Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenager, singing at
open mic
An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...
nights and acting in school plays. She studied at
Collaborative Arts Project 21 Collaborative Arts Project 21, known more commonly as CAP21, is a New York City professional musical theatre training conservatory and Off-Broadway theatre company. It has a core faculty with many associate faculty who are also working professional ...
, through the
New York University Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
, before dropping out to pursue a career in music. After
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The l ...
canceled her contract, she worked as a songwriter for
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...
, where she signed a joint deal with
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mu ...
and
KonLive Distribution
KonLive Distribution (or simply KonLive) was a record label founded by R&B singer Akon. The label served as a joint-venture deal between Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records. Notable artists briefly signed to the label include Lady Gaga, Kardinal ...
, in 2007. Gaga had her breakthrough the following year with her debut studio album, ''
The Fame
''The Fame'' is the debut studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008, by Interscope Records. After joining Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with different ...
,'' and its chart-topping singles "
Just Dance" and "
Poker Face". The album was later reissued to include the
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. ''
The Fame Monster'' (2009), which yielded the successful singles "
Bad Romance", "
Telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...
", and "
Alejandro".
Gaga's five succeeding studio albums all debuted atop the US
''Billboard'' 200. Her second full-length album, ''
Born This Way'' (2011), explored
electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music
Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...
and
techno-pop and sold
more than one million copies in its first week. The
title track became the fastest-selling song on the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
, with over one million downloads in less than a week. Following her
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...
-influenced third album, ''
Artpop'' (2013), and its lead single "
Applause
Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performa ...
", Gaga released the
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
album ''
Cheek to Cheek'' (2014) with
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...
, and the
soft rock
Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
album ''
Joanne Joanne may refer to:
Music
* ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga
** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne''
* "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South''
* "Joanne", a song by C ...
'' (2016). She ventured into acting, winning awards for her leading roles in the miniseries ''
American Horror Story: Hotel'' (2015–2016) and the musical film ''
A Star Is Born'' (2018). Her contributions to the
latter's soundtrack, which spawned the chart-topping single "
Shallow
Shallow may refer to:
Places
* Shallow (underwater relief), where the depth of the water is low compared to its surroundings
* Shallow Bay (disambiguation), various places
* Shallow Brook, New Jersey, United States
* Shallow Inlet, Victoria, ...
", made her the first woman to win an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
,
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
,
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, and
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
in one year. Gaga returned to dance-pop with her sixth studio album, ''
Chromatica
''Chromatica'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on May 29, 2020, by Interscope Records and subsidiary Streamline. Gaga supervised the production with longtime collaborator BloodPop and a variety of other produce ...
'' (2020), which yielded the number-one single "
Rain on Me". She followed this with her second collaborative album with Bennett, ''
Love for Sale'', and a starring role in the biopic ''
House of Gucci'', both in 2021.
Having sold an estimated 170million records, Gaga is one of the world's
best-selling music artists and the only female artist to achieve
four singles that each sold at least 10million copies globally.
Her accolades include 13 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, 18
MTV Video Music Awards
The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...
, awards from the
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the he ...
and the
Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory ...
, and recognition as ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Artist of the Year (2010) and
Woman of the Year (2015). She has also been included in several ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' power rankings and ranked fourth on
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
's
Greatest Women in Music (2012). ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine named her one of the
100 most influential people in the world
''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...
in 2010 and 2019 and placed her on their All-''Time'' 100 Fashion Icons list. Her philanthropy and activism focus on mental health awareness and
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , ...
; she has her own non-profit organization, the
Born This Way Foundation
Born This Way Foundation (sometimes abbreviated as BTWF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by American artist and activist Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. Named after the singer's album '' Born This Way'' (2011), the Found ...
, which supports the wellness of young people. Gaga's business ventures include
Haus Labs, a
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
cosmetics brand launched in 2019.
Life and career
1986–2004: Early life
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986, at
Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many univ ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
, New York City, to an
upper middle class
In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...
Catholic family. Both of her parents have Italian ancestry. Her parents are
Cynthia Louise (), a philanthropist and business executive, and Internet entrepreneur Joseph Germanotta, and she has a younger sister named
Natali. Brought up on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of Manhattan, Gaga said in an interview that her parents came from lower-class families and worked hard for everything.
From age 11, she attended the
Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school.
Gaga has described her high-school self as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure". She considered herself a
misfit and was mocked for "being either too provocative or too eccentric".
Gaga began playing the piano at age four when her mother insisted she become "a cultured young woman". She took piano lessons and practiced through her childhood. The lessons taught her to create music by ear, which she preferred over reading sheet music. Her parents encouraged her to pursue music and enrolled her in Creative Arts Camp. As a teenager, she played at
open mic
An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...
nights. Gaga played the lead roles of Adelaide in the play ''
Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on " The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and als ...
'' and Philia in the play ''
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.
Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifi ...
'' at
Regis High School.
She also studied
method acting at the
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, ...
for ten years.
Gaga unsuccessfully auditioned for New York shows, though she did appear in a small role as a high-school student in a 2001 episode of ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'' titled "
The Telltale Moozadell". She later said of her inclination towards music:
In 2003, at age 17, Gaga gained early admission to
Collaborative Arts Project 21 Collaborative Arts Project 21, known more commonly as CAP21, is a New York City professional musical theatre training conservatory and Off-Broadway theatre company. It has a core faculty with many associate faculty who are also working professional ...
, a music school at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
(NYU)'s
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
, and lived in an
NYU dorm. She studied music there, and improved her songwriting skills by writing essays on art, religion, social issues and politics, including a thesis on pop artists
Spencer Tunick and
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né
Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United King ...
. In 2005, she withdrew from school during the second semester of her second year to focus on her music career.
That year, she also played an unsuspecting diner customer for
MTV's ''
Boiling Points'', a prank reality television show.
In a 2014 interview, Gaga said she had been raped at age 19, for which she later underwent mental and physical therapy. She has
post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...
(PTSD) which she attributes to the incident, and credits support from doctors, family and friends with helping her. Gaga later gave additional details about the rape, including that "the person who raped me
dropped me off pregnant on a corner at my parents' house because I was vomiting and sick. Because I'd been abused. I was locked away in a studio for months."
2005–2007: Career beginnings
In 2005, Gaga recorded two songs with hip-hop artist
Melle Mel
Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961 in The Bronx), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel (or simply Melle Mel) () is an American hip hop recording artist who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furio ...
for an
audio book
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
accompanying Cricket Casey's children's novel ''The Portal in the Park''. She also formed a band called the SGBand with some friends from NYU.
They played gigs around New York and became a fixture of the downtown
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally ...
club scene.
After the 2006
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the he ...
New Songwriters Showcase at
the Cutting Room
The Cutting Room is a music venue in New York City that was open at 19 West 24th Street from late 1999 through January 2009 for music of all varieties and reopened at the beginning of 2013 in a new location at 44 East 32nd Street. It was co-owne ...
in June, talent scout Wendy Starland recommended her to music producer
Rob Fusari.
Fusari collaborated with Gaga, who traveled daily to New Jersey, helping to develop her songs and compose new material. The producer said they began dating in May 2006, and claimed to have been the first person to call her "Lady Gaga", which was derived from
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's song "
Radio Ga Ga".
Their relationship lasted until January 2007.

Fusari and Gaga established a company called Team Lovechild,
LLC
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...
to promote her career.
They recorded and produced
electropop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a r ...
tracks, sending them to music industry executives. Joshua Sarubin, the head of
Artists and repertoire
Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...
(A&R) at
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The l ...
, responded positively and, after approval from Sarubin's boss
Antonio "L.A." Reid, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006. She was dropped from the label three months later
and returned to her family home for Christmas. Gaga began performing at
neo-burlesque
Neo-Burlesque, or New Burlesque, is the revival and updating of the traditional American burlesque performance. Though based on the traditional burlesque art, the new form encompasses a wider range of performance styles; neo-burlesque acts can ra ...
shows, which according to her represented freedom.
