In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing. A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs. The lyrics (words) of songs are typically of a poetic, rhyming nature, though they may be religious verses or free prose.

A song may be for a solo singer, a duet, trio, or larger ensemble involving more voices. Songs with more than one voice to a part are considered choral works. Songs can be broadly divided into many different forms, depending on the criteria used. One division is between "art songs", "pop songs", and "folk songs". Other common methods of classification are by purpose (sacred vs secular), by style (dance, ballad, Lied, etc.), or by time of origin (Renaissance, Contemporary, etc.).

A song is a piece of music for accompanied or unaccompanied voice or voices or, "the act or art of singing," but the term is generally not used for large vocal forms including opera and oratorio. However, the term is, "often found in various figurative and transferred sense (e.g. for the lyrical second subject of a sonata...)." The word "song" has the same etymological root as the verb "to sing" and the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') defines the word to mean "that which is sung".

Cultural types

Art songs

Art songs are songs created for performance in their own right, usually with piano accompaniment, although they can also have other types of accompaniment such as an orchestra or string quartet, and are always notated. Generally they have an identified author(s) and composer and require voice training for acceptable performances. German-speaking communities use the term art song ("Kunstlied") to distinguish so-called "serious" compositions from folk song ("Volkslied"). The lyrics are often written by a poet or lyricist and the music separately by a composer. Art songs may be more formally complicated than popular or folk songs, though many early Lieder by the likes of Franz Schubert are in simple strophic form. They are often important to national identity. Art songs feature in many European cultures, including but not limited to: Russian (romancy), German (Lieder), Italian (canzoni), French (mélodies), Scandinavian (sånger), Portuguese (canções), Spanish (canciones). There are also highly regarded British and American art songs in the English language. Cultures outside of Europe that have a classical music tradition, such as India, may or may not feature art songs. The accompaniment of European art songs is considered as an important part of the composition. The art song of the period in which they originally flowered is often a duet in which the vocalist and accompanist share in interpretive importance. The pieces were most often written to be performed in a home or salon setting, although today the works enjoy popularity as concert pieces. The emergence of poetry during this era was much of what inspired the creation of these pieces by Brahms, Schumann, Schubert and other composers. These composers set poems in their native language. Many works were inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. Another method would be to write new music for each stanza to create a unique form; this was through-composed form known in German as ''durchkomponiert''. A combination of both of these techniques in a single setting was called a modified strophic form. Often romantic art songs sharing similar elements were grouped as a song cycle.

Folk songs

Folk songs are songs of often anonymous origin (or are public domain) that are transmitted orally. They are frequently a major aspect of national or cultural identity. Art songs often approach the status of folk songs when people forget who the author was. Folk songs are also frequently transmitted non-orally (that is, as sheet music), especially in the modern era. Folk songs exist in almost every, if not all, culture(s). For more on folk songs, see Folk music.

Popular songs

Modern popular songs are typically distributed as recordings, and are played on the radio, though all other mass media that have audio capabilities are involved. Their relative popularity is inferred from commercially significant sales of recordings, ratings of stations and networks that play them, and ticket sales for concerts by the recording artists. A popular song can become a modern folk song when members of the public who learn to sing it from the recorded version teach their version to others. Popular songs may be called pop songs for short, although pop songs or pop music may instead be considered a more commercially popular genre of popular music as a whole. Many people consider songs in popular music to have in general simpler structures than art songs, however, musicologists who are "both contemptuous and condescending [of popular music] are looking for types of production, musical form, and listening which they associate with a different kind of music...'classical music'...and [thus] they generally find popular music lacking".

See also

Air (music)

Animal song: bird song, whale song, zoomusicology

Aria

Ballad

Canticle

:Category:Musical forms

Hymn

Lied

Madrigal (music)

Song structure (popular music)

Vocal music

Theme song

Poem and song

References

Further reading

Marcello Sorce Keller (1984), "The Problem of Classification in Folksong Research: a Short History", Folklore, XCV, no. 1, 100- 104.

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name	Born This Way
type	studio
artist	Lady Gaga
cover	Born This Way.jpg
alt	Greyscale image of a bike against a black background. The bike has a blond woman's head at its front, whose right hand stretches out to the front tires of the bike. The words "Born This Way" is embossed above the image.
released
recorded	2010-11
genre	Pop, dance, electronic
length
label	Streamline, Interscope, Kon Live
producer	DJ Snake, DJ White Shadow, Fernando Garibay, Lady Gaga, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Jeppe Laursen, RedOne, Clinton Sparks
last album	''The Fame Monster''(2009)
this album	''Born This Way''(2011)
misc	}}

''Born This Way'' is the second studio album by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released on May 23, 2011 by Interscope Records as a follow up to her internationally successful debut, ''The Fame'' (2008) and the extended play ''The Fame Monster'' (2009). ''Born This Way'' is notably different from ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster'' as it incorporates a broader range of elements of several musical genres such as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll, and fuses those elements with sounds of electropop and dance. The album is heavily inspired by synthpop and electronic music from the 1980s and 90s. In the album, the central themes include those of religion, sexuality and feminism. RedOne and Fernando Garibay are the only producers on the album with whom Gaga has previously collaborated. Gaga took more control of her musical direction and the album composition. Production first took place in early 2010 and recording sessions at various recording studios around the world.

The title was revealed by Gaga in September at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards after her win of the Video of the Year Award for "Bad Romance". A week before the album's scheduled release, the contents were leaked online, but were shortly removed due to copyright violations. Three singles and one promotional single were released for the album. "Born This Way", the lead single, topped the charts in over eighteen countries including the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. It would become the fastest selling single in iTunes history, having sold over one million copies within its first five days. "Judas" was the second single for ''Born This Way''. The song peaked on the top ten in nineteen countries. "The Edge of Glory", originally released as one of two proposed promotional singles, was made as the third single of the album. The song debuted at number three on the Hot 100 and topped the charts in South Korea. The promotional single for the album, "Hair", peaked at number twelve on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and charted in sixteen different countries.

The album received generally positive reception from music critics, who complimented Gaga's vocals and the album's varying musical styles. However, ''Born This Way'' would come under fire from several religious commentators and organizations, whom expressed discontent towards its incorporation of several religious icons of Christianity and its supportive stance on sexuality. Similar to being a critical success, the album was an international success, topping the charts in over twenty-three countries. In the United States, the album sold over 1.11 million copies in its first week, the largest first-week album sales in over six years. An estimated 440,000 of these sales were at a special price of 99 cents, which Amazon.com offered for two days during the album's first week of release. As of June 2011, ''Born This Way'' has sold 5 million copies worldwide.

Background and recording

By late March 2010, Gaga stated that she had begun working upon new material for ''Born This Way''; adding that she had "already written the core of it." Three months later, she commented that she "felt very strongly" that she had completed the album. Upon being interviewed, she said, "It came so quickly. I've been working on it for months, and I feel very strongly that it's finished right now. Some artists take years. I don't. I write music every day." As recording and production for the album came to a close, Gaga revealed more about the musical composition of ''Born This Way'' in an interview with ''Rolling Stone'':

It [will be] the anthem for our generation. It includes the greatest music I've ever written. I've already written the first single for the new album and I promise you, that this album is the greatest of my career.

By the last quarter of 2010, Troy Carter, Gaga's manager, and frequent collaborator/producer RedOne gave personal opinions about the album. Carter explained that they were just starting to play the album to the label. He said, "We're very excited about [''Born This Way'']. We're starting to play a little for people and getting a feel for it, and she's done an incredible job, a really incredible job. Well, you know what, it's not where I go from a business standpoint, it's more about where she goes creatively because, truth be told, we built the business around her creative infrastructure and that business that was built is unique to Lady Gaga." RedOne added, "I think it's more of her freedom album. [... T]his album that she's making is too precious to talk about. [...] I think it's too precious for me to talk about it."

Alongside with sessions on tour buses, recording sessions and mixing for the album took place at various recording around the world; Abbey Road Studios in London, England, Studios 301 in Sydney, Australia, Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, Australia, Gang Studios in Paris, France, Livingroom Studios in Oslo, Norway, Allerton Hill in the United Kingdom, Warehouse Productions Studio in Omaha, Nebraska, Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mechaniche Studio in Italy, Miami Beach Recording Studio in Miami Beach, Florida, and Germano Studios in New York City. Brian May, a guitarist of Queen, and Clarence Clemens, a former member of the E Street Band, worked with Gaga in the album.

