Lady Gaga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lady Gaga |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta |
| Born |
March 28, 1986 (age 27)
New York City |
| Genres |
dance, electronic, pop, rock |
| Occupations |
Singer, songwriter, activist, record producer, businesswoman, fashion designer, actress, philanthropist |
| Instruments |
Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar |
| Years active |
2005–present |
| Labels |
Def Jam, Streamline, KonLive, Cherrytree, Interscope |
| Associated acts |
Tony Bennett |
| Website |
www.ladygaga.com |
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (
/ / STE-fə-nee jər-mə-NOT-ə; born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name
Lady Gaga,
is an American pop-singer, songwriter, activist, record producer,
businesswoman, fashion designer, philanthropist, and actress. Born and
raised in
New York City, where she lives,
[1] Gaga 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.
Gaga rose to prominence with her August 2008 debut album,
The Fame, which was a critical and commercial success. The record included the international number-one tracks "
Just Dance" and "
Poker Face". In November 2009, her
extended play,
The Fame Monster, was released to a similar reception, and produced the hit singles "
Bad Romance", "
Telephone", and "
Alejandro". Its accompanying
Monster Ball Tour became one of the
highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Gaga's second album,
Born This Way, was released in May 2011 and topped albums charts in most major markets. It generated chart-topping songs "
Born This Way", "
Judas", and "
The Edge of Glory". Her third album,
Artpop, was released in November 2013. It was preceded by singles "
Applause" and "
Do What U Want".
Influenced by
David Bowie,
Michael Jackson,
Madonna, and
Queen,
Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse, and outré contributions
to the music industry through her fashion, performances, and music
videos. As of November 2013, she had sold an estimated 24 million albums
and 125 million singles worldwide and her singles are some of the
best-selling worldwide.
[2][3] Her achievements include five
Grammy Awards and 13
MTV Video Music Awards. 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 fourth best selling digital singles artist in US according to
RIAA,
[4] is regularly placed on lists composed by
Forbes magazine, including
The World's 100 Most Powerful Women from 2010 to 2013,
[5] and was named one of the most influential people in the world by
Time magazine.
[6][7] Outside of her musical career, she is a prominent
LGBT activist.
Life and career
1986–2004: Early life
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born in New York City on March 28, 1986,
[8] to internet entrepreneur Joseph Anthony "Joe" Germanotta, Jr. and Cynthia Bissett.
[9] Gaga is of three quarters Italian descent (her maternal grandfather had French, German, Scottish, and English ancestry).
[10] Gaga has one younger sister, Natali, a fashion student, who 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 and her family are 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][18]
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."
[19][20] Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school.
[21] Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four, wrote her first piano ballad at thirteen, and started to perform at
open mic nights by the age of fourteen.
[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 theater 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.
[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]
2005–07: Career beginnings
Gaga withdrew from CAP21 at 19, in the second semester of her sophomore year, deciding to focus on her musical career.
[28]
Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she
re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the
cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would
listen," she remembers.
[23] Settled in a small apartment on
Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer
Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book
The Portal in the Park, by Cricket Casey.
[13][29]
She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with
some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman,
drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager
Frank Fredericks – in September of that year.
[13][23] The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like
Led Zeppelin's "
D'yer Mak'er".
[13] Playing in bars like the
Greenwich Village's
The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the
Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis.
[13] Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays
Words and
Red and Blue (both 2005) at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.
[23] SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006
Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at
The Cutting Room in June where
Wendy Starland, a musician, appeared as a talent scout for music producer
Rob Fusari.
Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to
front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand
disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had
written and compose new material with the music producer.
[13] While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of
Freddie Mercury, lead singer of
Queen.
[30]
Fusari claims to have created the "Lady Gaga" moniker after the Queen song "
Radio Ga Ga".
Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she
received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga."
[31]
He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of
saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance
song" and that the text message was the result of a
predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again."
[31][32] The New York Post, however, has doubted the accuracy of this version of events, and claims that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.
[21]
Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was
unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team
Lovechild in which they recorded and produced
electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses.
[13] Joshua Sarubin, the head of
A&R at
Def Jam Recordings,
responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance
on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss
Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months.
[13] However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her
treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night".
[33] Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side.
[13] She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging
neo-burlesque shows,
go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs.
