Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
name	Grammy Awards
current awards	53rd Grammy Awards
description	Outstanding achievements in the music industry
presenter	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
country	United States
year	1959
website	http://www.grammy.com/ }}

A Grammy Award (originally called Gramophone Award) — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The annual awards ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a widely viewed televised ceremony. It is the music equivalent to the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Award for stage and the Academy Awards for film.

The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. Following the 2011 ceremony, NARAS overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 54th Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2012 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Gramophone trophy

The gold-plated trophies are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, and making the trophy bigger and grander. The trophies with the recipient's name engraved on them are not available till after the award announcements, so "stunt" trophies are re-used each year for the broadcast.

As of February 2009, 7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded.

Categories

The "General Field" are four awards which are not restricted by genre.

Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album.

Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song.

Song of the Year is awarded to the writer(s)/composer(s) of a single song.

Best New Artist is awarded to a performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist (which is not necessarily their first proper release).

Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other contributions such as artwork and video. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry.

History

The Grammy Awards had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. As the recording executives chosen for the Walk of Fame committee worked at compiling a list of important recording industry people who might qualify for a Walk of Fame star, they realized there were many more people who were leaders in their business who would never earn a star on Hollywood Boulevard. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating an award given by their industry similar to the Oscars and the Emmys. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. After it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it; one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of Edison's invention, the gramophone, for the awards, which were first given for the year 1958.

Nomination process

Record companies and individuals may submit recordings to be nominated. Nominations are made online and a physical copy of the work is sent to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Once a work is entered, reviewing sessions are held, by more than 150 experts from the recording industry, to determine whether the work is eligible and entered in the correct category for official nomination.

The resulting list is circulated to all NARAS members, each of whom may vote to nominate in the general field (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) and in no more than nine out of 30 other fields on their ballots. The five recordings that earn the most votes in each category become the nominees. There may be more than five nominees if there is a tie in the nomination process.

Whereas members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are generally invited to screenings or are sent DVDs of movies nominated for Oscars, NARAS members do not receive nominated recordings.

After nominees have been determined, final voting ballots are sent to Recording Academy members, who may then vote in the general fields and in no more than eight of the 30 fields. NARAS members are encouraged, but not required, to vote only in their fields of expertise. Ballots are tabulated secretly by the major independent accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Following the tabulation of votes the winners are announced at the Grammy Awards. The recording with the most votes in a category wins and it is possible to have a tie. Winners are presented with the Grammy Award and those who do not win are given a medal for their nomination.

In both voting rounds, Academy members are required to vote based upon quality alone, and not to be influenced by sales, chart performance, personal friendships, regional preferences or company loyalty. The acceptance of gifts is prohibited. Members are urged to vote in a manner that preserves the integrity of the academy.

The eligibility period for the 2012 Grammy Awards is September 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011.

2012 category restructuring

On April 6, 2011, The Recording Academy announced a drastic overhaul of many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The number of categories will be brought down to 78 from 109. The most important change is the elimination of the distinction between male and female soloists and between collaborations and duo/groups in various genre fields (pop, rock, R&B;, country and rap). Also, several categories for instrumental soloists will be discontinued. Recordings in these categories will now fall under the general categories for best solo performances.

In the Rock field, the separate categories for hard rock and metal albums are combined and the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category has been eliminated due to a waning number of entries.

In R&B;, the distinction between best contemporary R&B; album and other R&B; albums has been eliminated. They now feature in one, general Best R&B; Album category.

In Rap, the categories for best rap soloist and best rap duo or group will be merged into the new Best Rap Performance category.

The most eliminations occurred in the Roots category. Up to and including 2011, there were separate categories for various regional American music forms, such as Hawaiian music, Native American music and Zydeco/Cajun music. Due to the consistently low number of entries for these categories, The Recording Academy decided to combine all these music variations into the new Best Regional Roots Music Album, which will also include polka, which lost its own separate category in 2009.

In the same genre field, the traditional and contemporary blues categories and the traditional and contemporary folk categories each will be consolidated into one per genre, due to the number of entries and given the challenges in distinguishing between Contemporary Folk and Americana, and Contemporary and Traditional Blues. In the World Music genre field, the traditional and contemporary categories have also been merged.

In the Classical genre field, its main category Best Classical Album has been discontinued because most recipients in this category had also won in one of the other classical categories for the same album. Classical recordings will now be eligible for the main Album of the Year category.

There are also a few minor name changes to better reflect the nature of the separate categories. It was determined by the Recording Academy that the word "Gospel" in the Gospel genre field tends to conjure up the images and sounds of traditional soul gospel and leaves out the current Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Therefore the genre field and some categories have been renamed as Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music.

Several genre fields will remain unchanged, such as Dance, Reggae, Traditional Pop, Spoken Word and Comedy. The Crafts field (e.g. Liner Notes, Packaging and Historical Productions) is also unchanged.

Leaders

With 31 Grammy Awards, Sir Georg Solti is the male artist with the most Grammy wins. Alison Krauss is the biggest winner among female artists with 26 awards. U2, with 22, holds the record among bands, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra holds the record for any musical group with 62 wins.

Rank	1st	2nd	3rd
Artist	Georg Solti	Quincy Jones	Alison Krauss
Total awards	31	27	26

Criticism

Because thousands of recordings appear each year and very few voting members have heard more than a relatively small number of them, it is likely that many individual votes will be cast by voters who are unfamiliar with all the recordings nominated in that category. Additionally, because of the small number of votes cast in many of the categories, a lobbying campaign for a particular recording may need only a few dozen votes for success. Large choruses have achieved Grammy awards after persuading many of their members to join NARAS.

Certain musical artists have voiced personal issues with the nature of the Grammys.

When his band Pearl Jam won a Grammy in the category ''Best Hard Rock Performance'' in 1996, singer Eddie Vedder commented on stage: "I don't know what this means. I don't think it means anything."

Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of progressive metal band Tool, did not attend the Grammy Awards ceremony to receive one of their awards. He explained his reasons: }}

Bono, lead singer of the rock band U2 was critical of the Grammys early in his career, but later he began to appreciate their inclusiveness: }}

The Grammy Awards has also been criticized for generally awarding or nominating more commercially successful albums rather than critically successful albums.

TV broadcasts and ratings

Prior to the first live Grammys telecast in 1971 on American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a series of taped annual specials in the 1960s called ''The Best on Record'' were broadcast on National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The first Grammy Award telecast took place on the night of November 29, 1959, as an episode of the NBC anthology series ''Sunday Showcase'', which was normally devoted to plays, original TV dramas, and variety shows. Until 1971, awards ceremonies were held in both New York and Los Angeles, with winners accepting at one of the two. Pierre Cossette bought the rights to broadcast the ceremony from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and organized the first live telecast. CBS Broadcasting bought the rights in 1973 after moving the ceremony to Nashville, Tennessee; the American Music Awards were created for ABC (by Dick Clark) as a result.

The Recording Academy announced on June 21, 2011 that it had reached a new deal with CBS to keep the awards show on the network for another 10 years. CBS will also broadcast the annual nominations concert special on November 30, 2011 from Los Angeles. The Grammys are set for Feb. 12, 2012. The 2011 Grammy Award show had 26.6 million viewers.

Venue

Prior to 1971, the Grammy Award ceremonies were held in different locations on the same day. Originally New York City and Los Angeles were the host cities. Chicago joined being a host city in 1962, and then Nashville became the fourth location in 1965.

The first Grammys ceremony in 1971, held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, was the first one to take place in one location. The ceremony was then moved to Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum in New York City, and then Nashville's Tennessee Theatre in the following two years. Then from 1974 to 2003, the Grammys were held in various venues in New York City and Los Angeles. Notable locations included New York City's Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall; and Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, the Staples Center and the Hollywood Palladium.

In 2004, the Staples Center became the permanent home of the award ceremonies. The Grammy Museum was built across the street from Staples Center in LA Live to preserve the history of the Grammy Awards. Embedded on the sidewalks at the museum streets are bronze disks, similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring each year's top winners, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.