During this time, she met performance artist
Lady Starlight
Colleen Martin (born December 23, 1975), known professionally as Lady Starlight, is an American DJ and musical performer. Based in New York City's Lower East Side, she is best known for her numerous collaborations with Lady Gaga. Starlight rele ...
, who helped mold her onstage persona. The pair began performing at downtown club venues like the
Mercury Lounge
The Mercury Lounge is a live music venue in the Lower East Side of New York City. Like its brother venue The Bowery Ballroom, The Mercury Lounge is celebrated as an iconic indie venue due to its acoustics, its fostering and even launching of upc ...
,
the Bitter End
The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The O ...
, and the
Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece, known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a tribute to 1970s variety acts.
They performed at the 2007
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Mus ...
music festival.
Having initially focused on
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
electronic dance music, Gaga began to incorporate pop melodies and the
glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on div ...
style of
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and Queen into her songs. While Gaga and Starlight were performing, Fusari continued to develop the songs he had created with her, sending them to the producer and
record executive Vincent Herbert
Vincent Herbert (born January 27, 1973) is an American songwriter, record producer, record executive, and founder of Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.
Work
He has worked with artists such as Aaliyah, Tatyana Ali, Toni Braxt ...
.
In November 2007, Herbert signed Gaga to his label Streamline Records, an
imprint of Interscope Records, established that month.
Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her.
Having served as an apprentice songwriter during an internship at
Famous Music Publishing, Gaga struck a
music publishing
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...
deal with
Sony/ATV
Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...
. As a result, she was hired to write songs for
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
,
New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoy ...
,
Fergie, and
the Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the burlesque troupe ...
.
At Interscope, musician
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles ...
was impressed with her singing abilities when she sang a
reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio.
Akon convinced
Jimmy Iovine
James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which prod ...
, chairman and CEO of
Interscope Geffen A&M Records
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA), is an American umbrella label owned by Universal Music Group, consisting of record labels Interscope Records, Geffen Records, and A&M Records.
History
Interscope Geffen A&M Records was established in 1999, f ...
(a brother company for Def Jam), to form a joint deal by having Gaga also sign with his own label
KonLive, making her his "franchise player".
In late 2007, Gaga met with songwriter and producer
RedOne
Nadir Khayat ( ar, نادر الخياط; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive.
As a record producer and songwriter, he has worked with many high-profi ...
.
She collaborated with him in the recording studio for a week on her debut album, signing with
Cherrytree Records
Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, F ...
, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter
Martin Kierszenbaum; she also wrote four songs with Kierszenbaum.
Despite securing a record deal, she said that some radio stations found her music too "racy", "dance-oriented", and "underground" for the mainstream market, to which she replied: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."
2008–2010: Breakthrough with ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster''
By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles to work extensively with her record label to complete her debut album, ''
The Fame
''The Fame'' is the debut studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008, by Interscope Records. After joining Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with different ...
'', and to set up her own creative team called the Haus of Gaga, modeled on
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
's
The Factory
The Factory was Andy Warhol's studio in New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famed for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities and Warhol's supersta ...
.
''The Fame'' was released on August 19, 2008, and reached number one in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK, as well as the top five in Australia and the US. Its first two singles, "
Just Dance" and "
Poker Face", reached number one in the United States,
Australia,
Canada
and the UK.
The latter was also the
world's best-selling single of 2009, with 9.8 million copies sold that year, and spent a record 83 weeks on ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' magazine's
Digital Songs chart. Three other singles, "
Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
"Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, from her debut album, ''The Fame'' (2008). It was released as the third single from the album in Australia, New Zealand and selected European countries, and the fourth sing ...
", "
LoveGame" and "
Paparazzi
Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
", were released from the album; the lattermost reached number one in Germany.
Remixed versions of the singles from ''The Fame'', except "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)", were included on ''
Hitmixes'' in August 2009. At the
52nd Annual Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...
, ''The Fame'' and "Poker Face" won
Best Dance/Electronica Album and
Best Dance Recording, respectively.

Following her opening act on
the Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the burlesque troupe ...
' 2009
Doll Domination Tour
The Doll Domination Tour was the second concert tour by American girl group The Pussycat Dolls. It was launched in support of their second studio album, '' Doll Domination'' (2008). The tour was announced in October 2008 with dates in Europe an ...
in Europe and Oceania, Gaga headlined her worldwide
The Fame Ball Tour, which ran from March to September 2009. While traveling the globe, she wrote eight songs for ''
The Fame Monster'', a reissue of ''The Fame''. Those new songs were also released as a standalone
EP on November 18, 2009. Its first single, "
Bad Romance", was released one month earlier and went number one in Canada
[ and the UK,] and number two in the US, Australia and New Zealand. "Telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...
", with Beyoncé, followed as the second single from the EP and became Gaga's fourth UK number one. Its third single was " Alejandro", which reached number one in Finland and attracted controversy when its music video was deemed blasphemous
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...
by the Catholic League. Both tracks reached the top five in the US. The video for "Bad Romance" became the most watched on YouTube in April 2010, and that October, Gaga became the first person with more than one billion combined views. At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Chelsea Handler hosted the event, the first woman in sixteen years – since the 1994 M ...
, she won eight awards from 13 nominations, including Video of the Year for "Bad Romance". She was the most nominated artist for a single year, and the first woman to receive two nominations for Video of the Year at the same ceremony. ''The Fame Monster'' won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...
, and "Bad Romance" won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...
at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards
The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pr ...
.
In 2009, Gaga spent a record 150 weeks on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and became the most downloaded female act in a year in the US, with 11.1 million downloads sold, earning an entry in the ''Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. Worldwide, ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster'' together have sold more than 15 million copies, and the latter was 2010's second best-selling album. Its success allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, and release '' The Remix'', her final record with Cherrytree Records and among the best-selling remix albums of all time. The Monster Ball Tour ran from November 2009 to May 2011 and grossed $227.4 million, making it the highest-grossing concert tour for a debut headlining artist. Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...
in New York City were filmed for an HBO television special, '' Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden''. Gaga also performed songs from her albums at the 2009 ''Royal Variety Performance
The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...
'', the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, and the 2010 Brit Awards. Before Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
's death, Gaga was set to take part in his canceled This Is It concert series at the O2 Arena in the UK.
During this era, Gaga ventured into business, collaborating with consumer electronics company Monster Cable Products to create in-ear, jewel-encrusted headphones called Heartbeats by Lady Gaga. She also partnered with Polaroid in January 2010 as their creative director and announced a suite of photo-capture products called Grey Label. Her collaboration with her past record producer and ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari led to a lawsuit against her production team, Mermaid Music LLC. At this time, Gaga was tested borderline positive for lupus
Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Commo ...
, but claimed not to be affected by the symptoms and hoped to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
2011–2014: ''Born This Way'', ''Artpop'', and ''Cheek to Cheek''
In February 2011, Gaga released " Born This Way", the lead single from her studio album of the same name. The song sold more than one million copies within five days, earning the Guinness World Record for the fastest selling single on iTunes. It debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts. Its second single "Judas
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betray ...
" followed two months later, and " The Edge of Glory" served as its third single. Both reached the top 10 in the US and the UK. Her music video for "The Edge of Glory", unlike her previous work, portrays her dancing on a fire escape and walking on a lonely street, without intricate choreography and back-up dancers.
''Born This Way'' was released on May 23, 2011, and debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 1.1 million copies. The album sold eight million copies worldwide and received three Grammy nominations, including Gaga's third consecutive nomination for Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
. ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' listed it among "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
" in 2020. ''Born This Way''s following singles were " You and I" and " Marry the Night", which reached numbers six and 29 in the US, respectively. While filming the former's music video, Gaga met and started dating actor Taylor Kinney in July 2011, who played her love interest. She also embarked on the Born This Way Ball tour in April 2012, which was scheduled to conclude the following March, but ended one month earlier when Gaga canceled the remaining dates due to a labral tear of her right hip that required surgery. While refunds for the cancellations were estimated to be worth $25 million, the tour grossed $183.9 million globally.