}} On September 12, 2010, Lady Gaga made an appearance on the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards for a nomination in the Video of the Year category for the lead single of ''The Fame Monster'', "Bad Romance", as well as twelve other nominations. She ended up receiving the most awards of the night, having claimed eight awards. During her acceptance speech for her award for Video of the Year, she announced the title of the album and sang the chorus of the title track for the album. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Gaga gave more info in regards to ''Born This Way'':

That chorus came to me, like, I swear, I didn't even write it. I think God dropped it in my lap. And I swear to you that I'm in a place now writing music where there's this urgency to protect and take care of my fans.

On December 31, 2010, Gaga announced via Twitter the release dates of the album and its lead single at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2011, described by Gaga as "a Christmas gift for my fans". Supplementing this announcement came a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with [''Born This Way''] emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels." She revealed the album's cover artwork on April 15, 2011 on Twitter.

Concept and artwork

|source=—Lady Gaga talking to her fans about ''Born This Way''}}

Gaga announced on November 26, 2010 during the Monster Ball in Gdansk, Poland, that the album could have up to 20 tracks, and promised that it would be the album of the decade. She also added that the album is completely finished. Gaga stated that it's full of "sledge hammering dance beats." She also explained that the album is going to be like “bad kids going to church, having fun on a high level.” It was confirmed in an interview with ''Vogue'' that 17 tracks were recorded for the new album, 14 of which will make the final cut to the standard edition. The leftover 3 were originally going to be released on an exclusive Target deluxe edition of the album but on March 9, it was reported that Gaga ended her partnership with Target on the grounds that the company donated money to an anti-gay organization.

In an interview with the BBC's ''Newsbeat'' Gaga commented on the album stating "The album is a marriage of electronic music with major, epic, dare I even say, metal or rock 'n' roll, pop, anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats. It's finished and all, it's just fine-tuning everything. It's kind of like the post-operative stage of the album. I've already done the full heart surgery. I'm just sewing myself back up again. I think that lyrically this album is more poetic. It's really written by the fans, they really wrote it for me because every night they're funneling so much into me. So I wrote it for them. ''Born This Way'' is all about my little monsters and me, mother monster."

On April 17, 2011, Gaga tweeted her selection for the Born This Way album's cover art, which featured Gaga fused into a motorcycle. Gaga's name does not appear on the album cover – the only text is the chrome writing across the top reading the album's name. The cover received a negative response from some critics and fans. Sean Michaels of ''The Guardian'' said of the cover: "...it looks more like a cheap Photoshop job than the most anticipated album of the year." He then commented: "Gone are the futurist sunglasses, the asymmetrical haircuts, even Gaga's newly touted magic horns; instead, a mutant motorbike with Gaga's arms and head, plus a cheesy chrome typeface." He also referenced several messages from fans on Lady Gaga's official forum expressing their dislike for the cover. Andrew Martin of ''Prefix Magazine'' referred to it as "a reject from the last ''Terminator'' film". The ''special edition'' cover was released on the same day. It featured just Gaga's head from the standard edition cover. The words "Lady Gaga" and "Born This Way" appear in the top left corner of the cover. They are typed in Impact font with "Born This Way" being highlighted in white with black letters. Neither of the words ''special'' nor ''deluxe'' appear anywhere on the album, as Gaga dislikes the words.

Themes and influences

In terms of musical composition, ''Born This Way'' is considered to be a notable departure from Gaga's previous works. In contrast to much of her previous albums, which consist of elements of mostly electropop, house music, and dance-pop, ''Born This Way'' incorporates a broader range of elements of several musical genres such as opera, heavy metal, rock and roll, Europop, mariachi, electro-industrial, and disco. ''Born This Way'' also features a wider variety of instrumentation and musical styles. For example in the eponymous lead single "Born This Way", an organ can be heard in addition to Gaga's voice closing out the song. Gaga sought inspiration from Gregorian chant, a prominent feature in "Bloody Mary", in which a male vocal choir chants her name on several occasions. "Americano" has also been noted to feature instrumentation such as guitars and violins. On addition, "Bad Kids" is noted to feature electric guitars. The songs "Hair" and "The Edge of Glory" are distinguishable from the rest of the album, as a saxophone can be heard throughout. It was performed by Clarence Clemens, who was a prominent member of the E Street Band. In several interviews, Lady Gaga expressed that she was mostly inspired by the likes of Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Bruce Springsteen. Other notes of musical influence stemmed from Iron Maiden, Kiss, Queen, TLC, Pat Benatar, and En Vogue.

The album contains mainly moderate-tempo dance songs, described as "anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats." In the months prior to the release of ''Born This Way'', 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 will take music to the "next level." The album includes references to several religious figures of Christianity, notably Judas Iscariot, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus of Nazereth. Several songs on the album give reference to multiple social topics, including the Arizona immigration law. Messages of sexuality and feminism are among the most distinguishable components of ''Born This Way''. Other themes referenced in the album include individualism, equality, and freedom.

Composition

The album opens with "Marry the Night", a song written as a homage to New York City. It is a dance-pop record with a thumping four on the floor house music beat, and has been noted to have influences of disco, techno and funk. The next, and title, song, "Born This Way" is about how everybody is equal, regardless of skin color, sexuality, or creed, and that every person can fulfill his or her dream. The song, which has been compared with Madonna's "Express Yourself", was written by Gaga and Jeppe Laursen and was produced by Lady Gaga, Jeppe Laursen, Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow. "Born This Way" features Eurodisco beats. The third track of the album, "Government Hooker", includes elements of opera music, and has a techno/trance/industrial music-reminiscent dance melody, as well as a hip hop-influenced beat.

The fourth song and second single is "Judas", which Gaga confirmed is influenced by the Biblical Judas Iscariot. According to Popjustice, on the surface "Judas" is a song about being double-crossed ("even after three times he betrays me"), contemplating revenge ("bring him down, I'll bring him down down, a king with no crown, a king with no crown"), but being repeatedly drawn to awfulness: "I'm just a holy fool, oh baby he's so cruel, but I'm still in love with Judas, baby". The middle eight of the song, with the lyrics "In the most Biblical sense, I am beyond repentance. 'Fame hooker', 'prostitute wench', 'vomits her mind'... But in the cultural sense I just speak in future tense. Judas kiss me if offenced, or wear an ear condom next time", talks about Gaga being beyond the ability to redeem herself, in terms of the traditional views of what a woman is supposed to be. "But I don't want to redeem myself, because in the cultural sense I believe that I'm just before my time. And if you don't like it, wear an ear condom," she explained. The main portion of the song is about Gaga in private and the middle eight is about Gaga in public, two themes that are explored elsewhere on the album too. The song and its music video depicting Gaga as Mary Magdalene, along with the presence of Jesus and Judas, triggered blasphemy accusations by the Catholic League even before the video was released. The song is also, in essence, a dance-pop and electropop track, with influences of industrial music, as well as a breakdown containing techno and dubstep influences.

The album's fifth track is "Americano", a mariachi song with techno and disco influences. The lyrics to "Americano" are bilingual, consisting of Spanish and English. This song was written by Gaga as a response to the Arizona Immigration law, Arizona SB 1070. The sixth track, and also a promotional single, "Hair" is a song about expressing freedom through one's hair. The song has a dance-pop melody, yet, it has influences from rock/heavy metal music artists and bands such as Bruce Springsteen, Iron Maiden and Kiss, and also contains The E Street Band member Clarence Clemons playing the saxophone. The seventh track, "Scheiße" contains German lyrics and has a message of feminism, accompanied by a Eurodisco and techno-flavored melody. After "Scheiße" is ''Born This Way'' 's eighth track, "Bloody Mary", a relatively slow-tempo song with numerous religious references, and a trance-influenced melody. "Bad Kids" contains 1980s synthpop influences and electric guitars. Its disco beat has been compared to that of Donna Summer.

"Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" is ''Born This Way'' 's tenth track, and a dance-pop song which has been noted to have Bruce Springsteen influences, and contains powerful drums and synths. "Heavy Metal Lover", the eleventh track, is song of electropop and techno tendencies, with synthesizers used as a focal point for the song. Following "Heavy Metal Lover" is "Electric Chapel", a heavy metal-influenced pop song which has been compared to Madonna. The album's thirteenth track and fourth single, "Yoü and I", is a rock and roll ballad which contains elements of country rock and music. The song contains a moderato-tempo. "Yoü and I" was written by Lady Gaga and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Before production credits were announced in April 2011, Gaga had teased that "someone legendary" would be producing the track. Queen guitarist Brian May is also featured on the track. Gaga, a Queen fan whose stage name is derived from the band's "Radio Ga Ga", admitted to "[falling] to the floor crying and laughing" when she found out that May agreed to the collaboration. Gaga mentioned in a New York Times story that when she recorded the initial vocals for "Yoü and I", "I had about 30 cigarettes and a couple of glasses of Jameson and just put on a click track and sang my face off, thinking we’d redo the vocals," but Lange kept them as he liked what she had sent him.

The fourteenth track and third single is "The Edge of Glory", which is an upbeat song of dance-pop, electronic rock and synthpop tendencies, which also contains a saxophone solo by Clarence Clemons. Gaga stated during her interview with ''NME'' that "I'm perpetually unhappy with what I create. Even though I might tell you that "The Edge of Glory" is a pop masterpiece, when it's all said and finished there will be things I dread, and every time I listen to it I'll hear them". "Black Jesus † Amen Fashion" is one of the bonus tracks. It is a pop song with 1980s electronic influences, and has been compared to the works of Madonna and Justice. The song has numerous references relating to fashion and New York City, including Broadway. "Fashion of His Love", the second bonus track, is a dance-pop song that contains references to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Critics have compared "Fashion of His Love" with Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". The last of the bonus tracks is "The Queen", a disco-influenced pop song which uses bells.

Release and promotion

Prior to the release of ''Born This Way'', the contents of the album were leaked online on May 18, 2011. Due to a violation of copyright law, it was later removed. The album was formally released worldwide on May 23, 2011 in two separate editions. The special edition included three bonus tracks not included on the standard edition of the album. Several non-singles songs were previewed as part of promoting ''Born This Way''. Remixes of "Scheiße" and "Government Hooker" were previewed at fashion shows presented by Thierry Mugler in January and March 2011, respectively. Several songs were released on ''FarmVille'' during the next few days prior to the album's release, including "Marry the Night", "Americano", and "Electric Chapel".

Live performances

Lady Gaga embarked ''Born This Way'''s promotion with live performances of its singles through Europe, Asia and North America. Prior to the formal announcement of the album, Gaga performed "Yoü and I" at Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball, Gaga performed the song live on television program ''The Today Show'' on July 9, 2010 in New York City, before an estimated crowd of 18,000–20,000 people, the largest ever to pack Rockefeller Plaza. It was next performed on the July 31, 2010, Phoenix stop of the Monster Ball Tour, where Gaga contested Arizona's immigration law SB 1070, and dedicated her performance of "Yoü and I" to a boy whose family was affected by the law. In the upcoming months prior to the release of ''Born This Way'', Gaga performed the title track "Born This Way" on February 13, 2011 at the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Gaga arrived at the ceremony in a giant incubating vessel that was carried onto the red carpet by numerous fashion models. She later emerged from another bigger egg on stage, dressed in a high ponytail, gold bra top and long skirt, with black and gold makeup and pointed shoulders and horns protruding from her face. The "Born This Way" performance was introduced by Ricky Martin. In the first few seconds after performing the intro of the song, Gaga emerged from the egg, and after the first chorus, she whipped her hair in a manner similar to singer Willow Smith. Before the "No matter gay, straight or bi" line of the song, an organ emerged from the stage floor. Gaga played the music on the organ, which was surrounded by mannequin heads submerged in gel, before belting out the rest of the bridge as her dancers surrounded her. Before leaving the stage, Gaga put on her trench and hat as the song faded out and Gaga and her dancers ended the performance with their hands put up in paws.

At the February 19, 2011, date of The Monster Ball Tour, Gaga performed "Born This Way" as a second encore, using the same general attire and choreography as the Grammy performance, however the incubation vessel was not present and slight alterations were made in the outfits of her dancers. The song was then added to the set-list of the concert tour. Two months later "Judas" was performed by Gaga on April 17, 2011 at a nightclub called Kennedy Lounge in Tampa, Florida, after her show in the city's St. Pete Times Forum as part of The Monster Ball Tour. Gaga performed "Judas" live on television for the first time on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' on April 28, 2011. At the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Gaga sang the song for French television show ''Le Grand Journal''. Wearing a gold-embellished ensemble, a red hood and a black-and-white hairstyle, Gaga performed an energetic version of the song accompanied by her male dancers, on a stage in front of the Mediterranean Sea. Gaga performed an acoustic version of "Born This Way" on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' in May 2011, along with "Yoü and I". During the performance, Gaga sat atop a high stool in a red leather blazer, a floppy mask-like hat, asee-through leopard bodysuit, and a high-heel structure. She played a piano made out of a wire high-heel structure. The high-heel structure was designed by Gaga's sister Natalie Germanotta. That same month, Gaga closed out an episode of ''The Graham Norton Show'' with a performance of "Born This Way". Another performance of the song took place at the season finale of ''Saturday Night Live'', where the singer wore a metallic dress and a side ponytail. An acoustic variation of "The Edge of Glory" and "Judas" were also performed on the show. A few days later, Gaga performed a concert at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, Cumbria. Alongside with the three singles of ''Born This Way'', the set-list composed of eight other songs, consisting of "Bad Romance", "Alejandro", "Poker Face", "Telephone", "Just Dance", "Speechless", "Yoü and I", and a rendition of "Orange Colored Sky".

On May 25, 2011, Lady Gaga showcased the final version of "The Edge of Glory" at the final show of the tenth season of ''American Idol'', where she was joined by Clemons in person. Gaga appeared perched atop a mountain top on the "Idol" stage, dressed in a long cape and a bedazzled headpiece draped with hanging chains. A trio of dancers were at the base of the set performing choreographed dance steps while Gaga belted high above them. Two days later, Gaga appeared on ''Good Morning America'' as part of the "Summer Concert Series", which took place at Central Park in New York. While there, she opened up the show with a performance of the lead single from ''The Fame Monster'', "Bad Romance", and performed all the songs from ''Born This Way''. On June 9, 2011, Gaga made an appearance of the season finale of ''Germany's Next Topmodel''. Wearing a teal wig, she sang a short version of her song "Scheiße" and played an acoustic rendition of "Born This Way" on the piano, while performing "The Edge of Glory" to close off the show. During the performance, Gaga walked under two guillotines labeled "sex" and "money" respectively, and purposely bypassed a third guillotine labeled "vanity".

Lady Gaga traveled to Rome, Italy to perform a show at the EuroPride 2011. Wearing a sleek black top with a plaid skirt designed by Versace, she performed several songs from the album. While at the event, she denounced discrimination against the LGBT community, and expressed discontent towards countries such as Russia and Poland for their attitudes towards homosexuality. The songs of "Judas", "Hair", "The Edge of Glory", and "Born This Way" were performed on the ''Paul O'Grady Live'' show in London. Gaga performed "Judas" on the ''X Factor'' in Paris on June 14, 2011, as a medley with "The Edge of Glory". The performance started with Gaga playing a keytar for "The Edge of Glory", wearing a fringed coat as well as a teal wig. She then removed the keytar and fringed coat, revealing a lingerie outfit which included a thong, and transitioned into "Judas". Gaga made an appearance on the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards, where she received two awards. Gaga opened the show with a performance of "The Edge of Glory", while closing the show with "Born This Way". She appearing on stage inside a hanging cocoon, and emerging from it wearing a high-waistline trouser and a ruffled feathered top. Near the end of the song, she removed the feathered top and the yellow jacket underneath it. While on tour in Japan, "Born This Way" was performed along with "The Edge of Glory" on the 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan. Gaga was dressed in a sparkly sequined bra and long skirt with a split up each thigh. After finishing performing "The Edge of Glory", she sneaked around the stage, and climbed some stairs to reach her piano—which was decked up to look like a giant spider—before launching into an acoustic version of "Born This Way". After the first verse, she came down from the piano and joined her dancers for the album version of the song.