See also

National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences

Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences

Latin Grammy Awards

Notes and references

External links

Grammy Awards winners at Grammy.com (searchable database)

Category:Media awards Category:Awards established in 1958 Category:Annual television programs

ar:جائزة غرامي az:Qremmi mükafatı bn:গ্র্যামি এ্যাওয়ার্ড zh-min-nan:Grammy Chióng bg:Грами ca:Premi Grammy cs:Grammy Award cbk-zam:Grammy cy:Gwobr Grammy da:Grammy Award de:Grammy Awards et:Grammy auhind el:Βραβείο Γκράμι es:Premios Grammy eo:Grammy Award fa:جایزه گرمی fr:Grammy Awards ga:Gradam Grammy gl:Premios Grammy ko:그래미상 hi:ग्रैमी पुरस्कार hr:Grammy id:Penghargaan Grammy is:Grammy-verðlaunin it:Grammy Award he:פרס גראמי jv:Penghargaan Grammy ka:გრემის დაჯილდოება sw:Grammy Awards la:Praemium Grammy lv:Grammy balva lt:Grammy apdovanojimas hu:Grammy-díj mk:Награди Греми ml:ഗ്രാമി പുരസ്കാരം mr:ग्रॅमी पुरस्कार arz:جرامى ms:Anugerah Grammy my:ဂရမ်မီဆု nl:Grammy Award ja:グラミー賞 no:Grammy Award nn:Grammy Award uz:Grammy pl:Nagroda Grammy pt:Grammy Award ro:Premiile Grammy ru:Грэмми sah:Грэмми sc:Grammy Award sq:Grammy Award si:ග්රැමී සම්මාන simple:Grammy Award sk:Grammy Award ckb:خەڵاتی گرامی sr:Греми fi:Grammy-palkinto sv:Grammy Award ta:கிராமி விருது th:รางวัลแกรมมี tr:Grammy Ödülleri uk:Премія Ґреммі vi:Giải Grammy zh:葛萊美獎

Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
name	Skylar Grey
background	solo_singer
birth name	Holly Brook Hafermann
alias	Holly Brook
birth date	February 23, 1986
origin	Mazomanie, Wisconsin,
instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
genre	Pop, soul, folk rock, rock, hip hop
occupation	Singer, songwriter, record producer
years active	2004–present
label	KIDinaKORNER, Interscope, Machine Shop
website	}}

Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), better known by her stage name Skylar Grey, is a Grammy-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Grey was signed to Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. She released her debut album as Holly Brook, ''Like Blood Like Honey'', in 2006. She co-wrote the three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" with Alex da Kid, who signed her to his Wonderland Music label. She was featured as a guest vocalist on Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody", Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home", Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor" and Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said".

Life and career

2001–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Grey performed professionally as a child in a folk duo with her mother called Generations. Together, (with producer/engineer Randy Green) they independently produced three albums, ''Dream Maker'', ''Lift Me'', and ''Millennial Child/Waiting For You''. Grey started her first band at the age of fifteen after 'sneaking' into bars, working with jazz musicians including Jeff Eckles, Tim Whalen and Leo Sidran in Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2003, Brook moved to Los Angeles and recorded a demo, which led to her being signed by Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson to the band's vanity label, Machine Shop Recordings, at age 18 in the fall of 2004. Her voice is featured on the Fort Minor songs "Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody". Working with producer Jonathan Ingoldsby, Brook released her debut album, ''Like Blood Like Honey'', on June 6, 2006. She landed opening spots for tours with Jamie Cullum, KD Lang, Daniel Powter, Teddy Geiger and Duncan Sheik.

In 2010, Brook lent both her song "It's Raining Again" and her image to a promotional campaign for Ciao Water. Prior to this, she has appeared on albums by other artists, including Brie Larson's ''Finally Out of P.E.'', and Fort Minor's ''The Rising Tied''. Brook has toured with as part of Duncan Sheik's band, and appears heavily on his 2009 album ''Whisper House''. At the beginning in 2010 she also performed in the theatrical version of "Whisper House," playing one of the two lead ghost vocalists along with David Poe. Also in 2010, she self-released the seven-song ''O’Dark:Thirty EP'', produced by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby. In 2009, Brook appeared as a backing vocalist on Eurovision contestant, Yohanna's debut album, ''Butterflies and Elvis''.

2011–present: ''Invinsible''

Brook later changed her name to Skylar Grey. She explained that “it represents the unknowns in life. People seem to be afraid of the unknowns, but I’m the complete opposite. I dive into the unknown because I feel like that’s where all your possibilities come from.”

She was still living in Oregon and had no recognition as Skylar Grey. Grey went to New York to meet her publicist and was introduced to Alex da Kid, who played Grey the song "Airplanes" by B.O.B and Hayley Williams which he produced. Grey liked what she heard and sent Alex da Kid the songs "Love The Way You Lie" Parts I, II and III.

Producer Alex da Kid signed her to a production deal on his KIDinaKORNER imprint. She helped write sections of all three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" by rapper Eminem and Rihanna as well as performing the demo for the song. Grey earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for her writing contributions to "Love the Way You Lie". She also co-wrote Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home", along with "Castle Walls" by T.I. and Christina Aguilera. On March 10, 2011, Diddy-Dirty Money performed the single "Coming Home" with Grey and two female background vocalists Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, live on ''American Idol''.

She is also a featured guest on "I Need a Doctor". Grey is also featured on Lupe Fiasco's third studio album ''Lasers'', on the second single, "Words I Never Said" and was also featured in the live performance of the song, with Lupe, on ''The Colbert Report'' on May 9, 2011. Grey made her live performance debut under her new alias during the 53rd Grammy Awards, performing "I Need a Doctor" alongside Eminem and Dr. Dre. She is currently working on her solo studio album ''Invinsible'' with Alex Da Kid. She has signed to Interscope Records through Da Kid's KIDinaKORNER, and her first promotional buzz single "Dance Without You" was released on June 6, 2011, with the official music video being released on July 5. The first official single "Invisible" was released to radio on June 16. On July 9, 2011, Grey performed live at the World Peace Event in Washington, DC, appearing along with the 14th Dalai Lama. On the 6th of August, she peformed at the 20th Lollaplooza festival as both a solo artist and with Eminem during the song "I Need A Doctor". The next day, while passing by the area where YouTube sensation Karmin was recording their cover of "I Need A Doctor," Skylar joined the duo for an impromptu performance.

Influences

Grey has listed Marilyn Manson, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan and Death Cab for Cutie as her influences.

Discography

''Like Blood Like Honey'' (2006)

''Invinsible'' (2011)

References

External links

Category:1986 births Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American female singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American female guitarists Category:Living people Category:People from Dane County, Wisconsin Category:Songwriters from Wisconsin

ar:سكايلر غري da:Skylar Grey de:Skylar Grey fr:Skylar Grey it:Skylar Grey he:סקיילר גריי nl:Skylar Grey no:Holly Brook pl:Skylar Grey pt:Skylar Grey ru:Скайлар Грей zh-yue:Holly Brook

Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of Lady Gaga
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Birth date	March 28, 1986
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Pop, dance
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	}}

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (; born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and by the end of 2007, was signed with Streamline Records. Employed as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro" and allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album ''Born This Way'' (2011) topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles that include "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Beside her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by such acts as David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is well-recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through fashion, performance and music videos. She has sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and her singles some of the best-selling worldwide. Her achievements include four ''Guinness World Records'', five Grammy Awards and thirteen MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), is regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine, and was named one of the most influential people in the world by ''Time'' magazine.

Biography

1986–2004: Early life

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, in New York City. Brought up in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga is of Italian and more distant French-Canadian descent, and is the daughter of Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur. The elder of two children, Gaga has one sister, Natali, a fashion student, who was born in 1992. Gaga has stressed that – despite her seemingly affluent upbringing – she did not come from a wealthy background, stating that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."

From the age of 11, Gaga – who was raised Roman Catholic – attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure" as she told in an interview, "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate.

Left-handed Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of 14. Her passion for musical theatre brought her lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in ''Guys and Dolls'' and Philia in ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series ''The Sopranos'' in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" in addition to unsuccessfully auditioning for parts in New York shows. When her time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart came to an end, her mother encouraged her to apply for the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After gaining early admission at 17, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street.

She sharpened her songwriting skills while composing essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst; such research prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity." She also tried out for and won auditions while at CAP21, including the part of an unsuspecting diner customer where MTV's ''Boiling Points'' – a prank reality television show – was being filmed. Notwithstanding these achievements, she felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she withdrew from the school to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she remembers.

2005–07: Career beginnings

Settled in a small apartment on Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book ''The Portal in the Park'', by Cricket Casey. She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman, drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager Frank Fredericks – in September of that year. The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er". Playing in bars like the Greenwich Village's The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis. Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays ''Words'' and ''Red and Blue'' at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.

SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at The Cutting Room in June where Wendy Starland, a singer and model, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer. While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. It was Fusari who helped create the moniker Gaga after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga." He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance song" and that the text message was the result of a predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again." ''The New York Post'', however, has reported that this story is incorrect, and that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.

Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team Lovechild in which they recorded and produced electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses. Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R; at Def Jam Recordings, responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months. However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night". Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side. She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging neo-burlesque shows, go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs. Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months. "I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself." It was then when she became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film ''Grease'': "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.

During this time, she met performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona. Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival in August that year. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.

While Gaga and Starlight were busy performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going." Having already served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls. While Gaga was writing at Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. He then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M; Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live Distribution, making her his "franchise player." As 2007 came to a close, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.". Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album; making the chart-topping singles "Just Dance", "Poker Face" and "LoveGame" together. Gaga also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. She responded, "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."