In 2011, Gaga also worked with Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...
on a jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
version of " The Lady Is a Tramp", with Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
on "Hello Hello" for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet
''Gnomeo & Juliet'' is a 2011 computer-animated romantic comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury from a screenplay by Rob Sprackling and John Smith. It is loosely based on the play ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare and features the voic ...
'', and with The Lonely Island
The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'').
The three ...
and Justin Timberlake on " 3-Way (The Golden Rule)". She also performed a concert at the Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings a ...
in Australia that year to promote ''Born This Way'' and to celebrate former US President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
's 65th birthday. In November, she was featured in a Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
television special titled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving
''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' is a Thanksgiving television special that originally aired on November 24, 2011, in the United States on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network. Conceived and directed by Lady Gaga, it discusses her personal ...
'', which attracted 5.7 million American viewers and spawned the release of her fourth EP, ''A Very Gaga Holiday
''A Very Gaga Holiday'' is a live EP released by American singer Lady Gaga, containing songs performed on the ABC holiday television special '' A Very Gaga Thanksgiving''. It was made available for purchase in the United States on November 22, ...
''. In 2012, Gaga guest-starred as an animated version of herself in an episode of ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' called " Lisa Goes Gaga", and released her first fragrance, Lady Gaga Fame, followed by a second one, Eau de Gaga
Eau de Gaga is the second fragrance created by American singer Lady Gaga. The announcement and details of the fragrance were announced on her Haus Laboratories website. The fragrance's notes include white violet, lime, and leather, and it is mark ...
, in 2014.
Gaga began work on her third studio album, '' Artpop'', in early 2012, during the Born This Way Ball tour; she crafted the album to mirror "a night at the club". In August 2013, Gaga released the album's lead single "Applause
Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performa ...
", which reached number one in Hungary, number four in the US, and number five in the UK. A lyric video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for ''Artpop'' track "Aura
Aura most commonly refers to:
* Aura (paranormal), a field of luminous multicolored radiation around a person or object
* Aura (symptom), a symptom experienced before a migraine or seizure
Aura may also refer to:
Places Extraterrestrial
* 1488 ...
" followed in October to accompany Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
's '' Machete Kills'', where she plays an assassin named La Chameleon. The film received generally mixed reviews and earned less than half of its $33 million budget. The second ''Artpop'' single, " Do What U Want", featured singer R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses.
During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwide ...
and was released later that month, topping the charts in Hungary and reaching number 13 in the US. ''Artpop'' was released on November 6, 2013, to mixed reviews. Helen Brown in ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' criticized Gaga for making another album about her fame and doubted the record's originality, but found it "great for dancing". The album debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide as of July 2014. " G.U.Y." was released as the third single in March 2014 and peaked at number 76 in the US.
Gaga hosted an episode of ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...
'' in November 2013. After holding her second Thanksgiving Day television special on ABC, '' Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular'', she performed a special rendition of "Do What U Want" with Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice o ...
on the fifth season of the American reality talent show '' The Voice''. In March 2014, Gaga had a seven-day concert residency commemorating the last performance at New York's Roseland Ballroom before its closure. Two months later, she embarked on the ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour, building on concepts from her ArtRave promotional event. Earning $83 million, the tour included cities canceled from the Born This Way Ball tour itinerary. In the meantime, Gaga split from longtime manager Troy Carter Troy Carter may refer to:
* Troy Carter (physicist) (born 1973), American plasma physicist
*Troy Carter (politician) (born 1963), American politician
* Troy Carter (talent manager) (born 1972), American music talent manager
Fictional characters
*2 ...
over "creative differences", and by June 2014, she and new manager Bobby Campbell joined Artist Nation, the artist management division of Live Nation Entertainment. She briefly appeared in Rodriguez's '' Sin City: A Dame to Kill For'', and was confirmed as Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...
's spring-summer 2014 ambassador with a campaign called "Lady Gaga For Versace".
In September 2014, Gaga released a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett titled '' Cheek to Cheek''. The inspiration behind the album came from her friendship with Bennett, and fascination with jazz music since her childhood. Before the album was released, it produced the singles "Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ...
" and " I Can't Give You Anything but Love". ''Cheek to Cheek'' received generally favorable reviews; ''The Guardian''s Caroline Sullivan praised Gaga's vocals and Howard Reich of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' wrote that "''Cheek to Cheek'' serves up the real thing, start to finish". The record was Gaga's third consecutive number-one album on the ''Billboard'' 200, and won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album is an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented ...
. The duo recorded the concert special '' Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek Live!'', and embarked on the Cheek to Cheek Tour
The Cheek to Cheek Tour was a co-headlining tour by American singers Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in support of their album, '' Cheek to Cheek'' (2014). The tour, which began with a two-night run at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, played a tota ...
from December 2014 to August 2015.
2015–2017: ''American Horror Story'', ''Joanne'', and Super Bowl performances
In February 2015, Gaga became engaged to Taylor Kinney. After the lukewarm response to ''Artpop'', Gaga began to reinvent her image and style. According to ''Billboard'', this shift started with the release of ''Cheek to Cheek'' and the attention she received for her performance at the 87th Academy Awards
The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p ...
, where she sang a medley of songs from ''The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'' in a tribute to Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy ...
. Considered one of her best performances by ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'', it triggered more than 214,000 interactions per minute globally on Facebook. She and Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award.
War ...
co-wrote the song " Til It Happens to You" for the documentary '' The Hunting Ground'', which earned them the Satellite Award for Best Original Song and an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
nomination in the same category. Gaga won ''Billboard'' Woman of the Year and Contemporary Icon Award at the 2015 Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards.
Gaga had spent much of her early life wanting to be an actress, and achieved her goal when she starred in '' American Horror Story: Hotel''. Running from October 2015 to January 2016, ''Hotel'' is the fifth season of the television anthology horror series, ''American Horror Story
''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the ''American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...
'', in which Gaga played a hotel owner named Elizabeth. At the 73rd Golden Globe Awards
The 73rd Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2015. It was broadcast live on January 10, 2016, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST by NBC. ...
, Gaga received the Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film award for her work on the season.[ She appeared in Nick Knight's 2015 fashion film for ]Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and dire ...
's 2016 spring campaign and was guest editor for '' V'' fashion magazine's 99th issue in January 2016, which featured 16 different covers. She received Editor of the Year award at the Fashion Los Angeles Awards.
In February 2016, Gaga sang the US national anthem
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the ...
at Super Bowl 50
Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...
, partnered with Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...
and Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...
for a tribute performance to the late David Bowie at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards
The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 201 ...
, and sang "Til It Happens to You" at the 88th Academy Awards
The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. Du ...
, where she was introduced by Joe Biden and was accompanied on-stage by 50 people who had suffered from sexual assault. She was honored that April with the Artist Award at the Jane Ortner Education Awards by The Grammy Museum, which recognizes artists who have demonstrated passion and dedication to education through the arts. Her engagement to Taylor Kinney ended in July; she later said her career had interfered with their relationship.
Gaga played a witch named Scathach in '' American Horror Story: Roanoke'', the series' sixth season, which ran from September to November 2016. Her role in the fifth season of the show ultimately influenced her future music, prompting her to feature "the art of darkness". In September 2016, she released her fifth album's lead single, " Perfect Illusion", which topped the charts in France and reached number 15 in the US. The album, titled ''Joanne Joanne may refer to:
Music
* ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga
** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne''
* "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South''
* "Joanne", a song by C ...