[13][16] She was a go-go dancer at St. Jerome’s, a Rivington Street
dive in New York’s lower East Side.
[34] Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months.
[16][32]
"I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking
that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to
Black Sabbath and singing songs about
oral sex.
The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It
represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the
New York underground that I found myself."
[25] It was then when she became romantically involved with a
heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film
Grease: "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.
[35]
Gaga performing in a bar, sporting one of her earlier looks (2007)
During this time, she met performance artist
Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona.
[36]
Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to
perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the
pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the
Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live
performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue"
and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi
tribute to 1970s variety acts.
[37][38] Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007
Lollapalooza music festival in August that year.
[39] The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews.
[37] Having initially focused on
avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical
niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the
glam rock of
David Bowie
and Queen into her music. While Gaga and Starlight were busy
performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had
created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and
record executive Vincent Herbert.
[40] Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an
imprint of
Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007.
[41]
Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I
really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going."
[40] Having served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at
Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a
music publishing deal with Sony/ATV.
[42] As a result, she was hired to write songs for
Britney Spears and labelmates
New Kids on the Block,
Fergie, and the
Pussycat Dolls.
[42] At Interscope, singer-songwriter
Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio.
[43] Akon then convinced
Interscope-Geffen-A&M Chairman and CEO
Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label
Kon Live, making her his "franchise player."
[33][44]
Towards the end of 2007, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer
RedOne, whom they also managed.
[45] The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a
mash-up inspired by
Mötley Crüe's "
Girls, Girls, Girls" and
AC/DC's "
T.N.T.".
[32][45]
Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio
for a week on her debut album and also joined the roster of
Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter
Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "
Christmas Tree" and "
Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)".
[42]
Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about
her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the
mainstream market. Her response: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the
music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."
[17]
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][46] 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.
[47][48] 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.
[47][49] 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.
[50][51] 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.
[52] 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.
[53][54] 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.
[55] 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.
[56][57] 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.
[58][59]
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.
[60] The second single "
Telephone", which features
Beyoncé Knowles, 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."
[61][62] 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.
[63] 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.
[64] 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.
[65][66] 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.
[67][68] 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.
[69]
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.
[70]
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.
[71] 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.
[72] 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.
[73] Other performances might 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."
[74]
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.
[75] Gaga also partnered with
Polaroid in January 2010 as their Creative Director.
[76]
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.
[77]
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.
[78][79] 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.
[80][81]
2011–12: Born This Way
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."
[82][83]
Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music
critics, who praised its range of different styles and her vocals.
[84][85] 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.
[86] In addition to exceeding 8 million copies in worldwide sales,
Born This Way received three Grammy Award nominations, including her third consecutive for Album of the Year.
[87] In March 2012, Gaga was ranked fourth on
Billboard's list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing $25,353,039, which included sales from
Born This Way and her Monster Ball Tour.
[88]
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.
[89]
It sold 3,918,000 digital copies in the US by August 2013, 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.
[90][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 rave reviews from
critics, 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 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.
[98]
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 acclaimed, 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. 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". In June 2012, Gaga announced her first fragrance in association with
Coty, Inc.,
Lady Gaga Fame, which was released worldwide in September 2012.
[105] 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.
The 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.
[106]
Although the tour – consisting of 110 shows across the globe – was a
commercial success with general critical acclaim, 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.
[107][108][109] 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.
[110] She posted on her blog February 20, 2013, that she had hip surgery, and was recovering.
[111]
2013: Artpop and other endeavors
New songs for Gaga's third studio album,
Artpop, were "beginning to flourish" as she worked with producer
Fernando Garibay in early 2012.
[112][113][114] Gaga's manager,
Vincent Herbert,
said the singer began working on the project during the Born This Way
Ball tour and promised new material consisted of "insane, great
records".
[115] Gaga herself explained that she yearned to make audiences have "a really good time" with
Artpop, crafting the album to mirror "a night at the club".
[116]
"When you listen to it, it really flows nicely. It's really fun to pop
in with your friends. I really wrote it for me and my friends to pop in
from start to finish."
[116] At the same time, Gaga began collaborating with
Terry Richardson on a documentary detailing her life, the
Haus of Gaga and
Artpop's evolution.
