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Lady Gaga: Queen of Pop

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Lady Gaga: Queen of Pop
Book cover, UK edition
AuthorEmily Herbert
(pen name for Virginia Blackburn)
LanguageEnglish
SubjectLady Gaga
GenreBiography
PublisherJohn Blake Publishing Ltd.
Publication date
2010
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePaperback
Pages288
ISBN1844549631
OCLC515459835

Lady Gaga: Queen of Pop is a biography of Lady Gaga written by Emily Herbert (pen name for Virginia Blackburn) and published in the United Kingdom by John Blake Publishing Ltd. It was published by Overlook Press in the United States, with the title Lady Gaga: Behind the Fame.[1] Additional versions under the Lady Gaga: Queen of Pop title were published in 2010 by Wilkinson Publishing of Melbourne, Victoria,[2] and by Gardners Books in the United Kingdom.[3]

Contents

Lady Gaga is 288 pages in total, and includes 32 pages of photographs of the musician.[4][5] The author compares Lady Gaga to musician Madonna, noting that both are independent and work to assert control over their futures.[6] The book discusses Lady Gaga's early life, including her background from a New York household and businessman father.[6] Gaga attended the same high school as Paris Hilton.[6] As a student she was not popular with other girls in school, due to her experimentation with exotic dance, drugs, and bisexuality.[6] Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, she attended Convent of the Sacred Heart from age 11.[6] By age 13, she had written her first song, and her mother took her to nightclubs in order to perform at open-mic events.[6] She gained entry to the Tisch School of the Arts in New York at age 17, but left and experimented with drugs while performing as a go-go dancer.[6] After a period of difficulty with her father due to her actions, she ceased this behavior pattern and took on a new name.[6]

Her new name, "Lady Gaga", came from the song by the group Queen called "Radio Ga Ga".[6] She learned that she could gain attention with a new identity, and appreciated the attention it garnered.[6] Her first album came out in August 2008 – titled The Fame, it included hit songs "Poker Face" and "Just Dance".[6] Her personal life included an emotional break from a man named Luke who was a heavy metal drummer, but her main focus continued to be her music and her work.[6] The Fame became a successful album worldwide, and Lady Gaga started the group "Haus of Gaga" which contributes endeavors including sound design, clothing, and stage production.[6] She appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in May 2009, and performed with bands including Take That and the Pussycat Dolls.[6]

Author

Emily Herbert is the pen name for the journalist Virginia Blackburn.[7] Blackburn wrote articles on Lady Gaga in publications including The Express,[6] and the Herald Sun.[8] She previously wrote biographies of celebrities Susan Boyle and Ewan McGregor.[5] Her biography of Katie Price, Katie and Peter: Too Much in Love, became a number one bestseller in the category of paperback non-fiction.[9][10] Other works by the author include Michael Jackson: King of Pop, Kerry: Story of a Survivor (about Kerry Katona), Robbie: A Life Less Ordinary (Robbie Williams), and Gok Wan: The Biography (Gok Wan).[11][12] Blackburn specializes in celebrity biographies; she motivates herself to write 5,000 words per day.[13] Lady Gaga has been catalogued in the National Library of Australia.[14] Overlook Press stated it was the first published biography on the musician.[15]

Reception

Jim Abbott of the Orlando Sentinel described the book as "a breathless new biography" about the musician.[16] In a review of the book published in the Herald Sun, Blanche Clark was critical, and commented, "Herbert's loose timeline is irritating, as is some of her glib commentary, such as: 'When her parents took her out to restaurants, she would use the breadsticks as drum batons -- music was clearly in the blood.'"[17] St. Petersburg Times book critic Colette Bancroft said of the images in the book, "I can tell you lots of the photos are fun, although a few are a little scary, like the one in which she looks like a space alien awaiting a gynecological exam."[18]