2008–10: ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster''

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked extensively with her record label to complete her debut album in addition to setting up her own creative team – modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory – Haus of Gaga. Intensive work continued on the album, combining genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks" while drawing inspiration from 1980s synthpop and incorporating dance music with clear hooks. ''The Fame'', described as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, was first released on August 19, 2008, preceded by lead single "Just Dance" four months earlier. Due to radio play being slow, Gaga supported the releases by performing in the backwaters of Malta and Vietnam in addition to small gay clubs around the United States. She was also billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour.

A sleeper hit, "Just Dance" hit the summit of the charts in six countries – Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States – in January 2009. The Grammy Award-nominated song provoked the instant success of ''The Fame''. Receiving positive reviews from contemporary critics who commended Gaga's ability to discover a melodious hook and compared her vocal abilities to those of Gwen Stefani, the album went to number-one in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland while appearing in the top-five in Australia, the United States and fifteen other countries. On ''Billboard'''s Dance/Electronic Albums chart, it stayed at the top spot 106 non-consecutive weeks. Since its release, ''The Fame'' has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Gaga achieved an even greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number-one in almost all major music markets in the world including the United Kingdom and the United States in early 2009. The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, while ''The Fame'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album. Gaga was the recipient of many other honors in 2009 including the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations – she won Best New Artist while the video for her single "Paparazzi" gained the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects – and ''Billboard'' magazine's Rising Star award. In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 on their legs in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.

While she traveled the world on tour, she wrote ''The Fame Monster'', a collection of eight songs, which was released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Its first single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries, while reaching the top-two in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It made Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (along with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales and accrued the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while its accompanying music video won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 53rd Grammy Awards The album's second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number-one single while its accompanying music video, although controversial, received a more positive reception from contemporary critics: praising her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of blasphemy. Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube. Musically, ''The Fame Monster'' has also received abundant success. Equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received, ''The Fame Monster'' garnered a total of six nominations; the album won for Best Pop Vocal Album and earned her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year at the 53rd annual awards ceremony.

The success of the album allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of ''The Fame Monster'' and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour. Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and, according to ''Billboard'', grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist. Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony. Other performances may have included her participation in Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series at London's O2 Arena. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers, doing duets with Michael on stage." A realized collaboration with Polaroid started in January 2010. Excited about combining the company with the digital era, Gaga was named Chief Creative Officer for a line of imaging products for the international optic company with the intent of creating fashion, technology and photography products.

Despite a successful debut, Mermaid Music LLC – her production team – was sued in March 2010 by past producer Rob Fusari who claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of its earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment. Five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga. In addition to such strife, Gaga has been tested borderline positive for lupus, but claims not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay amongst her fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

2011–present: ''Born This Way''

Gaga's second studio album and third major release ''Born This Way'' was released on May 23, 2011. Described as "a marriage of electronic music with major [...] metal or rock 'n' roll, pop, anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats" and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid", she stated. Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level". Its arrival followed the release of its eponymous lead single "Born This Way" on February 11, 2011, which was performed live for the first time at the 53rd Grammy Awards two days after its release. The song, dealing with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation, debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts, while selling more than 3 million digital copies in the United States by October 2011. A music video was released for the song, showing Gaga giving birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images; critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised its concept. Gaga lent her vocals elsewhere, pairing with Elton John to record an original duet for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet''. The song, titled "Hello, Hello", was released on February 11, 2011, without Gaga's vocals. The duet version was only featured in the film. In February, Gaga's concerts of her then-ongoing tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City, were filmed for an HBO special aired in May. The special was nominated for five awards at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards winning one – Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special (Single or Multi-Camera).

Two other singles, "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory", as well as a promotional single, "Hair", were eventually released before the album. The music video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references; the video, nonetheless, received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it. "Judas" additionally peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets. "The Edge of Glory" was intended as a promotional single; nevertheless, due to commercial success in digital outlets, the song was released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a music video. Gaga also undertook a job as a fashion columnist for ''V'', where she wrote about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme. Upon release, ''Born This Way'' sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the United States, debuting atop the ''Billboard'' 200, and topping the charts in more than 20 other countries. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles as well as her vocals. Later, Lady Gaga went to Sydney to promote ''Born This Way'' with a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13, 2011.

She continued her musical endeavors, releasing "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as succeeding singles from ''Born This Way'', as well as recording songs with veteran artists like Cher and Tony Bennett. The song recorded with Bennett is a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp", while Gaga described her duet with Cher as a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which she "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason." On August 28, at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won two awards out of four nominations, and attended the event dressed as Jo Calderone, her male alter-ego. For the 2012 edition of the ''Guinness World Records'', Gaga was listed for Most Followers on Twitter, with over 13 million followers, and "Poker Face" was listed for Most Weeks on US Digital Hot Songs, with 83 weeks. Gaga continued her live appearances, and performed at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th Birthday alongside Bono, Stevie Wonder and Usher, among others. She wore a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changed the lyrics to her song "You and I" specifically for the performance. Later on, Gaga won four awards out of six nominations in the main categories at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards in November, for Best Female, Biggest Fans, Best Song and Best Video; the latter two with "Born This Way". On November 14, 2011, Gaga and her choreographer and creative director Laurieann Gibson parted ways, after working together for four years. Gibson's assistant Richard Jackson replaced her as Lady Gaga's choreographer.

Gaga released her fourth extended play ''A Very Gaga Holiday'' on November 22, and followed an appearance in her Thanksgiving Day television special entitled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving''. The television special was critically acclaimed and attained 5.749 million American viewers upon original airing. The accompanying tour for ''Born This Way'' was materializing, and at the same time Gaga started writing songs for a new record. She further explained to MTV News that she and Garibay were working on the follow-up album to ''Born This Way'' and stated that it was "beginning to flourish".

Artistry

Influences

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Elton John, had significant influence on her childhood and, presently, still do. "I am a real family girl. When it comes to love and loyalty, I am very old-fashioned. And I am quite down-to-earth for such an eccentric person," she insists. "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way." According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged 19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art. Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12 years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin, she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to love and experience in our lives." Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer Deepak Chopra. Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the music for my fans."

Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from dance-pop singers like Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like Andy Warhol and of her musical theatre roots in performance. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name, "Lady Gaga": "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music," she commented. Gaga receives regular comparisons to recording artist Madonna. The 53-year-old singer admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. In response to the comparisons, Gaga has stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the few years her career has spanned, Gaga has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of musicians including Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson and Yoko Ono.

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow and to American recording artist Cher. She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own." She has considered Donatella Versace her muse and the late British fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work. Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos. Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us." The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."

Musical and performance style

Gaga's musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and scrutiny of critics as her career is a continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and images. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been drawn to such a practice since her childhood. Vocally, Gaga has drawn frequent comparison to the ranges of Madonna and Gwen Stefani. Possessing the range of a contralto, Gaga exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being able to move through 2.4 octaves. Gaga, who refuses to lip sync, has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers ''Born This Way'' (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of." In summation of her voice, ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "There's an immense emotional intelligence behind the way she uses her voice. Almost never does she overwhelm a song with her vocal ability, recognizing instead that artistry is to be found in nuance rather than lung power."

Although her early lyrics have been criticized for lacking intellectual stimulation, "[Gaga] does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." She admits that her songwriting has been misinterpreted; her friend and blogger Perez Hilton articulated her message in a clearer way: "you write really deep intelligent lyrics with shallow concepts." Gaga opined, "Perez is very intelligent and clearly listened to my record from beginning to end, and he is correct." "I love songwriting. It's so funny – I will just jam around in my underwear or I could be washing my dishes. I wrote several songs just at the piano," she confesses. Gaga believes that "all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit." She has covered a wide variety of topics in her songs: while ''The Fame'' (2008) meditates on the lust for stardom, ''The Fame Monster'' (2009) expresses fame's dark side through monster metaphors. ''Born This Way'' (2011) is sung in English, French, German and Spanish and includes common themes in Gaga's controversial songwriting like love, sex, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom and individualism.

The structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. Her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008) provoked ''The Sunday Times'' to assert "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, [Gaga] evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now" and a critic from ''The Boston Globe'' to comment that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B;-ish beats." The follow-up ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), saw Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q" while ''Born This Way'' (2011) also draws on the records of her childhood and still has the "electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants" of its predecessor but includes genres as diverse as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll. "There isn't a subtle moment on the album, but even at its nuttiest, the music is full of wide-awake emotional details," wrote ''Rolling Stone'', who concluded: "The more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds."

Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and innovative"; the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV. She continued the "blood soaked" theme in The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and is "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene on tour in England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence. Her unconventionality continued at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards when she performed in drag as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivered a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "Yoü and I". Chris Rock has defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," he said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?"