[117]
The record was released in November 2013 through normal commercial
outlets as well as through an app developed by the Haus of Gaga.
[118] It eventually became her second number-one album in the United States with first week sales of 258,000 copies.
[119] Music critics were divided in their assessments of
Artpop.
[120] The album has thus far spawned successful singles in "
Applause" and "
Do What U Want".
[121][122][123] Longtime manager Troy Carter departed from her team shortly thereafter citing "creative differences".
[124]
Gaga made her screen debut in
Robert Rodriguez's project
Machete Kills, providing the role of La Chameleón. The picture, released on October 11, 2013,
[125][126] was poorly received critically and commercially.
[127][128] Gaga hosted the November 16 episode of
Saturday Night Live, closing out the program with a performance of "Do What U Want" with R. Kelly.
[129] Later that month, the singer held her second Thanksgiving Day television special,
Lady Gaga and the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular, where she played a selection of songs with
The Muppets,
Elton John,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and
RuPaul.
[130] She will also make a cameo in another Robert Rodriguez film,
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, starring opposite to Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Josh Brolin,
Eva Green,
Mickey Rourke,
Jessica Alba, and
Bruce Willis. It is scheduled for release on August 22, 2014.
[131]
Besides her film endeavors, Gaga would also be involved in other musical ventures.
Cheek to Cheek, a jazz album with
Tony Bennett, was supposed to be released on January 1, 2014 but it was later announced that it's release has been delayed till the
fourth quarter of 2014.
[132][133]
In early 2015, the singer is set to perform the first ever concert in
space as part of Zero G Colony, a three-day music festival. She will
travel via
Spaceport America,
the world's first commercial spaceport, in New Mexico, and the event
will feature a mix of entertainment and cutting-edge technology. Gaga
will be the grand finale.
[134]
Artistry
Musical style
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A 30-second sample of Lady Gaga's " Just Dance" featuring the chorus sung by Lady Gaga and Colby O'Donis in the range of B 3 to C ♯, backed by a synth marching beat. The song became her first international hit single and sold 7.7 million copies worldwide.
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Continually experimenting with new musical ideas and images, Gaga's
musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and
scrutiny from critics. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by
constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been
drawn to such a practice since her childhood.
[135] Vocally, Gaga possesses the range of a
contralto
and exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s
rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being
able to move through 2.7 octaves.
[136][137] Refusing to
lip sync, Gaga – whose range is frequently compared to those of Madonna and
Gwen Stefani – has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers
Born This Way (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of."
[138][139] In summation of her voice,
Entertainment Weekly
wrote, "There's an immense emotional intelligence behind the way she
uses her voice. Almost never does she overwhelm a song with her vocal
ability, recognizing instead that artistry is to be found in nuance
rather than lung power."
[140]
Gaga performing in a plastic bubble dress (2009)
Although her early lyrics have been criticized for lacking
intellectual stimulation, "[Gaga] does manage to get you moving and
grooving at an almost effortless pace."
[141] Gaga believes that "all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit."
[142] She has covered a wide variety of topics in her songs: while
The Fame (2008) meditates on the lust for stardom,
The Fame Monster (2009) expresses fame's dark side through monster metaphors.
Born This Way
(2011) is sung in English, French, German, and Spanish and includes
common themes in Gaga's controversial songwriting such as sex, love,
religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom, and
individualism.
[143][144]
The structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s
Europop.
[145] Her debut album
The Fame (2008) provoked
The Sunday Times to assert "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, [Gaga] evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa '
Hollaback Girl',
Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now" and a critic from
The Boston Globe
to comment that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen
Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats."
[146][147] Music critic
Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from
electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with
Auto-Tune and undergirded with
R&B-ish beats."
[148] The follow-up
The Fame Monster (2009), saw Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky
ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like
Stacey Q" while
Born This Way
(2011) also draws on the records of her childhood and still has the
"electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants" of its predecessor
but includes genres as diverse as opera, heavy metal,
disco, and
rock and roll.
[143] "There isn't a subtle moment on the album, but even at its nuttiest, the music is full of wide-awake emotional details," wrote
Rolling Stone, who concluded: "The more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds."