Writing for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Kristin Tillotson characterized Lada Gaga as a "quickie, predictably vapid bio".[19] Noelle Williams of Ms. Magazine commented, "Emily Herbert’s Lady Gaga: Behind the Fame adds to the already familiar growing-up-Catholic-school-girl backstory new insight into Gaga’s artistic vision and business savvy. In an industry in which many women (and some men) are shepherded to stardom with little input, Gaga appears to be completely in control of her image."[20]

Writing for Phoenix New Times, Nicki Escudero compared the book to an entry on Wikipedia: "It's sort of like a really expanded Wikipedia entry, if you like that type of thing, though Herbert's voice shows that she's definitely a fan, and the book isn't completely unbiased--it's a very revering tale of Gaga's 24-year-old life."[21] Sharon Galligar Chance reviewed the book for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and noted, "Using references from many, many different sources, Herbert has put together a fairly solid biography of the new pop icon".[22] She concluded her review, "Although sometimes redundant, Herbert, an English journalist with many of these 'star biographies' to her credit, does give the reader a full-bodied accounting of the persona behind Lady Gaga".[22]

See also

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References

  1. ^ OCLC 515459835
  2. ^ OCLC 505912810
  3. ^ OCLC 491966133
  4. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (February 4, 2010). "Lady Gaga bio is on the way". Los Angeles Times. latimes.com. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Anthony (February 5, 2010). "First Lady Gaga Biography Releasing In March". All Headline News. www.allheadlinenews.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Herbert, Emily (February 18, 2010). "Lady Gaga - I've always been a freak". The Express. Express Newspapers. p. 24.
  7. ^ Blackburn, Virginia (January 17, 2010). "Katie Price's life? It's a price worth paying". The Observer. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved June 5, 2010. I have been writing celebrity biographies for the best part of 10 years under the name of Emily Herbert
  8. ^ Herbert, Emily (March 7, 2010). "The lady who is sending us gaga". Herald Sun. Nationwide News Pty Limited. p. 90; Focus.
  9. ^ "Bestsellers". The Times. Times Newspapers Limited. August 22, 2009. p. 12; Section: Features.
  10. ^ "Books: The Observer Bestsellers List Week Ending 26 September". The Observer. Guardian Newspapers Ltd. October 4, 2009.
  11. ^ Clee, Nicholas (August 22, 2009). "Between the lines". The Times. Times Newspapers Limited. p. 12; Section: Features.
  12. ^ Sexton, David (July 23, 2009). "A cash machine". Evening Standard. Associated Newspapers Ltd.
  13. ^ Goodman, Matthew (May 9, 2010). "Celebrity sagas: as instant as noodles". The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers Limited. p. 6; Section: Business.
  14. ^ "Lady Gaga : queen of pop / Emily Herbert". National Library of Australia. catalogue.nla.gov.au. 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  15. ^ "Lady Gaga". Madata.GR (in Greek). www.madata.gr. February 6, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  16. ^ Abbott, Jim (May 20, 2010). "Gaga goes to the book club". Orlando Sentinel. www.orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  17. ^ Clark, Blanche (March 20, 2010). "Look different, sound similar". Herald Sun. Australia: Nationwide News Pty Limited. p. 22; Section: Books; F - Weekend Edition.
  18. ^ "We'll just look at the pictures". St. Petersburg Times. March 11, 2010. p. 2B.
  19. ^ Tillotson, Kristin (March 12, 2010). "Goo-goo for Gaga, but how long?". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. www.startribune.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  20. ^ Williams, Noelle (March 11, 2010). "Is Lady Gaga a Feminist or Isn't She?". Ms. Magazine; Ms. Blog. msmagazine.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  21. ^ Escudero, Nicki (April 20, 2010). "Lady Gaga Book a Glowing Look at the Young Star's Life". Phoenix New Times; Blogs; News. phoenixnewtimes.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  22. ^ a b Chance, Sharon Galligar (April 29, 2010). "Lady Gaga subject of biography". Las Vegas Review-Journal. www.lvrj.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.

Further reading

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