Public image

While ''Rolling Stone'' named Gaga the "Queen of Pop" in 2011, public reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed. Her status as a role model, self-esteem booster for her fans, trailblazer and fashion icon who breathes new life into the industry is by turns affirmed and denied. Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews and critics have pointed out her unique place in pop music, the need for new movements in popular culture, the attention Gaga brings to modern social issues, and the inherently subjective nature of her art. In view of her influence on modern culture and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina has organized a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" since the spring of 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga."

Contrary to her outré style, the ''New York Post'' described her early look as like "a refugee from ''Jersey Shore''" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Lady Gaga is a natural brunette; she bleached her hair blonde because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She has nine tattoos on the left side of her body (her father has banned etchings on her right): a unicorn head with a ribbon wrapped around its horn that says "Born This Way"; a small heart with "dad" written inside it; several white roses; a treble clef; three daises; "Tokyo Love" with a little heart; "Little Monsters" written in cursive; a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon, who she stated was her hero; and a curling German script on her left arm quoting the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her favorite writer, commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her. Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Lady Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." Lady Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way."

When interviewed by Barbara Walters for her annual ABC News special ''10 Most Fascinating People'' in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend. Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." In addition to Aguilera's statement, comparisons continued into 2010, when Aguilera released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Lady Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Lady Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier. Nonetheless, Gaga was named one of Vogue.com UK's Best Dressed people of 2010 while her stylist, Dazed & Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti, won the Fashion Creator of the Year Award at the British Fashion Awards.

Part of the reasoning for Gaga's Best Dressed achievement was her attire worn to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards: a dress supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat – each fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. The dress, named ''Time'' magazine's Fashion Statement of 2010 and more widely known as the "meat dress", received divided opinions – evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. Lady Gaga denied any intention of causing disrespect to any person or organization and wished for the dress to be interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community. In addition to this unconventionality, in a question posed about the necessary procedure to attach the prosthetics to give the appearance of recent horn-like ridges on her cheekbones, temples, and shoulders, Gaga responded, "They're not prosthetics, they're my bones." She also clarified that they were not the result of plastic surgery, believing such surgery to only be the modern byproduct of fame-induced insecurity to which she does not subscribe. The interviewer's further probing brought Gaga to the conclusion that they are an artistic representation of her inner inspirational light and part of the "performance piece" that is her musical persona: an inevitability of her becoming who she now is. When Gaga briefly met with US president Barack Obama at a Human Rights Campaign fundraiser, he described the interaction as "intimidating" as she was dressed in 16-inch heels making her undoubtedly the tallest woman in the room.

Gaga often refers to her fans as "Little Monsters" and in dedication, has had that inscription tattooed on "the arm that holds my mic." Her treatment of her "Little Monsters" has inspired criticism, due to the highly commercial nature of her music and image. To some, this dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture. Camille Paglia in her 2010 cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" in ''The Sunday Times'' asserts thatGaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those." Writing for ''The Guardian'', Kitty Empire opined that the dichotomy "...allows the viewer to have a 'transgressive' experience without being required to think. At [her performance's] core, though, is the idea that Gaga is at one with the freaks and outcasts. The Monster Ball is where we can all be free. This is arrant nonsense, as the scads of people buying Gaga's cunningly commercial music are not limited to the niche worlds of drag queens and hip night creatures from which she draws her inspiration. But Gaga seems sincere."

Philanthropy

Besides her career in music, Gaga has also contributed to various charities and humanitarian works. In 2011, she launched her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on youth empowerment and issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring, and career development. "My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation," Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from the eponymous 2011 single and album. "Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment." The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

For natural disasters, Gaga has also helped various relief efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her official online store on that day were also donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of $500,000 was collected for the fund. Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, Gaga tweeted a message and a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts. As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million. However, attorney Alyson Oliver filed a lawsuit against Gaga in Detroit in June 2011, noting that the bracelet was subject to a sales tax and an extra $3.99 shipping charge was added to the price. She also believed that not all proceeds from the bracelets would go to the relief efforts, demanding a public accounting of the campaign and refunds for people who had bought the bracelet. Lady Gaga's spokesperson called the lawsuit "meritless" and "misleading". On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan's charity show in Makuhari Messe, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross.

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS with the focus upon educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Titled Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi for each contributor respectively, all net proceeds of the lipstick line were donated to the cosmetic company's campaign to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to your lipstick." The sales of Gaga-endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and lipgloss have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.

With the performance of the bilingual song "Americano" from her second studio album ''Born This Way'' (2011), Gaga jumped into the debate surrounding SB 1070, Arizona's immigration law. She premiered the tune for the first time on the Guadalajara, Mexico stop of her Monster Ball tour telling the local press that she could not "stand by many of the unjust immigration laws" in the United States.

LGBT advocacy

Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of ''The Fame'', saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event.

After ''The Fame'' was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a threesome. I'm happy with just you'." When she appeared as a guest on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community". She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009 National Equality March rally on the National Mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," similar to her 2009 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech for Best New Artist a month earlier. At the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, held the same weekend as the rally, she performed a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" declaring that "I'm not going to [play] one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me, it's about you." She changed the original lyrics of the song to reflect the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student murdered because of his sexuality.

Gaga attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four service members of the United States Armed Forces (Mike Almy, David Hall, Katie Miller and Stacy Vasquez), all of whom, under the United States military's "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, had been prohibited from serving openly because of their sexuality. In addition, Gaga wore a dress fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal to the awards ceremony. Gaga wished that the dress, more widely known as the "meat dress", was interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community adding that "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones." She later released three videos on YouTube videos urging her fans to contact their Senators in an effort to overturn the policy. In late September 2010 she spoke at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's "4the14K" Rally in Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine. The name of the rally signified the number – an estimated 14,000 – of service members discharged under the DADT policy at the time. During her remarks, she urged members of the U.S. Senate (and in particular, moderate Republican Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) to vote in favor of legislation that would repeal the DADT policy. Following this event, editors of ''The Advocate'' commented that she had become "the real fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians, one that Barack Obama had promised to be.

Gaga appeared at Europride, a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, held in Rome in June 2011. In a nearly twenty-minute speech, she criticized the intolerant state of gay rights in many European countries and described homosexuals as "revolutionaries of love" before performing acoustic renderings of "Born This Way" and "The Edge of Glory" in front of thousands at the Circus Maximus. She stated that "Today and every day we fight for freedom. We fight for justice. We beckon for compassion, understanding and above all we want full equality now". Gaga revealed that she is often questioned why she dedicates herself to "gayspeak" and "how gay" she is, to which, she told the audience: "Why is this question, why is this issue so important? My answer is: I am a child of diversity, I am one with my generation, I feel a moral obligation as a woman, or a man, to exercise my revolutionary potential and make the world a better place." She then joked: "On a gay scale from 1 to 10, I'm a Judy Garland fucking 42."

Discography

''The Fame'' (2008)

''The Fame Monster'' (2009)

''Born This Way'' (2011)

Filmography

''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden'' (2011)

''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' (2011)

Concert tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009–10) (canceled)

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

Further reading

Monster Anthems (2011) by Robert Christgau

External links

Slide show ''Vanity Fair''

Category:1986 births Category:American contraltos Category:American dance musicians Category:American electronic musicians Category:American female pop singers Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American performance artists Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Androgyny Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Brit Award winners Category:Echo winners Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Keytarists Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists Category:Living people Category:People from Manhattan Category:Pseudonymous musicians Category:Singers from New York City Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:Synthpop musicians Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:Wonky Pop acts

af:Lady Gaga als:Lady Gaga ar:ليدي غاغا an:Lady Gaga frp:Lady Gaga ast:Lady Gaga az:Ledi Qaqa zh-min-nan:Lady Gaga be:Lady Gaga be-x-old:Lady Gaga bg:Лейди Гага bs:Lady Gaga br:Lady Gaga ca:Lady Gaga ceb:Lady Gaga cs:Lady Gaga co:Lady Gaga cy:Lady Gaga da:Lady Gaga de:Lady Gaga dz:Lady Gaga et:Lady Gaga el:Lady Gaga es:Lady Gaga eo:Lady Gaga eu:Lady Gaga fa:لیدی گاگا fo:Lady Gaga fr:Lady Gaga fy:Lady Gaga ga:Lady Gaga gd:Lady Gaga gl:Lady Gaga gan:蕾蒂嘉嘉 glk:لیدی گاگا ko:레이디 가가 hy:Լեդի Գագա hi:लेडी गागा hr:Lady Gaga io:Lady Gaga ig:Lady Gaga ilo:Lady Gaga id:Lady Gaga ik:Lady Gaga is:Lady Gaga it:Lady Gaga he:ליידי גאגא jv:Lady Gaga kn:ಲೇಡಿ ಗಾಗಾ ka:ლედი გაგა csb:Lady GaGa sw:Lady Gaga ku:Lady Gaga mrj:Lady Gaga la:Lady Gaga lv:Lady Gaga lb:Lady Gaga lt:Lady GaGa li:Lady GaGa hu:Lady Gaga mk:Лејди Гага mg:Lady Gaga mt:Lady Gaga mi:Lady Gaga mr:लेडी गागा xmf:ლედი გაგა arz:ليدى جاجا mzn:لیدی گاگا ms:Lady Gaga mwl:Lady Gaga mn:Лэди Гага my:လေဒီဂါဂါ nah:Lady Gaga na:Lady GaGa nl:Lady Gaga ne:लद्य् गग new:लद्य् गग ja:レディー・ガガ nap:Lady Gaga no:Lady Gaga nn:Lady Gaga nrm:Lady Gaga nov:Lady Gaga mhr:Lady Gaga pap:Lady Gaga nds:Lady Gaga pl:Lady Gaga pt:Lady Gaga ro:Lady Gaga ru:Леди Гага se:Lady Gaga sq:Lady Gaga si:ලේඩි ගාගා simple:Lady Gaga sk:Lady Gaga sl:Lady Gaga szl:Lady GaGa sr:Леди Гага sh:Lady Gaga su:Lady Gaga fi:Lady Gaga sv:Lady Gaga tl:Lady Gaga ta:லேடி காகா th:เลดี้ กาก้า tr:Lady Gaga tw:Lady GaGa uk:Lady Gaga vi:Lady Gaga vo:Lady Gaga vls:Lady Gaga yi:ליידי גאגא yo:Lady Gaga zh-yue:Lady Gaga bat-smg:Lady Gaga zh:女神卡卡

Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
name	Cee Lo Green
background	solo_singer
birth name	Thomas DeCarlo Callaway
alias	Cee Lo Green, Cee Lo
born	May 30, 1974Atlanta, Georgia, US
instrument	Vocals, piano
genre	Soul, hip hop, neo soul, R&B;, funk, alternative hip hop, hip hop soul
occupation	Singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, actor
years active	1992–present (group)2002–present (solo)
label	Arista, Elektra
associated acts	Gnarls Barkley, Goodie Mob, Kid Cudi, OutKast, Jazze Pha, Bruno Mars
website	}}

Thomas DeCarlo Callaway (born May 30, 1974), better known by his stage name Cee Lo Green, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He originally came to prominence as a member of the southern hip hop group Goodie Mob, later launching a critically acclaimed solo career and forming Gnarls Barkley with DJ/producer Danger Mouse.

Internationally, Cee Lo is best known for his hip hop work and Gnarls Barkley's 2006 worldwide hit "Crazy", which reached number one in various singles charts worldwide, including the UK. In the United States, "Crazy" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Parent album ''St. Elsewhere'' was also a hit, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album charts. Gnarls Barkley's second album, internationally less successful, ''The Odd Couple'' (2008) missed the top ten in both the UK and US, where it charted at number 12 in the US, and 18 in the UK.

Cee Lo, taking a break from recording with Gnarls Barkley, released the single "Forget You!" on August 19, 2010 as a solo recording artist. The song was an instant hit, reaching the top spot in the UK and the Netherlands and charted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The parent album, ''The Lady Killer'' (2010) saw similar success, peaking within the top five of the UK Album Charts and debuting within the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200 album charts, and received a Gold certification from the BPI in the UK shortly after its release. His second single "It's OK" was a hit in Europe and the third single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" has also seen similar charting success. Cee Lo is currently a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show ''The Voice'' with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton.

Early life

Cee Lo Green was born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Southwest Atlanta. Both of his parents were ordained ministers and he started his music career in his church. His father died when he was two years old. His mother, Sheila J. Tyler-Callaway, was also a volunteer firefighter. She was involved in a car crash, leaving her paralyzed, and died two years after the accident. At the time, Cee Lo was 18 years old and his career with Goodie Mob had just begun taking off. His mother's death led Cee Lo into depression, as is reflected in various songs throughout his career, including "Free" by Goodie Mob, songs on ''St. Elsewhere'', and on ''The Odd Couple'' ("She Knows", "A Little Better"). Cee Lo also expresses his love for his mother in the song "Guess Who" from Goodie Mob's ''Soul Food'' album.

Music career

Goodie Mob

Along with Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Khujo, Cee Lo was an original member of the Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob. He is the youngest of the four. The Goodie Mob were a part of the Atlanta rap collective the Dungeon Family, which also included OutKast. The group released their debut album, ''Soul Food'' in 1995. The album received much critical praise as a pioneering record for the then emerging Southern rap scene. It featured a distinctive soulful southern sound by production team Organized Noize, who had also produced OutKast's debut ''Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik''. Cee Lo got considerable praise for his rapping and singing of hooks, particularly on the hit singles "Cell Therapy" and "Soul Food".

The group's second album, ''Still Standing'' came out in 1998 and also received much critical praise. Its commercial performance was slightly lower than the group's previous effort however. At this time, Cee Lo focused primarily on rapping over singing. While he did frequently sing hooks and did some singing, at this point he was a rapper first and foremost. Cee Lo took more creative control on the group's next album, ''World Party''. Released in 1999, this album was more of a party record than the group's previous output, getting away somewhat from their socially conscious lyricism.

During the making of the album ''World Party'', Cee Lo left the group to pursue a solo career under Arista and the remaining members continued to perform together under the Goodie Mob name with Koch Records. They did however collaborate in combinations in the Dungeon Family album ''Even in Darkness''. Although the next Goodie Mob album seemed to mock Cee Lo with its title, ''One Monkey Don't Stop No Show'', the group expressed that it was more of a jab at Arista and the music industry as a whole.

In 2005, Cee Lo and Big Gipp were both noted in interview. No title or release date have been given for the new project. The song "Hold On" from Big Boi of OutKast's Got Purp? Vol 2 album was the first newly recorded Goodie Mob song with all four members since ''World Party''. (Khujo later revealed to fans at an album signing for his new album "Mercury", that the song "Hold On" was originally recorded in 1995 before ''Soul Food'' was released.)

Santana

In 1999, Cee Lo, credited as "Cee-Lo" was one of ten famous guest musicians who contributed to the highly successful Santana album ''Supernatural''. Lauryn Hill wrote "Do You Like The Way," and the two of them trade off on lead vocals.

Solo career

Cee Lo's Arista career was short-lived, as he was dropped after only two albums due to low record sales. His first album, ''Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections'', was heavily in the vein of various other Dungeon Family releases, with southern soul/funk/jazz backings produced solely by himself and boasting appearances by fellow Dungeon Fam members Big Gipp and Backbone. The album explored his departure from Goodie Mob and his solo growth in the song "El Dorado Sunrise (Super Chicken)", as well as socio-political issues, and showcased his singing. The album did not sell very well, but Cee Lo achieved some airplay with the single "Closet Freak".

His second Arista album, ''Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine'' brought a more branched-out sound and more deeply explored southern rap music. This is evidenced by collaborations with Ludacris, T.I., and Pharrell and production from Timbaland, The Neptunes, and Jazze Pha among others. The only other Dungeon Family member that appeared on his second release was Big Rube. This album saw Cee Lo delve into other styles besides traditional rap. Timbaland proved to be Cee Lo's single producer as their song "I'll Be Around" received mild airplay. They performed the single on an episode in the second season of ''Chappelle's Show''. "The One" featuring Jazze Pha and T.I. was also released as a single. On the heels of the success of Gnarls Barkley, Arista released a 17-track greatest hits collection of Cee Lo songs, ''Closet Freak: The Best of Cee Lo Green the Soul Machine''. It features predominantly Cee Lo solo tracks and several Goodie Mob songs. His new song "What Part of Forever" has been included in ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

After his second solo album, Cee Lo joined the group Gnarls Barkley (see below) with Danger Mouse, temporarily putting his solo career on hold. He would release two albums with that group, before again releasing solo material in 2010.

On August 19, 2010, Cee Lo released a single "Forget You!" to YouTube ahead of his planned solo album release, due to its partial leak on April 13. "Forget You!" was an instant viral smash hit, registering over two million plays in less than a week. Two weeks later on September 1, Cee Lo released to YouTube an official music video of the song. "Forget You!" made a debut at No.1 on the UK charts, notably beating out "Shame" from the recently reunited Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow. On December 1, 2010, Cee Lo received five Grammy nominations for "Forget You!", which has been certified Gold in the United States and Denmark. The single achieved platinum status in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK; and multi-platinum status in Australia.

When discussing his most recent album, ''The Lady Killer'' (released on November 9, 2010, by Elektra Records and Roadrunner Records), Cee Lo said: "I suppose this is a more clear, concise, consistent, conceptual, entire album. It's a complete thought, because it's written to be like a score. The album's meant to be a motion picture, you know? I've never taken that approach to doing an album before." The album was certified Gold in the UK on December 6, 2010.