At French television show ''Taratata'' Gaga appeared while hanging out of the window of her limousine. She later went on the show to perform "Hair", but changed her outfit once more. The recorded performance was released to her YouTube channel by Gaga. During her promotional performances of the songs from ''Born This Way'' in Taiwan, Gaga sang "Hair" and played the piano in a black bra, against the backdrop of many red lanterns and a red arch, a set created specially for the Taiwan show. She later explained in a press conference the inspiration behind the performance: "Like the gentleman [the host] just mentioned, that lantern means prosperity and it's about the future. I'm always thinking about the future of my generation and the voice of my generation when I write music." In May 2011, Gaga told Australian radio show ''The Kyle & Jackie O Show'' that she would be coming to Sydney to perform a one-off concert in July 2011, to promote ''Born This Way'', which occurred at Sydney Town Hall on July 13. After an interview with Howard Stern on ''The Howard Stern Show'', Gaga performed "The Edge of Glory" to close off the show on July 18. Alongside with the aforementioned, Gaga would play "Yoü and I" on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' a few days later on July 28. "Yoü and I" was performed again by Gaga four days later, ending out an episode of ''The View''.

Singles

Thus far, four singles have been released from the album. "Born This Way" was released as the album's lead single on February 11, 2011. Described as a "magical message", the song was written by Lady Gaga and Jeppe Laursen, and produced by Gaga, Laursen, Fernando Garibay, and DJ White Shadow. The song was met with mostly positive reception from critics, whom praised the anthemic nature of the song. Other notes of praise stemmed from the chorus and hooks of the song, as well as Gaga's vocals. Similarities to songs such as Madonna's "Express Yourself" were also pointed out by critics. "Born This Way" was met with widespread commercial success, topping the charts in over nineteen countries. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on an issue of February 26, 2011, becoming the 1000th number one single in the charts history. The song became Gaga's third number one hit, joining her previous singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". Within the first three days, it sold over 448,000 digital downloads in the United States, making it the most downloaded song in a first week by a female artist, a record previously held by "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears. That same week it sold over a million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling song in iTunes history. Its accompanying music video was shot the weekend of January 22–24, 2011 in New York City, and was released a month later on February 28. The music video featured several references to several cultural topics, such as Greek mythology and surrealistic art. The video received positive reviews, with critics commending its symbolism, artistic references, as well as its concept.

In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Lady Gaga revealed that "Judas" was to become the album's second single. Influenced by Judas Iscariot, a bibical character, the song was released on April 15, 2011. Critics reacted positively to "Judas", complimenting the song's breakdown, yet noted similarities in its composition with that of "Bad Romance". "Judas" achieved similar commercial success. For the issue dated April 30, 2011, it debuted at number four on Hot Digital Songs chart with 162,000 copies sold. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the song peaked at number ten, and charted in the top ten of twenty countries while reaching the number one spot on the South Korean charts. The music video for the song premiered on May 7, and was directed by Gaga and her choreographer, Laurieann Gibson. It featured Norman Reedus as Judas and Gaga as Mary Magdalene, spurring controversy from several Catholic organizations in the process. Despite initial controversy, the video was generally well-received, being praised for its cultural references and artistic imagery.

As part of the "Countdown to ''Born This Way''" promotion on iTunes, "The Edge of Glory" was originally released on May 9, 2011 as a promotional single. However, due to the huge commercial success of the song, it was shortly re-released as the third single for the album two days later. The song has been met with critical acclaim from many critics, whom deemed it as an album highlight. Points of positive reception include the saxophone solo, the underlying message and Gaga's vocals, which were described as a "throaty, soulful voice". "The Edge of Glory" has been met with high commercial success, charting on the top-ten in nineteen countries. It became Gaga's tenth consecutive top-ten single in the United States, debuting at number three on the Hot 100. On the issue dated May 18, 2011, the song debuted at number two on Hot Digital Songs chart with 266,000 copies sold. As of June 2011, the song has sold over a million copies in the United States. The music video premiered on June 16, 2011 on an episode of ''So You Think You Can Dance'', and was directed by Gaga and her creative team, Haus of Gaga. The music video for the song is notably simplistic as opposed to her previous work, as it lacks intricate choreography, back-up dancers, and only uses one outfit designed by Versace. Response to the video was lukewarm, with some critics applauding its simplicity, art direction, and cultural references to the 1980s; however, others found it uninteresting and laggard.

"Yoü and I" was confirmed as the fourth single by Gaga in an interview on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. "Yoü and I" is a song with tendencies of rock music and country music, and samples "We Will Rock You" (1977) by British rock band Queen. The song also features Brian May on the electric guitar. Critics reacted positively to "Yoü and I", whom complimented the musical composition of the song. Following the album's release on May 23, 2011, "Yoü and I" entered the UK Singles Chart at number eighty-nine, due to digital downloads from ''Born This Way''. "Yoü and I" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number thirty-six on the chart dated June 11, 2011, after selling 83,000 downloads. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the song has sold a total of 124,000 digital downloads as of June 2011. In Canada, the song entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at number fourteen, consequently debuting on the Canadian Hot 100 at number twenty-seven. It was released as a mobile single in Japan on July 27, 2011, and it will impact American mainstream radio stations on August 23. The music video for the single was intended to be released alongside Gaga's 1000th Twitter message, and to premiere on MTV on August 18. However, after parts of the video leaked onto the internet, it was released two days before its scheduled premiere day. The video was shot and set in Springfield, Nebraska under the direction of Laurieann Gibson, and featured Gaga walking through the countryside; in it, Gaga portrays a mermaid called Yuyi, as well as Jo Calderone, her male alter ego. The video generally received critical acclaim, being praised for its imagery, and it was deemed an improvement from Gaga's previous two music videos.

Other notable songs

Prior to the release of ''Born This Way'', "Hair" served as the first promotional single for the album. Initially "Hair" was supposed to be released as the second promotional single from ''Born This Way'', following "The Edge of Glory", on May 16, 2011. However, after its release to digital stores, "The Edge of Glory" started selling considerable amounts of digital downloads, prompting Gaga to make it the third single from ''Born This Way''. Hence, "Hair" became the first promotional release from the album. As well as with "The Edge of Glory", "Hair" features a saxophone solo performed by Clarence Clemons, who was a prominent member of the E Street Band. The song was well-received by critics who, appreciating the underlying message of the song, described it as an "empowerment anthem". Aside being a critical success, "Hair" was also a commercial success. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number thirteen on the UK Singles Chart. Along with the song, Gaga's other singles were all within the top twenty on the chart, making Gaga the first female artist since Ruby Murray in 1955, to have four songs simultaneously within the top twenty. In the United States, "Hair" debuted at number five on the Hot Digital Songs chart with first-week sales of 147,000 copies. Consequently it entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number twelve, becoming the highest debuting single of the week. "Hair" also reached the top ten in the charts of Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland and Spain, and top twenty in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia region) and France.

Reception

Critical response

''Born This Way'' received positive reviews from most music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Dan Martin of ''NME'' gave it an eight out of 10 rating, stating "Gaga doesn't know when to hold back – and it's a damn good thing", and complimented Gaga for pushing musical boundaries to its "ultimate degree." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine opined: "There's nothing small about this album, and Gaga sings the shit out of every single track." Cinquemani compared the album to The Killers' album ''Sam's Town'', calling it "bloated, self-important, proudly American, an exercise in extraordinary excess." BBC Music called the album a "marvelous record" and commended Gaga for "actually putting a bit of effort and imagination back into pop." ''Rolling Stone''s Rob Sheffield praised Gaga's vocals and musical style, expressing that "the more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds." Bill Lamb of About.com gave the album five out of five stars and concluded in his review, "''Born This Way'' begins and ends with near perfection." ''Spin'' felt that "excess is Gaga's riskiest musical gamble, but it's also her greatest weapon, and ''Born This Way'' relentlessly bludgeons listeners' pleasure centres”, and concluded that “she's making a convincing case that she's evolving into our most surreally brilliant pop star.” Adam Markovitz of ''Entertainment Weekly'' found the album "rewarding but wildly uneven", adding that "If Gaga doesn’t find a stand-alone hit here on the order of 'Bad Romance,' the album’s sprawl still shows off the breadth of her talent." Despite criticizing her for "letting her skills as a songwriter slide ever so slightly", Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented Gaga's composing "sensibility" and "considerable dexterity at delivering the basics".

