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It was through her affiliation with Akon, that Lady 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".<ref>[http://www.kiwibox.com/article/37446/1 Kiwibox Lady GaGa exclusive interview]</ref>
It was through her affiliation with Akon, that Lady 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".<ref>[http://www.kiwibox.com/article/37446/1 Kiwibox Lady GaGa exclusive interview]</ref>


In August 2007, Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue performed at [[Lollapalooza]], where they 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".<ref>[http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2007/10/lady_gaga W Magazine Lady GaGa Interview]. ''[[W Magazine]]''.</ref>
In August 2007, Lady 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".<ref>[http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2007/10/lady_gaga W Magazine Lady GaGa Interview]. ''[[W Magazine]]''.</ref>


In October 2007, the duo combined their love of performance art, burlesque pop, rock'n roll, sequined panties, 70's glam and 80's metal into a weekly party , "New York Street Revival and Trash Dance". It was here that Lady GaGa would debut not only her new bleach blonde hair but also test drive her revamped stage concept- performing choreographed dance routines accompanied by two female backup dancers while DJ Lady Starlight played the backing tracks.
In October 2007, the duo combined their love of performance art, burlesque pop, rock'n roll, sequined panties, 70's glam and 80's metal into a weekly party , "New York Street Revival and Trash Dance". It was here that Lady GaGa would debut not only her new bleach blonde hair but also test drive her revamped stage concept- performing choreographed dance routines accompanied by two female backup dancers while DJ Lady Starlight played the backing tracks.

Revision as of 18:39, 13 December 2008

Lady Gaga

Joanne Stefani Germanotta[1] (born March 20, 1986), best known by her stage name Lady GaGa, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is known for work in the electronica genre, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award.[2] On 5 December 2008 she was added to the BBC Sound of 2009 longlist.

Biography

She attended Convent of the Sacred Heart School, an exclusive private all-girls school; also attended by Nicky and Paris Hilton. As a little girl, she remembers singing into a plastic tape recorder to the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson. By age four, Lady GaGa had taught herself to play the piano by ear. When she was a teenager she penned her first song. When she was just fourteen she was playing open mic nights at New York’s Bitter End, and by the age of seventeen she was one of twenty people in the world to gain early admission to the Clive Davis program at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. 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, Lola in Damn Yankees, 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.

Discovering the Fame

Germanotta started hanging out downtown, performing in the Geelong Side club scene. 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.[3] 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 wrote the song "Again, Again" with Fusari that she created the stage name, Lady GaGa (which is a reference to the song "Radio Ga-Ga" by Queen).[4] He said she was "so theatrical and dramatic, so Freddie Mercury, so Radio Gaga" while she sang the song on piano, and he then started calling her GaGa around the studio as a nickname to which Stefani later added "Lady", to feminize it.[5]

Lady GaGa was originally signed to Def Jam when she was nineteen years old but was dropped after three months.[6] In early 2007, she was offered a deal with Interscope, hired as a songwriter and partnered with singer/producer/songwriter Akon. 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.[7]

During this time, Lady GaGa worked with Lower East Side DJ/go-go dancer/performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped Lady GaGa create her on stage fashions.[8] The pair collaborated on many projects such as "Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue"- a low-fi tribute to 1970's 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.[9]

The Fame (2008)

It was through her affiliation with Akon, that Lady 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".[10]

In August 2007, Lady 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".[11]

In October 2007, the duo combined their love of performance art, burlesque pop, rock'n roll, sequined panties, 70's glam and 80's metal into a weekly party , "New York Street Revival and Trash Dance". It was here that Lady GaGa would debut not only her new bleach blonde hair but also test drive her revamped stage concept- performing choreographed dance routines accompanied by two female backup dancers while DJ Lady Starlight played the backing tracks.