'', was named after Gaga's late aunt, who was an inspiration for the music. It was released on October 21, 2016, and became Gaga's fourth number one album on the ''Billboard'' 200, making her the first woman to reach the US chart's summit four times in the 2010s. The album's second single, " Million Reasons", followed the next month and reached number four in the US.[ She later released a piano version of the album's title track in 2018, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance.] To promote the album, Gaga embarked on the three-date Dive Bar Tour.
Gaga performed as the headlining act during the Super Bowl LI halftime show on February 5, 2017. Her performance featured a group of hundreds of lighted drones forming various shapes in the sky above Houston's NRG Stadium
NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...
—the first time robotic aircraft appeared in a Super Bowl program. It attracted 117.5 million viewers in the United States, exceeding the game's 113.3 million viewers. The performance led to a surge of 410,000 song downloads in the United States for Gaga and earned her an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Special Class Program category. CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...
included her performance as the second best in the history of Super Bowl halftime shows. In April, Gaga headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...
. She also released a standalone-single, "The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
", which reached the top 10 in Australia. In August, Gaga began the Joanne World Tour, which she announced after the Super Bowl LI halftime show. Gaga's creation of ''Joanne'' and preparation for her halftime show performance were featured in the documentary '' Gaga: Five Foot Two'', which premiered on Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
that September. Throughout the film, she was seen suffering from chronic pain
Chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than three to six months. In medicine, the distinction between acute and chronic pain is sometimes determined by the amount of time since onset. Two commonly used markers are pain that continues ...
, which was later revealed to be the effect of a long-term condition called fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a medical condition defined by the presence of chronic widespread pain, fatigue, waking unrefreshed, cognitive symptoms, lower abdominal pain or cramps, and depression. Other symptoms include insomnia and a general hype ...
. In February 2018, it prompted Gaga to cancel the last ten shows of the Joanne World Tour, which ultimately grossed $95 million from 842,000 tickets sold.
2018–2019: ''A Star Is Born'' and Las Vegas residency
In March 2018, Gaga supported the March for Our Lives
March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and w ...
gun-control rally in Washington, D.C., and released a cover of Elton John's "Your Song
"Your Song" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single.
"Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in Ma ...
" for his tribute album ''Revamp
Revamp may refer to:
Changes
*Revamp, informal term for maintenance, repair, and operations
*Revamp, informal term for editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic m ...
''. Later that year, she starred as struggling singer Ally in Bradley Cooper
Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards, in addition to nominations for nine Academy Awards, s ...
's musical romantic drama '' A Star Is Born'', a remake of the 1937 film of the same name. The film follows Ally's relationship with singer Jackson Maine (played by Cooper), which becomes strained after her career begins to overshadow his. It received acclaim from critics, with a consensus that the movie had "appealing leads, deft direction, and an affecting love story". Cooper approached Gaga after seeing her perform at a cancer research fundraiser. An admirer of Cooper's work, Gaga agreed to the project due to its portrayal of addiction and depression. ''A Star Is Born'' premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival
The 75th Venice International Film Festival was held from 29 August to 8 September 2018. Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro was named as the President of the Jury. '' First Man'', directed by Damien Chazelle, was selected to open the fest ...
, and was released worldwide that October. Gaga's performance was acclaimed by film critics, with Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...
of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' labeling the film "outrageously watchable" and stating that "Gaga's ability to be part ordinary person, part extraterrestrial celebrity empress functions at the highest level"; Stephanie Zacharek of ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine similarly highlighted her "knockout performance" and found her to be "charismatic" without her usual makeup, wigs and costumes. For the role, Gaga won the National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
and Critics' Choice awards for Best Actress, in addition to receiving nominations for the Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
, Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie and ...
and BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
for Best Actress.[
Awards and nominations for ''A Star Is Born'':
* Academy Awards:
* BAFTA Awards:
* Critics' Choice Awards:
* Golden Globe Awards:
* National Board of Review Awards:
* Screen Actors Guild Awards:
]
Gaga and Cooper co-wrote and produced most of the songs on the soundtrack for ''A Star Is Born'', which she insisted they perform live in the film. Its lead single, "Shallow
Shallow may refer to:
Places
* Shallow (underwater relief), where the depth of the water is low compared to its surroundings
* Shallow Bay (disambiguation), various places
* Shallow Brook, New Jersey, United States
* Shallow Inlet, Victoria, ...
", performed by the two, was released on September 27, 2018 and topped the charts in various countries including Australia, the UK and the US. The soundtrack contains 34 tracks, including 17 original songs, and received generally positive reviews; Mark Kennedy of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' called it a "five-star marvel" and Ben Beaumont-Thomas of ''The Guardian'' termed it an "instant classics full of Gaga's emotional might". Commercially, the soundtrack debuted at number one in the US, making Gaga the first woman with five US number-one albums in the 2010s, and breaking her tie with Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...
as the most for any female artist this decade; Swift tied with her again in 2019. It additionally topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK. As of June 2019, the soundtrack had sold over six million copies worldwide. The album won Gaga four Grammy Awards— Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media for "Shallow", as well as the latter category for " I'll Never Love Again"—and a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, formerly known as the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, which is presented to film composers, given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts si ...
. "Shallow" also won her the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, and Critics' Choice Award for Best Original Song.
In October, Gaga announced her engagement to talent agent Christian Carino whom she had met in early 2017. They ended the engagement in February 2019. Gaga signed a concert residency, named Lady Gaga Enigma + Jazz & Piano, to perform at the MGM Park Theater in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...
. The residency consists of two types of shows: Enigma, which focused on theatricality and included Gaga's biggest hits, and Jazz & Piano, which involved tracks from the Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes.
Definition
According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" ...
and stripped-down versions of Gaga's songs. The Enigma show opened in December 2018 and the Jazz & Piano in January 2019. Gaga launched her vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
makeup line, Haus Laboratories
Haus Labs by Lady Gaga (or simply Haus Labs; formerly known as Haus Laboratories) is an American vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics brand founded by Lady Gaga. First launched on September 17, 2019, it was the first major beauty line to launch exclu ...
, in September 2019 exclusively on Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
. Consisting of 40 products, including liquid eyeliners, lip glosses and face mask sticker, it reached number-one on Amazon's list of best-selling lipsticks.
2020–present: ''Chromatica'', ''Love for Sale'', and ''House of Gucci''
In February 2020, Gaga began a relationship with entrepreneur Michael Polansky. Her sixth studio album, ''Chromatica
''Chromatica'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on May 29, 2020, by Interscope Records and subsidiary Streamline. Gaga supervised the production with longtime collaborator BloodPop and a variety of other produce ...
'', was released on May 29, 2020, to positive reviews. It debuted atop the US charts, becoming her sixth consecutive number-one album in the country, and reached the top spot in more than a dozen other territories including Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the UK. ''Chromatica'' was preceded by two singles, " Stupid Love", on February 28, 2020, and " Rain on Me", with Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
, on May 22. The latter won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 20 ...
, and debuted at number one in the US, making Gaga the third person to top the country's chart in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. At the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2020. Keke Palmer hosted the 37th annual ceremony, which was presented primarily from the channel headquarter in New York City, but with a virtual segments held in another cities,due the ...
, Gaga won five awards, including the inaugural Tricon Award recognizing artists accomplished in different areas of the entertainment industry. In September 2020, she appeared in the video campaign for Valentino's Voce Viva fragrance, singing a stripped-down version of ''Chromatica'' track " Sine from Above", along with a group of models.
During the inauguration of Joe Biden
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The 59th presidential ...
as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021, Gaga sang the US national anthem. In February 2021, her dog walker Ryan Fischer was hospitalized after getting shot in Hollywood. Two of her French Bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, were taken while a third dog named Miss Asia escaped and was subsequently recovered by police. Gaga later offered a $500,000 reward for the return of her pets. Two days later, on February 26, a woman brought the dogs to a police station in Los Angeles. Both were unharmed. Los Angeles Police initially said the woman who dropped off the dogs did not appear to be involved with the shooting, but on April 29, she was one of five people charged in connection with the shooting and theft. In December 2022, James Howard Jackson, the man who shot Fischer, was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
In April 2021, Gaga teamed up with Champagne brand Dom Pérignon
Dom Pérignon (; ) is a brand of vintage Champagne. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the Champagne method for making ...