However, Greg Kot of the ''Chicago Tribune'' felt that the album was rushed, describing it as "hyperventilating". Kot expressed that it felt like the sound "of a major artist sprinting to please everyone all the time." Randall Roberts of the ''Los Angeles Times'' opined that Gaga was lacking in innovation, stating that "musical adventure is not one of her strong points." He continued: "She’s unsubtle in her message, unsubtle in her dress, and, most important, unsubtle aesthetically[...]. If Gaga had only spent as much time on pushing musical boundaries as she has social ones, ''Born This Way'' would have been a lot more successful." Chris Richards of ''The Washington Post'' found it "boring", writing, "Yes, ''Born This Way'' is a dark, dense and surprisingly aggressive listen... [but] at its worst, it sounds like reheated leftovers from some '80s movie soundtrack." ''The Boston Globe'' called the album "the most deflated moment in pop music this year," saying the album lacks cohesion and the songwriting "feels thin." ''The Independent'' gave ''Born This Way'' three out of five stars. While complimenting her vocal range, criticized the diversity within the album and stated "the broader she spreads her net musically, the less distinctive her art becomes." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters gave the album a five out of 10 rating and dubbed it "her weakest album to date", commenting that it "fus[es] some daring songwriting with some remarkably repetitive themes and beats". Rich Juzwiak of ''The Village Voice'' commented that Gaga's "we-shall-overcome sentiment" is expressed more effectively through the album's "egalitarian use of house beats" than through her "sloganeering", which he found "trite" and "[un]insightful". In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau viewed the album as not on-par with ''The Fame'' or ''The Fame Monster'', but added that "both of those keep growing, and with its mad momentum and nutty thematics, this one could too."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 1,108,000 copies, Gaga's first number-one album and the highest first-week total since 50 Cent's ''The Massacre'' (2005) sold 1,141,000 in its first week. It is the seventeenth album to sell over a million copies in one week. Gaga is the fifth woman to sell one million copies in a week, after Whitney Houston (''The Bodyguard Soundtrack'', 1992), Britney Spears (''Oops!...I Did It Again,'' 2000), Norah Jones (''Feels Like Home,'' 2004), and Taylor Swift (''Speak Now,'' 2010). Amazon sold an estimated 440,000 copies in its first two days at a price of 99 cents (at a loss of over $3 million) which contributed to its 662,000 digital sales, the largest in SoundScan history. The digital downloads accounted for 60 percent of ''Born This Way''s first week total. The album also became the eighth best-selling digital album in U.S. history after its first week of sales. Before debuting on the ''Billboard'' 200, ''Born This Way'' debuted at number ten on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The next week, it jumped to number one, displacing ''The Fame.'' In its second week, the album remained at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, despite an 84% sales decrease, selling 174,000 copies. Digitally, the album had a 94% drop, selling 38,000 copies. In it's third week the album fell to number two being displaced by Adele's ''21'' with 42% sales decrease, selling 100,000 copies. In it's fourth week the album fell to number four with 33% sales decrease, selling 68,000 copies. As of August 17, 2011, it has sold 1,691,000 copies in the US.

The album debuted at number one in Ireland, and Sweden, while debuting at number two in Finland. The album debuted at number one in Australia, becoming her second number-one album there after ''The Fame Monster''. ''Born This Way'' was certified platinum in Australia in its first week, by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 70,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the UK Album Charts dated May 29, 2011, selling 215,639 units, which is the highest first-week sales of the year. That week, the album outsold more than the rest of the top 10 combined and has the best first-week tally of any album by an American female solo artist since Madonna's ''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' with sales of 217,610 copies in 2005. According to The Official Charts Company, the album has sold a total of 406,628 copies till June 2011. ''Born This Way'' debuted at number one on the New Zealand Albums Chart, becoming her second album to chart there, also after ''The Fame Monster''. The album was certified platinum in its first week of sales. ''Born This Way'' sold 184,000 copies in its first week in Japan, and debuted atop the Oricon. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipment of 500,000 copies. As of July 26, 2011, it has sold 510,000 copies in Japan. According to Universal Music Russia ''Born This Way'' sold more than 30,000 copies in its first two days in Russia. The album sold 2 million copies worldwide on its first week of release. The album has sold 5 million copies worldwide as of late June.

Criticism from religious commentators

Several religious groups have condemned the album, in particular for its incorporation of several religious icons of Christianity and its stance on sexuality. In Lebanon, ''Born This Way'' was temporarily banned by the General Secretary Department, who deemed the album to be in bad taste and mocking of Christianity. Abdo Abu Kassm, director of the Catholic Information Center of Lebanon, highly criticized the themes of the album, expressing that "if they are going to offend us we are going to cancel the album." He continued: "We will not accept that anyone insult the Virgin Mary or Jesus or Christianity [...]. Call us traditional, call us backward, call us whatever you want. We will not accept it." This ban lasted up until June 9.

The music video of "Judas" was criticized by William A. Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, notably for Gaga's portrayal of Mary Magdalene. In an interview with HollywoodLife.com, Donahue expressed discontent towards Gaga's focus on Judas and Mary Magdalene, calling her "increasingly irrelevant" compared to people with "real talent", and attacked her for seemingly purposefully debuting the song and video close to Holy Week and Easter. Shortly after its release, "Judas" was subsequently banned in Lebanon. In Malaysia, where homosexuality is considered a criminal offense, the government criticized the album for its stance on sexuality and feminism. Shortly after the release of the title track "Born This Way", radio stations across the country edited out several lyrics of the song as ordered by the Malaysian government. Rosnah Ismail, the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, condemned the song, opining: "Islam forbids this. We have to abide by the country's laws."

However, not all religious groups reacted negatively to the album. Helen Lee of ''Busted Halo'' felt that Gaga was "spreading the [good] news of Jesus Christ, whether intentionally or not." She resumed: "Her views on celibacy, personal strength and individuality are certainly laudable [...] and far more compelling is what she has to say about human nature and human suffering."

Track listing

Special edition

;Notes

"Yoü and I" contains elements of "We Will Rock You" recorded by Queen and written by Brian May.

(*) denotes co-producer

Release formats

;Limited Collector's Edition (Picture Disc Vinyl Box Set)

17 original ''Born This Way'' tracks in a 9 piece 12" vinyl picture disc set. (a special message from Lady Gaga will be etched into the vinyl)

24" X 24" commemorative fanwall mosaic poster

Personalized ''Little Monsters'' photo I.D. card with unique number that gives access to special offers

Custom numbered box

''Born This Way'' special edition album download

;''Born This Way'' (Special Edition Fan Package)

22-track Special edition of ''Born This Way''

''Born This Way'' double gatefold vinyl LP

Special edition 22-track album download

Personalized ''Little Monsters'' photo I.D. card with unique number that gives access to special offers

Access to commemorative digital fanwall mosaic

;''Born This Way'' (Special Edition album download)

22-track Special edition of ''Born This Way''

Donates to the MAC AIDS foundation

;''Born This Way'' (U.S. iTunes Store download)

Users who purchased either the 14-track standard edition or the 22-track "bonus track version" of the album (either as a whole purchase or through iTunes' "Complete My Album" feature) before May 29, 2011, would be given a code by June 2 that could be redeemed for a free download of "Judas (Thomas Gold Remix)".

;''Born This Way'' (Indian Version)

14-track edition of ''Born This Way''

Contains two additional remixes: "Born This Way (Bollywood Remix)" and "Born This Way (UK Desi Remix)".

Personnel

Credits for ''Born This Way'' adapted from Allmusic.