By 2008, Lady GaGa had relocated to Los Angeles, working closely with her record label to finalize her debut album The Fame. Her debut single "Just Dance" was released on April 8, 2008 (USA), July 19, 2008 in Australia, August 15, 2008 in Europe and will be released on December 29, 2008 in the UK. The single has topped the charts in Canada and Australia. It also received significant radio airplay and was performed on various occasions. It was a hit in clubs: it peaked at number 2 on the Hot Dance Airplay and Hot Dance Club Play. "Just Dance" has reached a peak position of #4 on the Hot 100 as of now.[12]

The Fame, was released in August in Canada, Australia and other European countries, peaking at number 5 in Canada and 7 in Australia. On October 28, 2008, Lady Gaga released The Fame in the U.S. The album reached #17 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums. Its first week sales were 24,000 units. The next week the album fell to #52. It also debuted at number one on the Top Electronic Albums chart. Following Just Dance, the album spawned the promo single "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich". Her music video for her second single Poker Face was released on October 22, 2008, quickly becoming a top ten hit in Canada, a top three hit in Sweden and a #1 hit in both New Zealand and Australia which is her second #1 single to date in Australia. The song has so far peaked at #25 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (#125 on Billboard Hot 100).

Success

Building upon the online hype, Lady GaGa returned to her club roots, touring the world throughout the summer with her with two dancers, Dina and Coco and her new DJ/producer Space Cowboy, who is also signed to Interscope. Her performances are accompanied by her infamous 'Disco Stick', and more recently a pair of metallic sunglasses with digital screens as lenses which play video content. Her myspace page showcases a weekly web video entitled: "Transmission Gaga-Vision" which highlight performances and appearances made by Lady GaGa. Shot in grainy black and white and featuring the performer talking candidly in bed with her dancers, the videos are an obvious homage to the film Truth or Dare which documented the American entertainer Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour.

In the fall of 2008 Haus of GaGa turned their focus upon the USA market, with Lady Gaga going on tour with fellow Interscope group, the reformed New Kids on the Block. Collaborating with New Kids on the Block, Lady GaGa is a featured guest on the song "Big Girl Now" off their new album, The Block. To coincide with her newest releases, ABC have commissioned a video promo uniting GaGa's second single "Beautiful Dirty Rich" with their similarly titled hit show Dirty Sexy Money. Lady GaGa is currently on tour with New Kids on the Block as their opening act.

Critical reception

Lady GaGa has received mostly positive reviews from professional music critics. The New York Post called her the "future of pop"[13] and Billboard magazine praised her debut album The Fame as an album full of hits. Us Weekly called her "Pop's New Dance Diva" and compared her to Madonna.[14] However, ArtistDirect.com said that, musically, she has "never taken a single footstep off the path already trod".[15]

Discography

Main article: Lady GaGa discography

Studio albums

Notable writing credits

These songs have not appeared on a studio album released by Lady GaGa.

Year Title Album Notes
2008 "Big Girl Now" The Block Performed with New Kids on the Block[16]
2008 "Christmas Tree" Christmas Tree Released through www.perezhilton.com[17] (Perez Hilton's website) and
would later be available for download on iTunes December 16, 2008

References

  1. ^ Lady GaGa's true name
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Blogcritics Magazine's Lady GaGa Interview.
  4. ^ Ron Slomowicz. Lady GaGa Interview. About.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-23.
  5. ^ Kyle and Jackie O Lady GaGa Interview. About.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-22.
  6. ^ Billboard article on Lady GaGa.
  7. ^ Billboard article on Lady GaGa.
  8. ^ Interview with Lady GaGa.
  9. ^ Yahoo Music Who's Next exclusive interview. Yahoo.com.
  10. ^ Kiwibox Lady GaGa exclusive interview
  11. ^ W Magazine Lady GaGa Interview. W Magazine.
  12. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Singles. Billboard.
  13. ^ Praise for Lady GaGa
  14. ^ The new Madonna
  15. ^ Artistsdirect.com
  16. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Block > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved November 9 2008.
  17. ^ "A Very Gaga Xmas!". perezhilton.com. Retrieved December 3 2008.
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