, film. And it's all coming together, and it's going to be traveling museum show."
Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_gaga
Songs
Just Dance
Poker Face