[144]
Influences
Gaga grew up listening to artists such as
The Beatles,
Stevie Wonder,
Queen,
Bruce Springsteen,
Pink Floyd,
The Grateful Dead,
Led Zeppelin,
Whitney Houston, and
Elton John, who all significantly influenced her.
[149][150] She also cited heavy metal bands like
Iron Maiden and
Black Sabbath as her favorite musicians.
[151]
"I am a real family girl. When it comes to love and loyalty, I am
very old-fashioned. And I am quite down-to-earth for such an eccentric
person", she insists.
[152] "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way."
[149]
According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged
19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art.
[153]
Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12
years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two
hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm
living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin,
she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to
love and experience in our lives."
[154]
Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer
Deepak Chopra.
Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always
reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my
vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it
comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the
music for my fans."
[155] Gaga also lifted a quote from
Osho's book
Creativity on Twitter.
[156][157]
When asked about her connection to him, Gaga said she was influenced by
his work and that, for her, "the creativity is the greatest way of
rebellion": "Equality", she concluded, "is one of the most important
things in my life."
[158]
Music artists such as Madonna (left) and David Bowie (right) have influenced Gaga.
Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from
dance-pop singers like
Madonna and
Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like
David Bowie and
Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like
Andy Warhol and of her musical theater roots in performance.
[33][159][160][161]
"The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again" by Andy
Warhol has been noted for shaping Gaga's approach to celebrity. Warhol
advised that enigmatic blankness generates an allure that could serve as
the basis of fame. Some identify the mystery surrounding the "Gaga"
identity as such a strategy.
[162]
The Queen song "
Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name: "I adored
Freddie Mercury
and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name
[.....] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole
of pop music," she commented.
[21][159][163] Gaga has often been compared to recording artist Madonna who admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga.
[164]
In response to the comparisons, Gaga stated, "I don't want to sound
presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The
last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to
commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and
loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and
professionally."
[159][165]
Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the
years of her career, has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of
artists including
Whitney Houston,
Grace Jones,
Cyndi Lauper,
Blondie singer
Debbie Harry,
Scissor Sisters,
Prince,
Marilyn Manson,
Yoko Ono, and
Britney Spears.
[166]
Gaga has mentioned Spears in several interviews, and revealed, "Britney
certainly doesn’t need any freakin’ tips from me! Britney Spears is the
queen of pop. I was learning from her."
[167] Gaga also paid tribute to Spears during the
2011 MTV Video Music Awards with the
MTV Video Vanguard Award, adding that the pop singer "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her."
[168]
Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics
Leigh Bowery and
Isabella Blow and to American recording artist
Cher.
[16][28][152][169] She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own."
[169] She has considered
Donatella Versace her
muse and the late English fashion designer and close friend
Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work.
[16][80] Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the
Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos.
[170] Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful."
[171]
"When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to
wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop
performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and
being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring
that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat
and taste and lick every part of us."
[28] Gaga made her runway debut at
Thierry Mugler's Paris fashion show in March 2011 where she wore items from
Nicola Formichetti's debut women's wear collection. She has since devoted her time as a fashion columnist for
V
magazine, where she has written about her creative process, her
studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the
evolution of pop-culture meme.
[172]
The
Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third.
[173] Entertainment Weekly
put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying,
"Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles,
Gaga's
outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."
[174] Time Magazine
placed Gaga on their "All-Time 100 Fashion Icons List" amongst some of
Gaga's inspirations such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the The
Beatles, stating: "Lady Gaga is just as notorious for her outrageous
style as she is for her pop hits. After all, Gaga, born Stefani
Germanotta, has sported outfits made from plastic bubbles,
Kermit the Frog dolls, and
raw meat."
[175]
Videos and stage
Gaga during a "blood soaked" performance (2010)
With constant costume changes,
backup dancers, and provocative visuals, Gaga's music videos are often described as short films.
[176]
"Being provocative is not just about getting people's attention. It's
about saying something that really affects people in a real way, in a
positive way," she professes.
[176] Exploring
bondage and
sadomasochism
in addition to highlighting prevalent feminist themes, "the three
central themes that shape Lady Gaga's music videos are sex, violence,
and power."
[177] "
Vaudevillian and
carnal,
Lady Gaga has got the knack of sending rape-like fantasies—in songs and
videos that double as catch club hits—to the top of the charts," wrote
one critic.