Green is touring with an all-female backing band named "Scarlet Fever", performing for ''Taratata'', the BBC, ''Late Show with David Letterman'', W's ''Symmetry Live Concert Series'', ''Saturday Night Live'', the ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' special show following the Academy Awards, and many other venues. Green also performed "Forget You", a sanitized version of his hit "Forget You!", with Gwyneth Paltrow and several puppets provided by The Jim Henson Company at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on February 13, 2011, a shoutout to Elton John, who wore a very similar costume in a Muppet show performance in 1977. At the 2011 BRIT Awards two days later, he was joined by British vocalist Paloma Faith in another duet of "Forget You". Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Green will be joining Rihanna and J. Cole on the North American leg of Rihanna Loud Tour in the summer of 2011. However, he later dropped out of the tour citing that his busy work schedule which includes his commitment to judging “The Voice”, writing a new book and recording a new album as the reason for his withdrawal. On August 14th 2011, Green performed at WWE SummerSlam performing "Forget You" and the event's theme, "Bright Lights, Bigger City".

Twitter Controversy

On Thursday June 16, 2011, journalist Andrea Swensson of City Pages negatively reviewed one of Green's performances, writing that it "failed to measure up to the fun factor of his recorded material. Green spent most of the set stationed in front of a mic at the center of the stage, barely moving an inch while he sang and flanked by two forgettable back-up singers and a DJ that was all but hidden behind a giant LCD display”. In response, the following day Green tweeted "I respect your criticism but be fair! People enjoyed last night! I'm guessing ur gay? And my masculinity offended u? well fuck U!”. Green promptly received angered responses from some of his followers on Twitter, to which he replied "Apologies gay community! what was homophobic about that?" In a subsequent interview with magazine US Weekly Green stated that his comments were in good fun, adding that "I am not harboring any sort of negative feeling toward the gay community" and that "I am one of the most liberal artists that I think you will ever meet, and I pride myself on that". Green has since deleted the tweets pertaining to this review.

Gnarls Barkley

Along with DJ Danger Mouse, Cee Lo was part of a duo called Gnarls Barkley. They first met when Danger Mouse took second in a talent contest and opened for OutKast and Goodie Mob at a University of Georgia concert in 1998. Afterwards, Danger Mouse gave Cee Lo an instrumental demo tape and told him to call him if he was interested. They did not make contact again until Cee Lo was contacted to be featured in a remix of the Danger Mouse and Jemini song "What U Sittin' On?" from the album ''Ghetto Pop Life''. They worked together again on the 2005 Danger Doom (Danger Mouse and MF Doom collaboration) album The Mouse and The Mask on the song "Benzi Box" where Cee Lo sings the chorus.

Gnarls Barkley first collaborative album, ''St. Elsewhere'', was released on April 24, 2006, in the UK and May 2, 2006, in the United States. ''St. Elsewhere'' entered the charts at No.1 in the UK, as did the first single "Crazy". "Crazy" is the first single to go straight to No.1 in the UK based on digital download sales alone and is ranked by Rolling Stone as the No.1 song of the decade. The album is Cee Lo's greatest selling venture yet, having shipped over 3 million copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. A second album by Gnarls Barkley, titled ''The Odd Couple'', was released in March 2008. Its first single was released in January called "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)".

Future projects

Cee Lo is collaborating with producer Jazze Pha to release an album called ''Happy Hour'' on Jazze’s record label. The songs "Happy Hour" (as well as the remix with Bun B, Snoop Dogg & Tone Tone), "Man of the Hour", and "Disco Bitch" (featuring The Pussycat Dolls) from the album have already been released as singles and B-sides. Jazze Pha has produced numerous hit singles with many artists, but this project is his rapping and singing debut. Cee Lo is co-producing the album with him, so both artist and producer share equal roles in vocals and production. Also, Melody Thornton confirmed that she is currently in the studio with Cee Lo working on her solo album. In 2010, he recorded a song for the ''Sex and the City 2'' soundtrack which reached number 9 in the charts and was written by him and produced by T-Pain which is called "Language of Love". He along with The Red Hot Chili Peppers and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder were rumored to be appearing on British DJ Paul Oakenfold's upcoming album.

Television and film career

Cee Lo, along with the rest of the Goodie Mob, had a cameo in the 1999 film ''Mystery Men'' as a member of the Not So Goodie Mob. He also has done voice acting work, voicing Prime Cut Miggity-Mo' Macdaddy Gizzabang Doggy Dog Dog on the ''Brak Show'' episode "Brakstreet" in 2002, Frank and Buddy Z ''Class of 3000'''s Christmas special and as Godzilla in the ''Robot Chicken'' episode "Squaw Bury Shortcake" in 2007, and Rev. Rollo Goodlove in the ''Boondocks'' episodes "The S-Word" and "The Hunger Strike" in 2008. In 2010, he appeared in T-Pain's ''Freaknik: The Musical'' as Light Skin.

On January 15, 2011, Cee Lo both acted and performed on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow, who, in November 2010, covered his song "Forget You" on an episode of ''Glee''.

Cee Lo is currently one of the coaches for contestants on the singing TV show ''The Voice''.

Personal life

Cee Lo has described himself as being a "goon" in his youth.

Cee Lo was married to Christina Johnson until they divorced in 2005. Together they have a son Kingston; and Cee Lo was a stepfather to Christina's daughters, Sierra and Kalah.

Discography

''Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections'' (2002)

''Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine'' (2004)

''The Lady Killer'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

|- | rowspan="3"| 2011 | rowspan="2"| Brit Awards | ''Best International Album'' | |- | ''Best International Male'' | |- | BET Awards | ''Best Male R&B; Artist'' |

Grammy Awards

|- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"| 2007 ||style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|"Crazy" || Record of the Year || |- | Best Urban/Alternative Performance || |- |style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|''St. Elsewhere'' || Album of the Year || |- | Best Alternative Music Album || |- |style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| 2009 || "Going On" || Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals || |- | ''The Odd Couple'' || Best Alternative Music Album || |- |style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"| 2011 ||style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4"|"Forget You" || Record of the Year || |- | Song of the Year || |- | Best Urban/Alternative Performance || |- | Best Short Form Music Video ||

References

External links

Cee Lo Green on BBC Music

Official Jazze Pha & Cee Lo website

Cee Lo Green Storytellers on VH1

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:African American singers Category:American funk musicians Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:American tenors Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:Dungeon Family Category:Gnarls Barkley members Category:Hip hop record producers Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Neo soul singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:The Voice judges

cs:Cee Lo Green da:Cee-Lo Green de:Cee-Lo Green es:Cee Lo Green fr:Cee Lo Green hy:Սի Լո Գրին it:Cee Lo Green he:סי-לו גרין hu:Cee Lo Green nl:Cee Lo Green ja:シーロー・グリーン pl:Cee Lo Green pt:Cee Lo Green ru:Cee Lo Green simple:Cee Lo Green sh:Cee-Lo Green sv:Cee Lo Green tr:Cee Lo Green uk:Cee Lo Green vi:Cee Lo Green

Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
name	Gwyneth Paltrow
birth name	Gwyneth Kate Paltrow
birth date	September 27, 1972
birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	Actress, singer, author
years active	1990–present
spouse
parents	Bruce Paltrow (deceased)Blythe Danner
relatives	Jake Paltrow (brother)Katherine Moennig (cousin)
children	2 }}

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as ''Se7en'' (1995) and ''Emma'' (1996) (in which she played the title role). Following the films, ''Sliding Doors'' (1998) and ''A Perfect Murder'' (1998), Paltrow garnered worldwide recognition through her performance in ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actress and as a member of the Outstanding Cast.

Since then, Paltrow has portrayed supporting as well as lead roles in films such as ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' (1999), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), and ''Proof'' (2005), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama. In 2008, she appeared in the highest grossing movie of her career, the superhero film ''Iron Man'' (2008), and then reprised her role as Pepper Potts in its sequel, ''Iron Man 2'' (2010). Paltrow also appeared in the television series, ''Glee'', and has been the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume since 2005. She is married to Chris Martin, the lead vocalist of Coldplay. They have two children together, Apple and Moses.

Early life

Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Blythe Danner, an actress, and Bruce Paltrow, a film and television director and producer. Her father was of Ashkenazi Russian Jewish descent, and her mother is a Quaker of Pennsylvania Dutch and more distant white Barbadian ancestry. Paltrow's paternal great-great-grandfather, whose surname was "Palterowicz", was a rabbi in Nowogród, Poland. Paltrow has a younger brother, Jake Paltrow, and is a half-cousin of actress Katherine Moennig, and a second cousin of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08).

Paltrow was raised in Santa Monica, where she attended Crossroads School, before moving and enrolling in The Spence School, a private girls' school in New York City. Later, she briefly studied art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before dropping out to act. She is an "adopted daughter" of Talavera de la Reina (Spain), where at 15 she spent a year as an exchange student and learned to speak Spanish.