, and appeared in an ad shot by Nick Knight. On September 3, she released her third remix album, '' Dawn of Chromatica''. This was followed by her second collaborative album with Tony Bennett, titled '' Love for Sale'', on September 30. The record received generally favorable reviews, and debuted at number eight in the US. The album's promotional rollout included the television special '' One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga'', released in November 2021, on CBS, which featured select performances from the duo's August 3 and 5 performances at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
. Another taped performance by the duo recorded for ''MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
'' was released that December. At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...
, ''Love for Sale'' won Gaga and Bennett the award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
After an appearance in the television special '' Friends: The Reunion'', in which Gaga sang " Smelly Cat" with Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...
, she portrayed Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of hiring a hitman to murder her ex-husband and former head of the Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty Inc., ...
fashion house Maurizio Gucci (played by Adam Driver), in Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
's biographical crime film titled '' House of Gucci''. For the part, Gaga learned to speak with an Italian accent. She also stayed in character for 18 months, speaking with an accent for nine months during that period. Her method acting approach took a toll on her mental wellbeing, and towards the end of filming she had to be accompanied on-set by a psychiatric nurse. The film was released on November 24, 2021, to mixed reviews, though critics praised Gaga's performance as "note-perfect". She earned the New York Film Critics Circle Award, and nominations for the BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
and Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie and ...
for Best Actress. Gaga wrote the song " Hold My Hand" for the 2022 film '' Top Gun: Maverick'', and also composed the score
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
alongside Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living ...
and Harold Faltermeyer. In July 2022, she embarked on The Chromatica Ball stadium tour, which had twenty dates and grossed $112.4 million from 834,000 tickets sold. By the end of the year, she became the highest grossing female artist of 2022. Gaga is set to star with Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Acad ...
in '' Joker: Folie à Deux'', which will be released on October 4, 2024.
Artistry
Influences
Gaga grew up listening to artists such as Michael Jackson, the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...
, Queen, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
, Elton John, Christina Aguilera and Blondie, who have all influenced her music. Gaga's musical inspiration varies from dance-pop
Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in th ...
, as well as the theatrics of the pop artist Andy Warhol and her own performance roots in musical theater. She has been compared to Madonna, who has said that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. Gaga says that she wants to revolutionize pop music as Madonna has. Gaga has also cited heavy metal bands as an influence, specifically Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...
and Marilyn Manson
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...
. She credits Beyoncé as a key inspiration to pursue a musical career.
Gaga was inspired by her mother to be interested in fashion, which she now says is a major influence and integrated with her music. Stylistically, Gaga has been compared to Leigh Bowery, Isabella Blow, and Cher
Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...
; she once commented that as a child, she absorbed Cher's fashion sense and made it her own. Gaga became friends with British fashion designer Alexander McQueen
Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashi ...
shortly before his suicide in 2010, and became known for wearing his designs, particularly his towering armadillo shoes. She considers fashion designer Donatella Versace
Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955) is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model. She is the sister of Gianni Versace, founder of the luxury fashion company Versace, with whom she worked closely on the devel ...
her muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
; Versace has called Lady Gaga "the fresh Donatella". Gaga has also been influenced by Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her a ...
, whom she has admired since her childhood.
Gaga has called the Indian alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and ...
advocate Deepak Chopra a "true inspiration", and has also quoted Indian leader Osho's book ''Creativity'' on Twitter. Gaga says she was influenced by Osho's work in valuing rebellion through creativity and equality.
Musical style and themes
Critics have analyzed and scrutinized Gaga's musical and performance style, as she has experimented with new ideas and images throughout her career. She says the continual reinvention is "liberating" herself, which she has been drawn to since childhood. Gaga combines a variety of music genres, particularly incorporating elements of rock into her pop and dance music. She has also branched out into jazz and other non-pop musical genres. Gaga is a contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typical ...
, with a range spanning from B2 to B5. She has changed her vocal style regularly, and considers ''Born This Way'' "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of". In summing up her voice, ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' 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."
According to Evan Sawdey of ''PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...
'', Gaga "manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace". Gaga believes that "all good music can be played on a piano and still sound like a hit". Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on musi ...
wrote in 2010, "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances.
Auto-T ...
and undergirded with R&B-ish beats."
Gaga's songs have covered a wide variety of concepts; ''The Fame'' discusses the lust for stardom, while the follow-up ''The Fame Monster'' expresses fame's dark side through monster
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...
metaphors. ''The Fame'' is an electropop and dance-pop album that has influences of 1980s pop and 1990s Europop
Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...
, whereas ''The Fame Monster'' displays Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...
disco, and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q
Stacey Lynn Swain (born November 30, 1958), known by her stage name Stacey Q, is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. Her best-known single, John Mitchell's " Two of Hearts", released in 1986, reached number one in Canada, nu ...
". ''Born This Way'' has lyrics in English, French, German, and Spanish and features themes common to Gaga's controversial songwriting such as sex, love, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom, and individualism. The album explores new genres, such as electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music
Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...
and techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
.
The themes in ''Artpop'' revolve around Gaga's personal views of fame, love, sex, feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, self-empowerment, overcoming addiction, and reactions to media scrutiny. ''Billboard'' describes ''Artpop'' as "coherently channeling R&B, techno, disco and rock music". With ''Cheek to Cheek'', Gaga dabbled in the jazz genre. ''Joanne'', exploring the genres of country, funk, pop, dance, rock, electronic music and folk, was influenced by her personal life. The ''A Star Is Born'' soundtrack contains elements of blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
, country and bubblegum pop
Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...
. ''Billboard'' says its lyrics are about wanting change, its struggle, love, romance, and bonding, describing the music as "timeless, emotional, gritty and earnest. They sound like songs written by artists who, quite frankly, are supremely messed up but hit to the core of the listener." On ''Chromatica'', Gaga returned to her dance-pop roots, and discussed her struggles with mental health. Her second album with Tony Bennett, ''Love for Sale'', consists of a tribute to Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
.
Videos and stage
Featuring constant costume changes and provocative visuals, Gaga's music videos are often described as short films. The video for "Telephone" earned Gaga the Guinness World Record for Most Product Placement in a Video. According to author Curtis Fogel, she explores bondage
Bondage may refer to:
Restraints
*Physical restraints
**Bondage (BDSM), use of restraint for erotic stimulation
***Self-bondage, use of restraints on oneself for erotic pleasure
Social and economic practices
*Serfdom, feudal enslavement of peasan ...
and sadomasochism
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
and highlights prevalent feminist themes. The main themes of her music videos are sex, violence, and power. She calls herself "a little bit of a feminist" and asserts that she is "sexually empowering women". ''Billboard'' ranked her sixth on its list of "The 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time" in 2020, stating that "the name 'Lady Gaga' will forever be synonymous with culture-shifting music videos".
Regarded as "one of the greatest living musical performers" by ''Rolling Stone'', Gaga has called herself a perfectionist when it comes to her elaborate shows. Her performances have been 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 News. She continued the blood-soaked theme during The Monster Ball Tour, causing protests in England from family groups and fans in the aftermath of the Cumbria shootings, in which a taxi driver had killed 12 people, then himself. At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced. Katy Perry received the most nominations this year at ten, ...
, Gaga appeared in drag
Drag or The Drag may refer to:
Places
* Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway
* ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania
* Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street adj ...
as her male alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differe ...
, Jo Calderone, and delivered a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "You and I". As Gaga's choreographer and creative director, Laurieann Gibson provided material for her shows and videos for four years before she was replaced by her assistant Richard Jackson in 2014.