Andy Abad – requinto

Christina Abaroa – copyist, librarian, music preparation

Al Carlson – assistant

Cheche Alara – arranger, composer, instrumentation

Jorge Alavrez – vocals (background)

Stephanie Amaro – guitar

Gretchen Anderson – producer

Paul Blair – guitar

Bobby Campbell – marketing

Troy Carter – management

Clarence Clemons – saxophone

Kareem Devlin – guitar

DJ Snake – bass, drums, keyboards, producer

DJ White Shadow – composer, drum programming, keyboards, producer, programming

Lisa Einhorn-Gilder – production coordination

Nicola Formichetti – creation

Fernando Garibay – arranger, composer, engineer, guitar, instrumentation, keyboards, musical director, producer, programming, vocals (background)

Val Garland – make-up

Brian Gaynor – bass, keyboards

Kamau Georges – programming

Laurieann Gibson – creation

David Gomez – vocals (background)

Suemy Gonzalez – violin

Gene Grimaldi – mastering

Vincent Herbert – A&R;, executive producer

Julio Hernandez – violin

Mario Hernandez – guitarron, vihuela

Peter Hutchings – assistant

Dyana Kass – marketing

Harry Kim – trumpet

Ken Knapstad – assistant

Nick Knight – creation, photography

Phillip Knight – assistant

Lady Gaga – arranger, composer, instrumentation, keyboards, musical director, producer, vocals

Robert John "Mutt" Lange – producer, vocals (background)

Jeppe Laursen – composer, producer

Brian Lee – vocals (background)

Bill Malina – engineer

Brandon Maxwell – stylist

Brian May – guitar

Sam McKnight – hair stylist

Eric Morris – assistant

Wendi Morris – management

Carlos Murguía – vocals (background)

Trevor Muzzy – engineer, guitar, mixing, vocal editing

Jennifer Paola – A&R;

Paul Pavao – assistant

Kevin Porter – assistant

Jordan Power – assistant

RedOne – composer, engineer, instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal arrangement, vocal editing, vocals (background)

Olle Romo – engineer, programming

Dave Russell – engineer, mixing

Rafa Sardina – engineer, mixing

Justin Shirley-Smith – guitar engineer

Amanda Silverman – publicity

Clinton Sparks – keyboards, producer

George Tandero – assistant

Todd Tourso – creation

Anna Trevelyan – stylist

Peter Van Der Veen – vocals (background)

Horace Ward – engineer

Tom Ware – engineer

Kenta Yonesaka – assistant

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peakposition
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Canadian Albums Chart
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Danish Albums Chart
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Irish Albums Chart
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UK Albums Chart
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US Dance/Electronic Albums

Certifications

Country	! scope="col"
!scope="row"	2× Platinum
!scope="row"	Platinum
!scope="row"	2× Platinum
!scope="row"	3× Platinum
!scope="row"	Gold
!scope="row"	Platinum
!scope="row"	Gold
!scope="row"	Gold
Indonesia	Gold
!scope="row"	Gold
!scope="row"	2× Platinum
!scope="row"	Platinum
!scope="row"	Platinum
Russia	4× Platinum
!scope="row"	Gold
!scope="row"	Platinum

Release history

! Region	! Date	! Format	! Label	! Edition(s)
Worldwide	May 23, 2011	rowspan="2"	rowspan="4"	Standard, deluxe
Colombia	May 30, 2011	Standard
United States	June 7, 2011		Fan package (Deluxe)
United States	by August 30, 2011	LP, digital download	Limited collector's edition (Deluxe)
Germany	September 27, 2011		Interscope	Standard

References

External links

''Born This Way'' at Metacritic

Category:2011 albums Category:Albums produced by RedOne Category:Albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Category:Lady Gaga albums Category:English-language albums Category:Interscope Records albums Category:Albums certified double platinum by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos Category:Albums certified platinum by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas Category:Albums certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association Category:Albums certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan Category:Albums certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Category:Albums certified quadruple platinum by the National Federation of Phonogram Producers Category:Albums certified platinum by the Belgian Entertainment Association Category:Albums certified gold by the Productores de Música de España Category:Albums certified triple platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association Category:Albums certified gold by Mahasz Category:Albums certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry Category:Albums certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry of Denmark Category:Albums certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry

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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", "The Edge of Glory", and "Marry The Night". 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 to parents Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur. Descending from Italian and more distant French-Canadian roots, Gaga is the elder of two children. Her sister, Natali, a fashion student, was born in 1992. Despite her seemingly affluent upbringing in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga has stressed that 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": "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 4, 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.

CAP21 prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity" where, in addition to sharpening her songwriting skills, she composed essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics, including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst. With CAP21, she also tried out for and won auditions, 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 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. Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a HBO television special titled ''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden''. The special accrued one of its five Emmy Award nominations and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray.

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.

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: "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 who admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. In response to the comparisons, Gaga stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the years of her career, has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of artists including Whitney Houston, 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

Continually experimenting with new musical ideas and images, Gaga's musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and scrutiny from critics. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been drawn to such a practice since her childhood. Vocally, Gaga possesses the range of a contralto and exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being able to move through 2.4 octaves. Refusing to lip sync, Gaga – whose range is frequently compared to those of Madonna and Gwen Stefani – has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers ''Born This Way'' (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of." 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

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Name	Maria Lourdes Aragon
Nickname	Maria Gaga
Background	solo_singer
Birth|nickname	Winnie Gaga
Born	July 17, 2000Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Instrument	Vocals, piano
Years active	2011–present
Associated acts	Lady Gaga
Website	http://mariaofficial.com/ }}

Maria Lourdes Aragon (born July 17, 2000) is a singer from Manitoba, Canada of Filipino descent. Aragon gained fame after a YouTube video of her performing Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" went viral.

As a YouTube sensation

On February 16, 2011, a video of Aragon performing a cover of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga was posted to her sister's YouTube channel to showcase her talent to friends and family. The video caught Lady Gaga's attention when entertainment blogger Perez Hilton sent Gaga her Born This Way Cover , and she was so impressed by Maria's performance that she retweeted a link to the video. In a week, her video reached over 11 million views. As of July 26, 2011, the video had over 39 million hits.

During an interview on HOT 103 in Winnipeg, Lady Gaga called into the show to tell Maria how moved she had been by her performance. Lady Gaga then invited an already surprised Aragon to perform "Born This Way" with her at The Monster Ball Tour concert in Toronto. On March 3, 2011, Aragon joined Lady Gaga on stage at the Air Canada Centre, where they performed an acoustic duet of "Born this Way" with Maria sitting on Gaga's lap, playing piano and Lady Gaga working the pedals. Aragon later rejoined Lady Gaga and her team of back up dancers for an uptempo finale version of "Born this Way".

American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres took notice of her from emails and petitions requesting for Aragon's appearance on the show and eventually invited Aragon to appear on her show on February 21, 2011, where Aragon again performed "Born This Way" on the piano earning a standing ovation from the audience. On March 29, 2011, Aragon performed "Born This Way" at her home for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She and Harper also performed a duet of John Lennon's song "Imagine".

In 2011, she appeared in a commercial for HTC singing the K'naan song, Wavin' Flag. She performed at the 2011 Canada Day concert on Parliament Hill, which included the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in attendance, as part of their 2011 royal tour of Canada.

Manny Pacquiao chose Maria to sing the Philippine national anthem on his upcoming fight with Manuel Marquez on Nov 12,2011.

Self-titled debut album "Maria Aragon" (Philippines)

On July 20 of the same year, Aragon arrived in the Philippines where she signed a contract with Star Records, the same recording company who signed Charice. She will also have guesting on several ABS-CBN shows including the musical variety show, ''ASAP Rocks''. Aragon was chosen by Star Cinema to sing the official soundtrack of the upcoming Philippine film, ''Way Back Home'', entitled '' You're My Home'', which was originally sang by Lea Salonga.

References

External links

Category:Lady Gaga Category:Living people Category:Canadian Internet personalities Category:2000 births Category:Canadian child singers Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian people of Filipino descent Category:People from Winnipeg

fr:Maria Aragon

name	James Blunt
background	solo_singer
birth name	James Hillier Blount
born	February 22, 1974Tidworth, Wiltshire, England, UK
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, violin
genre	Pop rock, soft rock, folk rock, Brit-pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	2004 – present
label	Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic, Custard
notable instruments	Seagull acoustic guitars
website	}}

James Hillier Blount (born 22 February 1974), better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, ''Back to Bedlam'' and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005. His repertoire can be best described as a mix of acoustic-tinged pop, rock and folk. After recording on the independent American label Custard Records, Blunt won two BRIT Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, and by 2006 was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The following year, he released his second album ''All the Lost Souls'' (2007). Blunt's third studio album, ''Some Kind of Trouble'', was released in November 2010. Worldwide, Blunt has sold over 15 million albums, and his debut album, ''Back to Bedlam'', is the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.

Blunt was an officer in the Life Guards, a Cavalry regiment of the British Army, and served under NATO in Kosovo during the conflict there in 1999. While posted to Kosovo, Blunt was introduced to the work of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or "Doctors Without Borders"). Since then, Blunt has supported MSF by holding meet-and-greet auctions at many of his concerts. As of 4 October 2009 Blunt's primary residence is on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

Early life

James Blunt was born at an army hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England; the first child born to Jane A.F. ( Amos) and Charles Blount. James spent his early childhood living in England, Cyprus, and Germany, where his father, a Colonel in the British Army Air Corps, and military helicopter pilot, was posted at various times.