Career

Early work, 1990–1996

After spending several summers watching her mother perform at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, Paltrow made her professional stage debut there in 1990. Her film debut followed next year with ''Shout'' (1991), starring John Travolta, she was cast by Steven Spielberg in his film, ''Hook'' (1991), as the young Wendy Darling. Paltrow then had minor roles in ''Malice'' (1993) and ''Flesh and Bone'' (1993). She was next cast in a supporting role in ''Se7en'' (1995) alongside Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, which earned her a Satellite Award nomination. In 1996, she played the title character in ''Emma'' to critical acclaim.

Worldwide recognition, 1998–2003

Paltrow appeared in several films throughout 1998, including ''Sliding Doors'' and the leading role in the film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, ''Great Expectations'' with Ethan Hawke, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper. Also in 1998 Paltrow appeared in two thrillers, ''Hush'' opposite Jessica Lange and ''A Perfect Murder'' inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film, ''Dial M for Murder''. Paltrow appeared opposite Michael Douglas as Emily Taylor, based on Grace Kelly's character from the original film, though the film was met with mixed reviews.

In 1998, Paltrow starred in ''Shakespeare in Love'', portraying the fictional lover of William Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes. The film earned more than US$100 million in box office receipts in the United States and Paltrow gained critical acclaim for her portrayal. ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented, "Best of all is Gwyneth Paltrow, who, at long last, has a movie to star in that's as radiant as she is." The ''New York Times'' summed up her turn as Viola as such: "Gwyneth Paltrow, in her first great, fully realized starring performance, makes a heroine so breathtaking that she seems utterly plausible as the playwright's guiding light." The award-winning ''Shakespeare in Love'' earned Paltrow the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role from the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Academy Award for Best Actress, among other honors. Her Pink Ralph Lauren dress worn at the 71st Academy Awards in collecting her Oscar was extremely popular and was credited for bringing pink back into fashion.

In 1999, Paltrow co-starred in ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' alongside Jude Law, Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett which earned $80 million domestically and received positive reviews. She showcased her singing ability in 2000's ''Duets'', which was directed by her father and co-starred singer Huey Lewis. The same year, Paltrow co-starred with Ben Affleck in the romantic drama ''Bounce'' as Abby Janello. She was part of an ensemble cast, as Margot Tenenbaum, in ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001). Also in 2001, she starred with Jack Black in the comedy ''Shallow Hal'', where she had to wear a specially designed 25 pound fatsuit and heavy make-up. The film was released to mixed reviews.

Recent work, 2004–present

Since the Oscar for ''Shakespeare in Love'', Paltrow's film success has been less noteworthy. She said she was unequipped for the pressure, leading to several bad movie choices, agreeing with peers who believe the win is, in some ways, a curse. During this time, Paltrow took a career hiatus to raise her family rarely appearing in films. In ''The Guardian'', she said she divided her career into movies for love and films for money: ''The Royal Tenenbaums'', ''Proof'', and ''Sylvia'' fell into the former category, while she did ''View from the Top'' and ''Shallow Hal'' for the latter. In 2004, she appeared in the science-fiction film, ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'' opposite Jude Law. The same year, she was recognized as an outstanding woman in entertainment by Women in Film Los Angeles with the Crystal Award. In 2005, she appeared in the film ''Proof'' as the depressed daughter of a brilliant, eccentric mathematician. The movie is based on the play of the same name, in which Paltrow also played the same character at London's Donmar Warehouse in 2002. For her performance Paltrow earned her second Golden Globe nomination Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. In 2006, she had small roles in ''Running With Scissors'' and ''Infamous'', in which she sang Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?"

In 2008, she appeared in the superhero film ''Iron Man'' as Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's closest friend, budding love interest, and business partner. ''Iron Man'' man is Paltrow's highest-grossing film to date, earning more than $585,000,000 worldwide. Paltrow said she was hesitant to appear in a big-budget project but she was won over by Robert Downey Jr., the film's lead, and director Jon Favreau. She recalled a conversation with Downey, saying:

In 2010, Paltrow reprised her role in the sequel to ''Iron Man'', ''Iron Man 2''. Later in 2010, she appeared in the musical, ''Country Strong'', where she also recorded the song ''Country Strong'' for the films' soundtrack. The song was released to country radio in August 2010. At the 83rd Academy Awards, Paltrow performed the song "Coming Home" from the film which was nominated for Best Original Song. She also appeared in Fox's ''Glee'', as substitute teacher, Holly Holliday who fills in for Matthew Morrison's character when he falls ill. She sang "Nowadays" from the musical ''Chicago'' with Lea Michele, Cee Lo Green's "Forget You" and Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)", plus a mash-up of "Singin' In the Rain" and Rihanna's "Umbrella" with Morrison, Mark Salling and Chris Colfer in the episode. She later performed "Forget You" with Cee-Lo Green himself and The Muppets at the 2011 Grammy Awards. She reprised her role later that season performing "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" by Gary Glitter, an acoustic version of "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac and "Kiss" by Prince. Paltrow's upcoming film is the Steven Soderbergh thriller, ''Contagion'', in which she is part of an ensemble cast including Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and her ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' co-stars, Matt Damon and Jude Law.

Other projects

Paltrow is a Save the Children artist ambassador, raising awareness about World Pneumonia Day. She is on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization that works to alleviate poverty in New York City. In February 2009, Paltrow received a Grammy nomination for her reading of the classic bear books of author Bill Martin, Jr.

Paltrow had her singing debut in the 2000 film ''Duets'', in which she performed a cover version of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'". The song was released as a single. The song went to number one in Australia, while Paltrow's rendition of the Kim Carnes classic "Bette Davis Eyes" reached number three. In the 2006 film ''Infamous'', she sang "What Is This Thing Called Love". On September 27, 2006, Paltrow sang with rapper Jay-Z during his concert at Royal Albert Hall. She sang the chorus for "Song Cry", from the rapper's album ''Blueprint''. In an interview, she said she would be at the concert but not that she would perform. She was quoted as saying "I'm a Jay-Z fan. He's my best friend."

In May 2005, Paltrow became the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume. She appeared in Chicago on 17 August 2007, to sign bottles of the perfume, and on 8 July 2008, she promoted Lauder's Sensuous perfume in New York with the company's three other models. Estée Lauder donates a minimum of $500,000 of sales of items from the 'Pleasures Gwyneth Paltrow' collection to breast cancer research. In 2006, she became the face for Bean Pole International, a Korean fashion brand.

In October 2007, she signed for a PBS television series ''Spain... on the road Again'' with Mario Batali that showcases the food and culture of Spain. In September 2008, she launched a weekly lifestyle newsletter, Goop, encouraging readers to 'nourish the inner aspect'. The website's title is derived from the initials of her first and last names. Each week, the newsletter focuses on an action: Make, Go, Get, Do, Be, and See. It has been ridiculed by E-Online, ''Vanity Fair'', ''The Independent'', and the UK's ''Daily Mirror''.

Personal life

In her early '20s, Paltrow was engaged for six months to Brad Pitt, whom she dated from December 1994 to May 1997. The engagement was called off, according to Paltrow, because she wasn't ready for marriage and later felt responsible for hurting Pitt since she was "such a mess" during that time in her life. Paltrow has since said that as this was her first high-profile relationship with another celebrity, it taught her the need for public discretion about her romantic life; she told ''Biography'' magazine, "I said things about being in a relationship [with Brad Pitt] that felt wrong to me even as I was saying them."

Paltrow had an on-off three year relationship with Ben Affleck from 1997 to late 2000. They first dated from November 1997 to January 1999. Soon after their breakup, Paltrow convinced Affleck to work in the film ''Bounce'' with her; during the making of the film, which was shot in mid 1999, the couple started dating again and eventually broke up in October 2000. Paltrow has said that she stopped reading celebrity magazines in 1999.

In October 2002, Paltrow met Chris Martin of the British rock group Coldplay backstage three weeks after the death of her father Bruce Paltrow. They married on December 5, 2003 in a ceremony at a hotel in Southern California. On 14 May 2004, the couple had their first child, a girl named Apple Blythe Alison Martin. Paltrow explained the unusual first name on ''Oprah'', saying: "It sounded so sweet and it conjured such a lovely picture for me – you know, apples are so sweet and they're wholesome and it's biblical – and I just thought it sounded so lovely and … clean! And I just thought, 'Perfect!'" The child's godfathers are Simon Pegg and Martin's bandmate, Jonny Buckland.

Her second child, a boy named Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, was born on 8 April 2006, in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital. Her son's first name was explained as the song, entitled "Moses", that her husband wrote for her before their wedding. Paltrow has stated that she cut down on work after becoming a mother. She has also said that she suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her second child.

Paltrow was raised by a Jewish father and Christian mother. In comments she made in 2010 about her experience of being raised with both religions in her family, she stated that "It was such a nice way to grow up." She also added, "I don’t believe in religion. I believe in spirituality. Religion is the cause of all the problems in the world." In July, 2011, she stated that she now wants to raise her children in the Jewish faith. Her husband, and her children’s father, singer Chris Martin, has a Christian background. Paltrow discovered in 2011 that her father's family came from a long line of influential East European rabbis, and that inspired her to raise her daughter and son in a Jewish environment.