In an October 2018 article for ''Billboard'', Rebecca Schiller traced back Gaga's videography from "Just Dance" to the release of ''A Star Is Born''. Schiller noted that following the ''Artpop'' era, Gaga's stripped-down approach to music was reflected in the clips for the singles from ''Joanne'', taking the example of the music video of lead single "Perfect Illusion" where she eschewed "the elaborate outfits for shorts and a tee-shirt as she performed the song at a desert party". It continued with her performances in the film as well as her stage persona. Reviewing The Chromatica Ball in 2022, Chris Willman of '' Variety'' wrote that Gaga "could have further played the authenticity card for all it's worth" after the release of ''Joanne'' and ''A Star Is Born'', but instead "has determined to keep herself weird — or just weird enough to provide necessarily ballast to her more earnest inclinations".
Public image
Public reception of her music, fashion sense, and persona is polarized. Because of her influence on modern culture, and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina has offered a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame" since early 2011 with the objective of unraveling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga". When Gaga met briefly with then-president Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
at a Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
fundraiser, he found the interaction "intimidating" as she was dressed in 16-inch heels, making her the tallest woman in the room. When interviewed by Barbara Walters for her annual ABC News
ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...
special '' 10 Most Fascinating People'' in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical b ...
as an urban legend
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
. Responding to a question on this issue, she expressed her fondness for androgyny
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in ...
.
Gaga's outlandish fashion sense has also served as an important aspect of her character. During her early career, members of the media compared her fashion choices to those of Christina Aguilera. In 2011, 121 women gathered at the Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
dressed in costumes similar to those worn by Gaga, earning the 2011 Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of Lady Gaga Impersonators. The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third. ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying that she "brought performance art into the mainstream". ''People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of proper ...
'' ranked her number one on their "Best Dressed Stars of 2021" list, writing that Gaga "strutted the streets in high-fashion designs, from a sculptural seersucker number to a black lace corseted gown—accessorizing each with elegant updos, sky-high heels and retro shades—like it was no sweat."
''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' placed Gaga on their All-''Time'' 100 Fashion Icons list, stating: "Lady Gaga is just as notorious for her outrageous style as she is for her pop hits ... agahas sported outfits made from plastic bubbles, Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably '' Sesame Street'' and '' The Muppet Show'', as ...
dolls, and raw meat." 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 also made out of raw beef. Partly awarded in recognition of the dress, '' Vogue'' named her one of the Best Dressed people of 2010 and ''Time'' named the dress the Fashion Statement of the year. It attracted the attention of worldwide media; the animal rights organization PETA
Peta or PETA may refer to:
Acronym
* Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization
* People Eating Tasty Animals, ...
found it offensive. The meat dress was displayed at the National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since ope ...
in 2012, and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...
in September 2015.
Gaga's fans call her "Mother Monster", and she often refers to them as "Little Monsters", a phrase she had tattooed on herself in dedication. In his article "Lady Gaga Pioneered Online Fandom Culture As We Know It" for ''Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...
'', Jake Hall wrote that Gaga inspired several subsequent fan-brandings, such as those of Taylor Swift, Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to t ...
and Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
. In July 2012, Gaga also co-founded the social networking service
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, ac ...
LittleMonsters.com, devoted to her fans. Scott Hardy, CEO of Polaroid, praised Gaga for inspiring fans and for her close interactions with them on social media.
Censorship
In 2011, the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Culture (MOC) was a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which was dissolved on 19 March 2018. The responsibilities of the MOC, which were assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, encompassed cultu ...
acting on behalf of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, banned Gaga for "being vulgar." The ban was lifted in 2014. However, conditions for ''Artpop'' to go on sale legally in China were placed on the album artwork, covering her almost naked body. Officials also changed the title of the song "Sexxx Dreams
"Sexxx Dreams" (censored as "X Dreams") is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her third studio album, ''Artpop'' (2013). The song was written by Gaga, Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair, Martin Bresso, and William Grigahcine, and produced by ...
" to "X Dreams."
In 2016, Gaga was banned in China again after she publicly talked with the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
. The Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mi ...
added Gaga to a list of hostile foreign forces, and Chinese websites and media organizations were ordered to stop distributing her songs. The Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party
The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...
also issued an order for state-controlled media to condemn this meeting. In the following years, Gaga's image was blacked out in reporting of the 91st Academy Awards
The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AM ...
in China and her appearance was cut from ''Friends: The Reunion''; both incidents received backlash from her Chinese fans.
Activism
Philanthropy
After declining an invitation to appear on the single " We Are the World 25 for Haiti", because of rehearsals for her tour, to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake
A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's ca ...
, Gaga donated the proceeds of her January 2010 Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
concert to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her online store that day were also donated, and Gaga announced that $500,000 was collected for the fund. Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six m ...
hit Japan, Gaga tweeted a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts; these raised $1.5 million. In June 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan
MTV Japan (Music Television Japan) is the Japanese version of the cable television network based in Japan. It is a subsidiary of Paramount Networks Japan K.K., and was launched on November 15, 1993. It can be viewed on cable television, SKY Perf ...
's charity show in Makuhari Messe
is a Japanese convention center outside Tokyo, located in the Mihama-ku ward of Chiba City, in the northwest corner of Chiba Prefecture. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Tokyo's commuter rail system. '' Makuhari'' is the name o ...
, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross
The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross.
The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...
.
In 2012, Gaga joined the campaign group Artists Against Fracking Artists Against Fracking is an association of artists started by Yoko Ono and her son, Sean Lennon, also including Mark Ruffalo, Robert de Niro, Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga and Deepak Chopra.
History
As of August 2012, 180 artists were part of the ...
. That October, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
gave Gaga and four other activists the LennonOno Grant for Peace in Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a pop ...
, Iceland. The following month, Gaga pledged to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds span ...
. 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
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album '' She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to ach ...
, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics
MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies i ...
to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Sales have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.
In April 2016, Gaga joined Vice President Joe Biden at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...
to support Biden's It's On Us campaign as he traveled to colleges on behalf of the organization, which has seen 250,000 students from more than 530 colleges sign a pledge of solidarity and activism. Two months later, Gaga attended the 84th Annual US Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis where she joined with the Dalai Lama to talk about the power of kindness and how to make the world a more compassionate place.
In April 2020, Gaga curated the televised benefit concert, '' One World: Together at Home'', a collaboration with Global Citizen to benefit the World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund
COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund was a global fund for supporting the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. It was launched on 13 March 2020 by the United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy F ...
. The special raised $127 million, which according to ''Forbes'' "puts it on par with the other legendary fundraiser, Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine ...
, as the highest grossing charity concert in history." In recognition of her contribution to the Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...
movement, Gaga received the Yolanda Denise King
Yolanda may refer to:
* Yolanda (name), a given name derived from the Greek ''Iolanthe''
Places
* Yolanda, California
* Yolanda Shrine, monument located at Barangay Anibong, Tacloban, Leyte
Film
* ''Yolanda'' (film), a 1924 film starring ...
High Ground Award from the King Center's Beloved Community Awards in January 2021. In her acceptance speech, she denounced racism and white supremacy and addressed her social responsibility as a high-profile artist and white woman.
Born This Way Foundation
In 2012, Gaga launched the Born This Way Foundation
Born This Way Foundation (sometimes abbreviated as BTWF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by American artist and activist Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. Named after the singer's album '' Born This Way'' (2011), the Found ...
(BTWF), a non-profit organization that focuses on youth empowerment. It takes its name from her 2011 single and album. Media proprietor Oprah Winfrey, writer Deepak Chopra, and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...
spoke at the foundation's inauguration at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. The foundation's original funding included $1.2 million from Gaga, $500,000 from the MacArthur Foundation, and $850,000 from Barneys New York. In July 2012, the BTWF partnered with Office Depot
The ODP Corporation is an American office supply holding company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 associates with businesses in the United States. ...