James Blunt has two younger siblings. The Blount family has a long history of military service, dating from the 10th century.His father instilled in him a love of flying, and he earned his pilot's licence at age 16.He has a keen interest in motorcycles after learning to ride when he was 16.

Education

Blunt was educated at two independent schools: at the age of seven, he was enrolled at Elstree School in Woolhampton in Berkshire, before continuing to Harrow School in Harrow on the Hill in north-west London (Elmfield House) on an army bursary. From Harrow School he gained an army-sponsored place at the University of Bristol, where he first studied Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering and then subsequently moved on to the study of Sociology. He graduated with a BSc(Hons) in Sociology in 1996.

Military service

Because the British Army sponsored his university education, Blunt was obliged to serve a minimum of four years in the armed forces. James stated on an interview in his ''Back to Bedlam'' sessions that he chose to join the military as "his Father was pushing for it, so that Blunt could obtain a secure work placement and income". Blunt trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Life Guards, a unit of the Household Cavalry, where he rose to the rank of captain. One of his first assignments was to British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada, where his battalion was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army in combat training exercises.

In 1999, he served as an armoured reconnaissance officer in the NATO deployment in Kosovo. Initially assigned to reconnaissance of the Macedonia-Yugoslavia border, Blunt and his unit worked ahead of the front lines directing forces and targeting Serb positions for the NATO bombing campaign. His unit was given the assignment of securing the Pristina International Airport in advance of the 30,000-strong peacekeeping force; the Russian army had moved in and taken control of the airport before his unit's arrival. According to Blunt's own account of the incident he refused to follow orders from NATO command to attack the Russians. There were less intense moments during Blunt's Kosovo assignment, however. Blunt had brought along his guitar, strapped to the outside of his tank. At some places, the peacekeepers would share a meal with hospitable locals, and Blunt would perform. It was while on duty there that he wrote the song "No Bravery".

A keen skier, Blunt captained the Household Cavalry Alpine Ski Team in Verbier, Switzerland, eventually becoming champion skier of the entire Royal Armoured Corps. He had extended his military service in November 2000, and after an intensive six-month army riding course was posted to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in London, England. During this posting, Blunt was interviewed about his responsibilities on the television programme "Girls on Top", a series highlighting unusual career choices. He stood guard at the coffin of the Queen Mother during the days of her lying in State and was part of the funeral procession on 9 April 2002. Blunt left the army on 1 October 2002 having served six years.

Music career

Early career

Blunt took piano and violin lessons as a child, but his first significant exposure to popular music was at Harrow School. There, he was introduced to the guitar by a fellow student, and started playing guitar and writing songs at age 14. At University of Bristol, his undergraduate thesis was ''The Commodification of Image – Production of a Pop Idol''; one of his main references for the thesis was Simon Frith, a sociologist and rock critic, and current chair of the Mercury Music Prize.

Blunt left the British Army in 2002 so that he could pursue his musical career. It was at that period of time that he started using the stage name "Blunt", in part to make it easier for others to spell; "Blount" is pronounced the same way, and remains his legal surname. Shortly after leaving the Army, he was signed to EMI music publishers, and to Twenty-First Artists management. A record contract remained elusive however, with recording label executives pointing to Blunt's "posh" speaking voice as a barrier in class-divided Britain. Linda Perry, who was just launching her own Custard Records label in early 2003, heard Blunt's promotional tape when visiting London, and soon after heard him perform live at the South by Southwest Music Festival. She made an offer to him the same night and within a few days, Blunt signed a recording contract with Perry, and one month later he was in Los Angeles working with producer Tom Rothrock.

''Back to Bedlam''

Blunt recorded ''Back to Bedlam'' in 2003 with producer Tom Rothrock at Rothrock's home studio, using session musicians and performing on many different instruments himself. While in Los Angeles, he lodged with actress Carrie Fisher, whom he had met through the family of a former girlfriend. Fisher was very supportive of Blunt's aspirations, suggesting the name of the album and providing use of a bathroom in her home for Blunt to record the song "Goodbye My Lover". ''Back to Bedlam'' was finally released in the UK in October 2004. Blunt's debut single in the UK was "High" (co-written with Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue). This song initially peaked below the Top 100 of the UK Singles Chart, however after the subsequent success of "You're Beautiful" it finally made the Top 75 before eventually being re-released. However, the song was chosen to appear in a Vodafone commercial in Italy, and was a Top 10 hit in that country.

The debut album from the unknown Blunt initially attracted little critical attention, and there were no published reviews from major UK music journals. His live performances, mainly in support of better known musicians, received somewhat mixed but generally favourable reviews. Blunt's lack of performing experience and inconsistent approach with audiences was commented upon, while his music was likened to that of Damien Rice and David Gray. In March 2004, with Blunt performing in the support role for Katie Melua in Manchester, Alex McCann of ''Designer Magazine'' wrote, "Blunt's ascendance is a dead cert and this time next year it isn't that far removed from reality to suggest that a number 1 album, Brit Award and countless accolade's [sic] will be his for the taking." After release of the album, Concert support slots for Elton John and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions in late 2004 and early 2005 followed, as did a band residency at London club 93 Feet East. In March 2005, his second single, "Wisemen," was released.

Blunt's third single "You're Beautiful" was his break-out hit. The song debuted at number 12 in the UK, and rose all the way to the number one position six weeks after its debut. The song also received massive airplay in the UK, which helped propel ''Back to Bedlam'' to number one on the UK Albums Chart. The extensive airplay ultimately led to Blunt and his co-writers being awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work. After the success of "You're Beautiful" in the UK, the song crossed over to mainland Europe, becoming one of the biggest hits of summer 2005 across the continent. In the U.S., "You're Beautiful" made its debut in the summer of 2005 on WPLJ, a prominent radio station in New York City, despite not having been released to radio yet. Once the song was released to radio stations in the fall of 2005, the song climbed into the Top 10 in three radio formats: Adult Contemporary Music, Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks, and Adult album alternative. Blunt became the first British artist to top the American singles chart in nearly a decade when his song "You're Beautiful" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006; the last British artist to do so had been Elton John in 1997 with the song "Candle in the Wind 1997". "Goodbye My Lover" was released as the fourth UK single from the album in December 2005, and was later the second US single. The songs "High" and "Wisemen" were subsequently re-released in 2006. Blunt started off 2006 celebrating five BRIT Award nominations, going on to win Best British male solo artist and Best pop act categories, having already started an 11-month tour that would take him around the world.

There was extensive promotion in the United States starting in the autumn of 2005, with Blunt making appearances on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and as a musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live''. Eight of the songs on the album were featured in television shows (''The O.C.'', ''Grey's Anatomy'' and many more), films (''Undiscovered''), and advertising campaigns (Hilton Hotels, Sprint telecommunications) throughout 2005 and 2006. Blunt performed "You're Beautiful" at the 49th Grammy Awards in February 2007, dedicating the song to the late Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic Records, but he did not win in any of the five categories for which he had received nominations (includes one for Best New Artist Grammy, but lost to Carrie Underwood).

The album eventually sold 11 million copies and topped the album charts in 16 territories worldwide. It sold 2.6 million in the U.S. and was certified 2x platinum. In Britain the album was certified 10x platinum, sold over three million copies, and entered the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for the fastest selling album in one year. In 2005, Blunt performed in 90 live shows, mainly across the UK and Europe, ending the year supporting Jason Mraz in a North American tour. The "Back to Bedlam World Tour" started off in January 2006, covering cities in Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, as well as three separate headline tours in North America, ending in November of that year. Not including promotional appearances, Blunt performed over 140 live shows in 2006. He enjoys the touring experience, saying in July 2006 that he and his band were having the time of their lives going to new places every day. The videos for all of Blunt's singles released from ''Back To Bedlam'' feature symbolism and dark imagery. In the first video for "High", he is buried in a desert. In the first video for "Wisemen", he is kidnapped and taken hostage. In the video for "You're Beautiful", he alludes to suicide by jumping off a cliff into the sea. In the "Goodbye My Lover" video, he is the outsider in a love triangle, imagining the couple, a man and woman (played by Matt Dallas of ''Kyle XY'' and Mischa Barton of ''The O.C.'') together. The re-release video for "High" features Blunt running in a forest. The re-release video for "Wisemen" has Blunt burning identification papers, and then walking through a forest while he is on fire.