[178]
"Whether it is physical violence or sexual exploitation, these videos
offer vivid depictions of male power over women's bodies," wrote
another.
[177] While she labels herself "a little bit of a feminist" and asserts that she is "sexually empowering women,"
[178] Gaga strives to empower young women to stand up for what they believe in.
[177] She also attempts to liberate her fans so they can feel "less alone."
[179] "She not only reiterates her assertion of total originality," professed pop critic
Ann Powers,
"but also finesses it until it's both a philosophical stance about how
constructing a persona from pop-cultural sources can be an expression of
a person's truth—
a la those drag queens Gaga sincerely admires—and a bit of a feminist act."
[180] In summation of her videos,
Rolling Stone used the
rhetoric: "does anyone look to a Lady Gaga video for restraint?"
[97]
Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and
innovative"; the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009
MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV.
[181]
She continued the "blood soaked" theme during The Monster Ball Tour, in
which she wore a revealing leather corset and was "attacked" by a
performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to
spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood.
Her performances of that scene in England triggered protests from family
groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi
driver had murdered 12 people.
[182]
"What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given
all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was
insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence.
[183] Her unconventionality continued at the
2011 MTV Video Music Awards: performing in
drag as her male
alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivering a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "You and I".
[184] Some have defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga,"
Chris Rock said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?"
[185] As Gaga's choreographer and creative director,
Laurieann Gibson
provided material for her shows and videos for four years. However, the
pair parted in November 2011; Gaga replacing her with Gibson's
assistant
Richard Jackson.
[186]
Gaga admits to being a perfectionist when it comes to her elaborate
shows. "I'm very bossy. I can scream my head off if I see one light
fixture out. I'm very detailed – every minute of the show has got to be
perfect."
[176]
Public image
While Chris Molanphy from
Rolling Stone
named Gaga the "Queen of Pop" in a ranking published by the magazine in
2011 (between 15 artists, such as Adele and Britney Spears), public
reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed.
[187]
Her status as a role model, self-esteem booster for her fans,
trailblazer and fashion icon who breathes new life into the industry is
by turns affirmed and denied.
[188]
Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews and critics have
pointed out her unique place in pop music, the need for new movements in
popular culture, the attention Gaga brings to modern social issues, and
the inherently subjective nature of her art.
[189] Gaga wore a
dress made of raw beef to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards which was supplemented by boots, a purse, and a hat that were also all made out of raw beef.
[190] Partly awarded in recognition of the dress, Vogue.com UK named her one of the Best Dressed people of 2010 while
Time
magazine's named the dress the Fashion Statement of 2010. However, it
received divided opinions, evoking the attention of worldwide media but
invoking the fury of animal rights organization
PETA.
[191][192][193] In view of her influence on modern culture and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the
University of South Carolina
has organized a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame"
since spring 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the
sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga."
[194]
When Gaga briefly met with US president Barack Obama at a Human Rights
Campaign fundraiser, he described the interaction as "intimidating" as
she was dressed in 16-inch heels making her undoubtedly the tallest
woman in the room.
[195]
Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Gaga and recording artist
Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up.
[16] Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman."
[16] When interviewed by
Barbara Walters for her annual
ABC News special
10 Most Fascinating People in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is
intersex as an
urban legend.
Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was
very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But
in a sense, I portray myself in a very
androgynous way, and I love androgyny."
[196] In addition to Aguilera's statement, comparisons continued into 2010, when Aguilera released the music video of her single "
Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Gaga's video for "Bad Romance".
[197] There have also been similar comparisons made between Gaga's style and that of fashion icon
Dale Bozzio from the band
Missing Persons.
Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel
although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look
more than thirty years earlier.
[198]
While devout followers call Gaga "Mother Monster", Gaga often refers
to her fans as "Little Monsters" which has been tattooed on "the arm
that holds my
mic" in dedication.
[199][200] To some, this
dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture.
Camille Paglia in her 2010 cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" in
The Sunday Times
asserts that Gaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo
breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for
the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of
those."