Controversial statements

In December 2006, Paltrow was reported on the Internet to have told ''Notícias Sábado'', the weekend magazine supplement of Portuguese newspaper ''Diário de Notícias'', that she thought British people were more civilized and intelligent than Americans. Paltrow denied making the statements attributed to her and told ''People'' magazine that she never gave an interview to a Portuguese publication, but instead had tried to say in Spanish, during a press conference, that Europe was an "older culture" and Americans "live to work". ''Diário de Notícias'' said in their 6 December 2006 edition that it had obtained the quotes from English-language articles that are still referenced online, though Paltrow has insisted that she was misquoted, declaring in 2007: "I love America, and I'm an American through and through."

Filmography

+ Film
Title	Year	Role	Notes
! scope="row"	1991	Rebecca
! scope="row"	1991
''Deadly Relations''	1993	Carol Ann Fagot
! scope="row"	1993	Paula Bell
! scope="row"	1993	Ginny
''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle''	1994	Paula Hunt
''Higher Learning''	1995	Student	Uncredited
''Jefferson in Paris''	1995	Patsy Jefferson
! scope="row"	1995	Tracy Mills	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
''Moonlight and Valentino''	1995	Lucy Trager
! scope="row"	1996	Clementine
''''	1996	Julie DeMarco
! scope="row"	1996	Emma Woodhouse	Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
''Out of the Past''	1998	Sarah Orne Jewett	Voice
''Sliding Doors''	1998	Helen Quilley
! scope="row"	1998
! scope="row"	1998	Helen Baring
''''	1998	Emily Bradford Taylor
''Shakespeare in Love''	1998	Viola De Lesseps	Academy Award for Best ActressEmpire Award for Best ActressFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (also for ''Sliding Doors'')Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyKansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressLas Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best ActressMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Joseph Fiennes)San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress (also for ''Sliding Doors'')Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Motion PictureScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleNominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite ActressNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActressNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice ActressNominated—Teen Choice Award for Sexiest Love Scene (shared with Joseph Fiennes)
''''	1999	Marge Sherwood
''''	2000	Herself	Uncredited
''Duets''	2000	Liv
! scope="row"	2000	Abby Janello
''''	2001	Skye Davidson
''''	2001	Margot Tenenbaum	Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
''Shallow Hal''	2001	Rosemary Shanahan
''Searching for Debra Winger''	2002	Herself	Documentary
''Austin Powers in Goldmember''	2002	Gwyneth Paltrow as Dixie Normous in 'Austinpussy'
! scope="row"	2002	Maud Bailey
''View from the Top''	2003	Donna Jensen
! scope="row"	2003	Sylvia Plath
''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow''	2004	Polly Perkins	Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Jude Law)
! scope="row"	2005	Catherine	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
! scope="row"	2006	Kitty Dean
''Love and Other Disasters''	2006	Hollywood Jacks	Cameo appearance
! scope="row"	2006	Hope Finch
''''	2007	Dora
! scope="row"	2008
! scope="row"	2008	Michelle	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
''Iron Man 2''	2010		Nominated— ''[[Country Strong">Teen Choice Award
''[[Country Strong''	2010	Kelly Canter
''Glee: The 3D Concert Movie''	2011	Herself/Holly Holiday
! scope="row"	2011	Beth Emhoff	''Post-production''
! scope="row"	2012		Cameo Appearance

+ Television
Title	Year	Role	Notes
''Saturday Night Live''	1999	Host	Hosted episodes in 1999, 2001, and 2011
''Spain... on the road Again''	2008	Herself
''''	2010	Herself
! scope="row"	2010–present	Holly Holliday	Pending—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (2011)Season 2 Episode 7 "	2011	Herself	Season 2 Episode 6 "Gwyneth Paltrow"

Discography

Singles

Single	Year	Peak chart positions						[[Music recording sales certification	Album
		! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"
! scope="row"		—	1	—	1	1	—		AUS">The Substitute (Glee)
! scope="row"	2011	Herself	Season 2 Episode 6 "Gwyneth Paltrow"

Discography

Singles

Single	Year	Peak chart positions						[[Music recording sales certification	Album
		! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"
! scope="row"		—	1	—	1	1	—		AUS: 2× Platinum	rowspan="2"
"Bette Davis Eyes"	—	—	—	3	—	—		* AUS: Platinum
! scope="row"	2010	81	—	30	—	—	—		rowspan="2"
"Me and Tennessee" (with Tim McGraw)	2011	—	—	34	—	—	63

Featured singles

! scope="row">"Umbrella" (with ''Glee'' Cast)

Single	Year	Peak chart positions					Album
		! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"
! scope="row"		11	24	12	20	31	''Glee: The Music, Volume 4''
""[[Singin' in the Rain (song)	Singing in the Rain">Mister Cellophane	—	—	—	—	—
18	23	20	10	22
! scope="row"		57	—	63	—	95
" "[[Landslide (song)	23	38	35	36	52
! scope="row"	66	—	66	—	75	''[[Glee: The Music, Volume 6">Kiss (song)	83	98	80	—	—
"[[Landslide (song)	23	38	35	36	52
! scope="row"	66	—	66	—	75	''[[Glee: The Music, Volume 6''

Album appearances

Song	Year	Album
! scope="row"	2000
"Shake That Thing"		rowspan="4"
"Coming Home"
"A Fighter"
"Travis"
"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (with Matthew Morrison)	2011

Music videos

Video	Year	Director
"Country Strong"	2010	Kristin Barlowe, Christoper Sims
"Me and Tennessee" (with Tim McGraw)	2011	Roger Pistole

References

External links

Gwyneth Paltrow's Newsletter, Goop

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American people of Barbadian descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Musicians from California Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Santa Monica, California Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Category:Pennsylvania Dutch people

af:Gwyneth Paltrow ar:جوينيث بالترو an:Gwyneth Paltrow az:Qvinet Peltrou zh-min-nan:Gwyneth Paltrow be-x-old:Гўінэт Пэлтраў bcl:Gwyneth Paltrow bs:Gwyneth Paltrow br:Gwyneth Paltrow bg:Гуинет Полтроу ca:Gwyneth Paltrow cs:Gwyneth Paltrow cbk-zam:Gwyneth Paltrow co:Gwyneth Paltrow cy:Gwyneth Paltrow da:Gwyneth Paltrow de:Gwyneth Paltrow et:Gwyneth Paltrow es:Gwyneth Paltrow eo:Gwyneth Paltrow eu:Gwyneth Paltrow fa:گوئینت پالترو fr:Gwyneth Paltrow fy:Gwyneth Paltrow ga:Gwyneth Paltrow gv:Gwyneth Paltrow gl:Gwyneth Paltrow ko:기네스 팰트로 hsb:Gwyneth Paltrow hr:Gwyneth Paltrow io:Gwyneth Paltrow ilo:Gwyneth Paltrow id:Gwyneth Paltrow ia:Gwyneth Paltrow is:Gwyneth Paltrow it:Gwyneth Paltrow he:גווינת' פלטרו jv:Gwyneth Paltrow pam:Gwyneth Paltrow ka:გვინეტ პელტროუ csb:Gwyneth Paltrow la:Gwyneth Paltrow lv:Gvineta Paltrova lb:Gwyneth Paltrow lt:Gwyneth Paltrow li:Gwyneth Paltrow hu:Gwyneth Paltrow mk:Гвинет Палтроу mr:ग्वेनेथ पॅल्ट्रो ms:Gwyneth Paltrow nah:Gwyneth Paltrow nl:Gwyneth Paltrow ja:グウィネス・パルトロー nap:Gwyneth Paltrow no:Gwyneth Paltrow nn:Gwyneth Paltrow oc:Gwyneth Paltrow uz:Gwyneth Paltrow pms:Gwyneth Paltrow pl:Gwyneth Paltrow pt:Gwyneth Paltrow ro:Gwyneth Paltrow ru:Пэлтроу, Гвинет sq:Gwyneth Paltrow simple:Gwyneth Paltrow sk:Gwyneth Paltrowová sl:Gwyneth Paltrow szl:Gwyneth Paltrow srn:Gwyneth Paltrow sr:Гвинет Палтроу sh:Gwyneth Paltrow fi:Gwyneth Paltrow sv:Gwyneth Paltrow tl:Gwyneth Paltrow th:กวินเน็ธ พัลโทรว์ tg:Гуйнет Палтро tr:Gwyneth Paltrow uk:Гвінет Пелтроу vi:Gwyneth Paltrow wa:Gwyneth Paltrow war:Gwyneth Paltrow yo:Gwyneth Paltrow bat-smg:Gwyneth Paltrow zh:格温妮丝·帕特罗