, which donated 25% of the sales, a minimum of $1 million of a series of limited edition back-to-school products. The foundation's initiatives have included the "Born Brave Bus" that followed her on tour as a youth drop-in center as an initiative against bullying.
In October 2015, at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Gaga joined 200 high school students, policy makers, and academic officials, including Peter Salovey
Peter Salovey (; born February 21, 1958) is an American social psychologist and current President of Yale University. He previously served as Yale's Provost, Dean of Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Dean of Yale College. Salovey is ...
, to discuss ways to recognize and channel emotions for positive outcomes. In 2016, the foundation partnered with Intel, Vox Media
Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass '' SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 ...
, and ''Recode
''Recode'' (formerly ''Re/code'') is a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously co ...
'' to fight online harassment. The sales revenue of the 99th issue of the ''V'' magazine, which featured Gaga and Kinney, was donated to the foundation. Gaga and Elton John released the clothing and accessories line Love Bravery at Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
in May. 25% of each purchase support Gaga's foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Gaga partnered with Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 ...
for a week in June 2017 with the "Cups of Kindness" campaign, where the company donated 25 cents from some of the beverages sold to the foundation. She also appeared in a video by Staples Inc. to raise funds for the foundation and DonorsChoose.org.
On the 2018 World Kindness Day, Gaga partnered with the foundation to bring food and relief to a Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
shelter for people who have been forced to evacuate homes due to the California wildfires. The foundation also partnered with Starbucks and SoulCycle to thank California firefighters for their relief work during the crisis. The singer had to previously evacuate her own home during the Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties of the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018, and burned of land. The fire destroyed 1,643 structures, killed three people, and prompted th ...
which spread through parts of Malibu.
In March 2019, she penned a letter to supporters of the Born This Way Foundation, announcing the launch of a new pilot program for a teen mental health first aid project with the National Council for Behavioral Health. Gaga revealed her personal struggles with mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...
in her letter and how she was able to get support which saved her life: "I know what it means to have someone support me and understand what I'm going through, and every young person in the world should have someone to turn to when they're hurting. It saved my life, and it will save theirs." In September 2020, Gaga released an anthology book, ''Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community'', featuring fifty-one stories about kindness, bravery, and resilience from young people all over the world collected by the Born This Way Foundation, and introduced by herself. She had been promoting it with a 21 days of kindness challenge on her social media, using the "BeKind21" hashtag. In 2021, Gaga collaborated with the Champagne house Dom Pérignon to release a limited edition of Rosé Vintage 2005 bottles along with a sculpture designed by her. The 110 exclusive pieces will be sold at private sales, and the profits will benefit the foundation. On the 2021 World Kindness Day, Gaga released a 30-minute special, titled '' The Power of Kindness'', as part of the foundation's Channel Kindness program, in which together with a mental health expert and a group of eleven young people, she explored the connection between kindness and mental health.
LGBT advocacy
A bisexual woman, Gaga actively supports LGBT rights worldwide. She attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered a gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day ( spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in ...
, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
-based LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term i ...
marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of ''The Fame''. One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards
The NewNowNext-Awards is an American annual entertainment awards show, presented by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-themed channel Logo TV. Launched in 2008, awards are presented both for LGBT-specific and general interest achievements i ...
, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordm ...
.
Gaga spoke at the 2009 National Equality March in Washington, D.C. to support the LGBT rights movement. She attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four gay and lesbian former members of the United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
who had been unable to serve openly under the US military's "don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decembe ...
" policy, which banned open homosexuality in the military. Gaga urged her fans via YouTube to contact their senators in an effort to overturn the policy. In September 2010, she spoke at a Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's rally in Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metro ...
. Following this event, ''The Advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law.
The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to:
Magazines
* ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States
*''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...
'' named her a "fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians.
Gaga appeared at Europride, an international event dedicated to LGBT pride, in Rome in June 2011. She criticized the poor state of gay rights in many European countries and described gay people as "revolutionaries of love". Later that year, she was referenced by teenager Jamey Rodemeyer
James T. Rodemeyer (March 21, 1997 - September 18, 2011) was an American teenager known for his activism against homophobia and his videos on YouTube to help victims of homophobic bullying.
Personal life
Jamey Rodemeyer lived with his parent ...
in the hours prior to his death, with Rodemeyer having tweeted "@ladygaga bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever". Rodemeyer's suicide prompted Gaga to meet with then-President Barack Obama in order to address anti-gay bullying in American schools. In 2011, she was also ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church Monastery so that she could officiate the wedding of two female friends.
In June 2016, during a vigil held in Los Angeles for victims of the attack at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Gaga read aloud the names of the 49 people killed in the attack, and gave a speech. Later that month, Gaga appeared in Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
's tribute video to the victims of the attack. She opposed the presidency of Donald Trump
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
and his military transgender ban. She supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
for president in 2016. In 2018, a leaked memo from Trump's office revealed that his administration wanted to change the legal definition of sex to exclude transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
Americans. Gaga was one of the many celebrities to call him out and spread the #WontBeErased campaign to her 77 million Twitter followers. In January 2019, during one of her Enigma shows, she criticized Vice President Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, ...
for his wife Karen Pence working at an evangelical Christian school where LGBTQ people are turned away, calling him "the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian". Gaga also stated "I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice, and everybody is welcome". Gaga made a congratulatory speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the LGBT community#Terminology, gay community in response to a police raid that began in t ...
and the LGBTQ+ community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
's accomplishments at WorldPride NYC 2019 outside the Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the sin ...
, birthplace of the modern gay rights movement
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...
.
Impact
Gaga was named the " Queen of Pop" in a 2011 ranking by ''Rolling Stone'' based on record sales and social media metrics. In 2012, she ranked fourth in VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
's Greatest Women in Music and became a feature of the temporary exhibition ''The Elevated. From the Pharaoh to Lady Gaga'', which marked the 150th anniversary of the National Museum in Warsaw.
Gaga has often been praised for using controversy to bring attention to various issues. According to Frankie Graddon of ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'', Gaga—who wore a meat dress to highlight her distaste for the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy—influenced protest dressing on red carpet. ''Billboard'' named her "the Greatest Pop Star of 2009", asserting that "to say that her one-year rise from rookie to MVP was meteoric doesn't quite cut it, as she wasn't just successful, but game-changing—thanks to her voracious appetite for reinvention." Because of ''The Fame'' success—it was listed as one of the 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All-Time by ''Rolling Stone'' in 2013—Gaga has been credited as one of the musicians that popularized synthpop in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
According to Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa T. Sanneh (born 1976) is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', covering the rock and roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes. Since 2008 he has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorke ...
of ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
'', "Lady Gaga blazed a trail for truculent pop stars by treating her own celebrity as an evolving art project." Including ''Born This Way'' as one of the 50 best female albums of all time, ''Rolling Stone'' Rob Sheffield
Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author.
He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...
considers it "hard to remember a world where we didn't have Gaga, although we're pretty sure it was a lot more boring". In 2015, ''Time'' also noted that Gaga had "practically invented the current era of pop music as spectacle". A 2017 journal published by ''Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
''Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. The journal covers research on the psychology of the production and appreciation of the arts ...
'' studying structural patterns in melodies of earworm
An earworm, sometimes referred to as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or, most commonly after earworms, Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI), is a catchy and/or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person ...
songs compiled lists of catchiest tracks from 3,000 participants, in which Gaga's "Bad Romance", "Alejandro", and "Poker Face" ranked number one, eight, and nine, respectively. In 2018, NPR named her the second most influential female artist of the 21st century, noting her as "one of the first big artists of the 'Internet age. Gaga and her work have influenced various artists including Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
, Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. ...
, Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and A&R. After ...
, Halsey, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Nick Jonas
Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...