[201][202] Writing for
The Guardian,
Kitty Empire
opined that the dichotomy "...allows the viewer to have a
'transgressive' experience without being required to think. At [her
performance's] core, though, is the idea that Gaga is at one with the
freaks and outcasts. The Monster Ball is where we can all be free. This
is arrant nonsense, as the scads of people buying Gaga's cunningly
commercial music are not limited to the niche worlds of
drag queens and hip night creatures from which she draws her inspiration. But Gaga seems sincere."
[203] Gaga has also launched "littlemonsters.com", the first official
social network devoted to
fans of an artist that went online in July 2012.
[204]
In 2012, Gaga become a feature of a temporary exhibition
The Elevated. From the Pharaoh to Lady Gaga marking the 150th anniversary of the
National Museum in
Warsaw.
[205] An exhibition devoted to the mechanisms and the iconography of power was co-financed from the
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage funds.
[205] Its purpose was to show the ubiquity of hierarchy from antiquity to the present.
[205] The central showpiece of the exhibition was the effigy of two women who had achieved a high status in the society of its time.
[206] Gaga was presented in a dress of raw meat, described by Polish weekly
Wprost
as "an icon of modernity elevated by the power which she exercises over
mass media, a prominent specialist in creating her own image".
[206] The meat dress was later displayed at the
National Museum of Women in the Arts located in
Washington, D.C. with an explanation of her political message.
[207]
A new genus of
ferns,
Gaga, and two new species,
G. germanotta and
G. monstraparva have been named in her honor. "The epithet "
monstraparva"
honors Gaga’s fervent and loyal fans, her "little monsters." The
official little monster greeting is the outstretched "monster claw"
hand, which bears a striking resemblance to a tightly inrolled young
fern leaf prior to unfurling."
[208]
Activism
Philanthropy
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.
[209]
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.
[210] 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.
[211] As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million.
[212]
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".
[213] On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at
MTV Japan's charity show in
Makuhari Messe, which benefited the
Japanese Red Cross.
[214]
In October 2012, Gaga was reported to have met the founder of
Wikileaks,
Julian Assange, at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
[215] On October 9, 2012,
Yoko Ono gave Gaga and four other activists the
LennonOno Grant for Peace in
Reykjavík,
Iceland.
[216] On November 6, 2012, Gaga pledged to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to help the victims of
Hurricane Sandy. Gaga also contributes in the fight against
HIV and AIDS, focusing on educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with
Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with
MAC Cosmetics
to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line,
Viva Glam. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to
be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder
when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to
your lipstick."
[217] The sales of Gaga-endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and lipgloss have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.
[7]
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.
[218][219][220][221] 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.
[222][223] The foundation's original funding included $1.2 million from Gaga, $500,000 from the MacArthur Foundation, and $850,000 from
Barneys New York.
[224] The foundation works in partnership with the
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, the
MacArthur Foundation, the
California Endowment,
[225] and, as lead media partner,
Viacom.
[226][227] 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
[228][229]
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?";
[230] the "Born Brave Bus" that would follow her on tour as a youth drop-in center as an initiative against bullying;
[231][232] and the "Born Brave" community and school groups.
[233]
LGBT advocacy
Gaga is an outspoken activist for
LGBT rights worldwide.
[234] She attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her
gay fans and is considered a
gay icon.
[235] Early in her career she had difficulty getting
radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community."
[236] She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based
LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of
The Fame.
[237] One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the
NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network
Logo.
[238] In June of the same year, she performed at the
San Francisco Pride event.
[239] After
The Fame was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her
bisexuality. In an interview with
Rolling Stone,
she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality,
saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It
makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a
threesome. I'm happy with just you'."
[35] When she appeared as a guest on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community".
[240]
She called the October 11, 2009,
National Equality March rally on the
National Mall "the single most important event of her career."
[241][242][243] Gaga attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four gay and lesbian former members of the
United States Armed Forces who had been unable to serve
openly under the U.S. military's "
Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy.
[244]
Gaga released three videos on YouTube urging her fans to contact their
Senators in an effort to overturn DADT. In September 2010 she spoke at a
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's rally in
Portland, Maine. Following this event, editors of
The Advocate commented that she had become "the real fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians, one that Barack Obama had promised to be.
[245][246] Gaga appeared at
Europride, a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, held in Rome in June 2011. She criticized the intolerant state of
gay rights in many European countries and described homosexuals as "revolutionaries of love".
[247]