, Sam Smith
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
, Noah Cyrus
Noah Lindsey Cyrus (born January 8, 2000) is an American singer and actress. As a child actress she voiced the titular character in the English dub of the film '' Ponyo'' (2008), as well as having minor roles on shows like ''Hannah Montana'' and ...
, Katherine Langford, MGMT
MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists o ...
, Allie X, Greyson Chance, Cardi B
Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...
, Rina Sawayama, Blackpink, Madison Beer, Ren (singer), Ren, Slayyyter, Bebe Rexha, Bree Runway, Celeste (singer), Celeste, Kim Petras, Jojo Siwa, Pabllo Vittar, Ava Max, Doja Cat, Chaeyoung of Twice, Kanye West, Rachel Zegler, and SZA.
A new genus of ferns, ''Gaga (plant), Gaga'', and three species, ''G. germanotta'', ''G. monstraparva'' and ''Kaikaia gaga'', have been named in her honor. The name ''monstraparva'' alluded to Gaga's fans, known as Little Monsters, since their symbol is the outstretched "monster claw" hand, which resembles a tightly rolled young fern leaf prior to unfurling. Gaga also has an extinct mammal, ''Gagadon minimonstrum'', and a parasitic wasp, ''Aleiodes gaga'', named for her.
In Taichung, Taiwan, July 3 is designated as "Lady Gaga Day" marking the first day Gaga visited the country in 2011. In May 2021, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of ''Born This Way'' and its cultural impact, West Hollywood, California, West Hollywood mayor, Lindsey P. Horvath, presented a key to the city to Gaga and declared May 23 as "Born This Way Day." A street painting with the Daniel Quasar's version of the Rainbow flag (LGBT), pride flag featuring the album's title was also unveiled on Robertson Boulevard (Los Angeles), Robertson Boulevard as a tribute to the album, and how it has inspired the LGBT community over the years.
Achievements
Gaga has won thirteen Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
, three Brit Awards, sixteen Guinness World Records, and the inaugural Songwriters Hall of Fame's Contemporary Icon Award. She received a National Arts Awards' Young Artist Award, which honors individuals who have shown accomplishments and leadership early in their career, the Jane Ortner Artist Award from the Grammy Museum in 2016, and a National Board of Review Award for Best Actress in 2018. Gaga has also been recognized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory ...
(CFDA) with the Fashion Icon award. In 2019, she became the first woman to win an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award in one year for her contribution to ''A Star Is Born''s soundtrack. At the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, she was honored with the inaugural Tricon Award representing achievement in three (or more) fields of entertainment.
Acknowledged by ''Billboard'' as the Greatest Pop Star in 2009, with honorable mention in 2010 and 2011, and Woman of the Year in 2015, Gaga has consecutively appeared on the magazine's Artists of the Year chart (scoring the definitive title in 2010), and ranked 11th on its Top Artists of the 2010s chart. She is the longest-reigning act of ''Billboard''s Dance/Electronic Albums chart with 244 weeks at number one, while ''The Fame'' (2008) holds the record for the most time on top in the chart's history, with 175 non-consecutive weeks. Her album ''Born This Way'' (2011) featured on ''Rolling Stone''s 2020 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the song "Bad Romance" and its music video were among ''Rolling Stone''s Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time, respectively, in 2021.
With estimated sales of 170million records as of 2018, Gaga is one of List of best-selling music artists, the world's best-selling music artists, and has produced some of the List of best-selling singles, best-selling singles of all time. As of 2022, she has grossed more than $689.5 million in revenue from concert tours and residencies with attendance of 6.3 million, being the fifth woman to pass the half-billion total as reported to ''Billboard'' Boxscore, receiving the Pollstar, ''Pollstar'' Award for Pop Touring Artist of the Decade (2010s). She is the fourteenth List of highest-certified music artists in the United States, top digital singles artist in the US, with 85.5 million equivalent units certified according to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), was the first woman to receive the Digital Diamond Award certification from RIAA, one of three artists with at least two Diamond certified songs ("Bad Romance" and "Poker Face"), and the first and only artist to have two songs pass seven million downloads ("Poker Face" and "Just Dance"). In 2020, she became the first female artist to have four singles ("Just Dance", "Poker Face", "Bad Romance" and "Shallow") sell at least 10 million copies globally.
According to ''Guinness World Records'', she was the most followed person on Twitter from 2011 to 2013, the most famous celebrity in 2013, and the most powerful popstar in 2014. She was included on ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' Forbes Celebrity 100, Celebrity 100 from 2010 to 2015 and then from 2018 to 2020, having topped the list in 2011. She earned $62 million, $90 million, $52 million, $80 million, $33 million, and $59 million from 2010 through 2015, and $50 million, $39 million and $38 million between 2018 and 2020. Gaga also appeared on their list of the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, World's Most Powerful Women from 2010 to 2014. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world
''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...
by ''Time'' magazine in 2010 and 2019, and ranked second in its most influential people of the past ten years readers' poll in 2013.
In March 2012, Gaga was ranked fourth on ''Billboard''s list of top moneymakers of 2011 with earnings of $25 million, which included sales from ''Born This Way'' and her Monster Ball Tour. The following year, she topped ''Forbes'' List of Top-Earning Celebs Under 30, which she also topped in 2011, and in February 2016, the magazine estimated her net worth to be $275 million. In December 2019, Gaga placed 10th on ''Forbes'' list of Forbes list of highest-earning musicians#2010s, Top-Earning Musicians of the Decade with earnings of $500 million in the 2010s. She was the fourth highest-earning female musician on the list.
Discography
Solo studio albums
* ''The Fame
''The Fame'' is the debut studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008, by Interscope Records. After joining Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with different ...
'' (2008) (reissued in 2009 as '' The Fame Monster'')
* '' Born This Way'' (2011)
* '' Artpop'' (2013)
* ''Joanne Joanne may refer to:
Music
* ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga
** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne''
* "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South''
* "Joanne", a song by C ...
'' (2016)
* ''Chromatica
''Chromatica'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on May 29, 2020, by Interscope Records and subsidiary Streamline. Gaga supervised the production with longtime collaborator BloodPop and a variety of other produce ...
'' (2020)
Collaborative studio albums
* '' Cheek to Cheek'' (with Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...
) (2014)
* '' Love for Sale'' (with Tony Bennett) (2021)
Tours and residencies
Headlining tours
* The Fame Ball Tour (2009)
* The Monster Ball Tour (2009–2011)
* The Born This Way Ball (2012–2013)
* ArtRave: The Artpop Ball (2014)
* Joanne World Tour (2017–2018)
* The Chromatica Ball (2022)
Co-headlining tours
* Cheek to Cheek Tour
The Cheek to Cheek Tour was a co-headlining tour by American singers Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in support of their album, '' Cheek to Cheek'' (2014). The tour, which began with a two-night run at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, played a tota ...
(with Tony Bennett) (2014–2015)
Residencies
* Lady Gaga Live at Roseland Ballroom (2014)
* Lady Gaga Enigma + Jazz & Piano (2018–2022)
Filmography
Film
* '' Machete Kills'' (2013)
* '' Sin City: A Dame to Kill For'' (2014)
* '' A Star Is Born'' (2018)
* '' House of Gucci'' (2021)
* '' Joker: Folie à Deux'' (2024)
Television
* '' American Horror Story: Hotel'' (2015–2016)
* '' American Horror Story: Roanoke'' (2016)
See also
* Artists with the most number-ones on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
* Honorific nicknames in popular music
* LGBT culture in New York City
* List of actors with Academy Award nominations
* List of LGBT people from New York City
* List of Billboard Social 50 number-one artists, List of ''Billboard'' Social 50 number-one artists
* List of best-selling female artists
* List of most-followed Twitter accounts
* Forbes list of highest-earning musicians, ''Forbes'' list of highest-earning musicians
* List of organisms named after famous people (born 1950–present)
Notes
References
Citations
Literary sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga,
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20th-century LGBT people
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Actresses from New York City
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