Blunt appeared on an episode of ''Sesame Street'' which aired on 14 November 2007, singing about triangles to the tune of "You're Beautiful".

A parody of "You're Beautiful" titled "You're Pitiful" was recorded by Weird Al Yankovic. Blunt gave personal permission for this parody to be included on a Weird Al album, but Atlantic Records, Blunt's label, stepped in to forbid the commercial release of the song. Weird Al has since made the song available as a free MP3 download on his website. In a request by Yankovic to include the song on an upcoming compilation CD, Blunt's manager replied via email, "Thanks for your email, but both James and I will never approve this parody to be released on any label."

On 28 December 2009, BBC Radio 1 announced that ''Back to Bedlam'' was the biggest selling album of the noughties decade in the United Kingdom.

''All the Lost Souls''

Blunt's second studio album, ''All the Lost Souls'', was released on 17 September 2007 in the United Kingdom and one day later in North America. It sold 65,000 units in its first week, and was certified gold in the UK after only four days. By the end of January 2008, the album had sold 600,000 copies in the UK, and 4.5 million copies internationally. Blunt completed the album's songs at his home in Ibiza in the winter of 2006–2007. He performed five of the ten album tracks during his 2005–2006 tours; lyrics, melodies, and harmonies were refined for the studio recording, on which his touring band played and Tom Rothrock worked as producer.

While Blunt’s first album received very little critical attention, critics from every major music publication, and newspapers around the world, weighed in on ''All the Lost Souls''. The album maintains a 53/100 rating at ''Metacritic'', which the website describes as "mixed or average reviews." Eric Danton, of the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' and ''The Hartford Courant'' wrote that the album is "a collection so bland, it makes hardtack seem sumptuous", while ''Rolling Stone'' said that the album contains "forgettable ballads that make Coldplay seem like the Arctic Monkeys." Yet, in her review of the album, Kerri Mason of ''Billboard'' said Blunt "shows the abandon and confidence of a long-term artist, not just a one-hit wonder". And of the album, Mason wrote, "there is not a misstep throughout". Equally effusive, Liz Hoggard of ''The Observer'' wrote that "it’s impossible to resist Blunt’s troubadour yearning.”

The first single from ''All the Lost Souls'', "1973", was inspired by Blunt's nights out at Pacha, an Ibiza club, which opened in that year. The song became another hit for Blunt reaching number one the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles chart. D.J. Pete Tong remixed "1973" and played the track during his set at Pacha over the summer of 2007. The second single, "Same Mistake", was released in early December 2007 but did not fare well in the UK charts, peaking at number 57. It was Number 1 in Brazil and a hit in many South American countries. The third single from the album was "Carry You Home", released in March 2008, peaking at number 20 in the U.K charts and bringing the album back into the Top 10, six months after its release. The fourth and final single from the original "All The Lost Souls" album was "I Really Want You".

Blunt collaborated twice during this album cycle. In the end of 2007, he worked with French rapper Sinik. They released "Je Réalise", which took elements of Blunt's song "I'll Take Everything", which hit the top 3 in France. On 14 November 2008, "Primavera in anticipo", Laura Pausini new album, was released. The title track is a duet with Blunt. The album reached the Number 1 in Italy.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, Blunt went on his second world tour, including a performance in London's O2 Arena.

On 24 November 2008, ''All The Lost Souls'' was re-released as a deluxe edition, with new album artwork, new single "Love, Love, Love" and the documentary ''James Blunt: Return to Kosovo''.

''Some Kind of Trouble''

James Blunt's third studio album titled ''Some Kind of Trouble'', was released on November 8, 2010. The album debuted at #4 in the UK with over 100,000 copies sold in the first week. The album's first single "Stay the Night" was released on October 27, 2010. The single charted in the UK top 40 at number 37, and sat at Number 2 on the European Airplay Chart for 5 consecutive weeks. The second single from the album, "So Far Gone" was for released on the UK on January 3, 2011. Overall critical reception has been mixed and as of February 2011, worldwide sales stand at over one million copies, making it a commercial success. The third single from the album, "If Time Is All I Have" was released in the UK on April 4, 2011.

Personal life

Blunt says that he has become closer to his family since his musical success. His father manages his finances and his mother arranged for the purchase of his principal residence in Ibiza, where Blunt has holidayed since he was a teenager. Blunt also owns a châlet in the Swiss town of Verbier, which he purchased in February 2007, and he was named "godfather" of one of the town's new ski lifts.

Blunt was instrumental in introducing his sister to her eventual husband after offering her for "sale" on eBay. She was having difficulty obtaining transport to a funeral in Ireland, and Blunt listed her as a "damsel in distress". A person responded saying his friend had a helicopter his sister could charter, but it turned out he was in Sweden and she did not attend the funeral. But the respondent suggested she still meet up with the helicopter owner, Guy Harrison, and they began a relationship and eventually married.

The musician's social life has been the subject of significant commentary, particularly in the tabloid press. Blunt himself has found the degree of interest in his personal life to be bizarre, stating that "fame and celebrity is something that other people have constructed that I'm not really party to".

Charitable and environmental causes

Blunt has raised funds for the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières through benefit concerts and by auctioning opportunities to meet him at his own shows. He first encountered MSF medical care workers during his tour of duty in Kosovo, and was impressed with the work they did under conditions of minimal support and limited security.

He also supports environmental causes. He screened the trailer for ''An Inconvenient Truth'' at his concerts, and for each advance sales concert ticket purchased through his designated website a tree is planted. On 7 July 2007, Blunt performed at the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium, London, and is the owner of one of two prototype electric cars made by Hybrid Technologies under a Space Act partnership with NASA.

As a former soldier, Blunt is a patron of Help for Heroes, a charity aiming to raise money to provide better facilities for wounded British servicemen, and has also held benefit concerts for this charity.

Blunt has also contributed with his vocals for the charity single, "Everybody Hurts" in aid of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

Discography

''Back to Bedlam'' (13-06-2005)

''All the Lost Souls'' (17-09-2007)

''Some Kind of Trouble'' (08-11-2010)

''James Blunt Live at Manchester Apollo'' (Jan. 2008)

''High (18-10-2004)

''Wisemen (07-03-2005)

''You're Beautiful (30-05-2005)

''Goodbye My Lover (19-12-2005)

''1973 (23-07-2007)

''Same Mistake (03-12-2007)

''Carry You Home (07-07-2008)

''I Really Want You (04-08-2008)

''Love Love Love (10-11-2008)

''Live From London EP (28-06-05)

''iTunes Live: London Festival EP (18-04-2008)

''Chasing Time: The Bedlam Sessions (Live at the BBC) (13-02-2006)

Awards

Grammy Awards

|- | rowspan=5|2007 || James Blunt || Best New Artist || |- | rowspan=3 |"You're Beautiful" || Record of the Year|| |- | Song of the Year || |- | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance || |- | ''Back to Bedlam ''|| Best Pop Vocal Album ||

;2005

MTV Europe Music Awards – Best New Act

Q Awards – Best New Act

Digital Music Awards – Best Pop Act

;2006

NRJ Music Awards (France) – Best International Newcomer

BRIT Awards – Best pop act and Best Male Vocalist

ECHO Awards (Germany) – Best International Newcomer

NME Awards – Worst Album

MTV Australia Video Music Awards – Song of the Year for ''You're Beautiful''

Ivor Novello Awards – Most Performed Work and International Hit of the Year

MTV Video Music Awards – Best Male Video and Best Cinematography

World Music Awards – Best New Artist in the World and Biggest Selling British Artist in the World

Teen Choice Awards (United States) – Choice Music Male Artist

;2008

ECHO Awards (Germany) – Best International Male Artist

;2010

Virgin Media Music Awards – The Hottest Male

;2011

Regenbogen Awards (Germany) – Best International Male Artist

References

Further reading

TV interview with ''The Hour'' on CBC

James Blunt interview and video on and ''POP''

External links

JamesBlunt.com Official James Blunt website

Category:1974 births Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol Category:British Life Guards officers Category:Custard Records artists Category:English folk singers Category:English guitarists Category:English keyboardists Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:English pianists Category:English singer-songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:Old Harrovians Category:People from Tidworth Category:Sandhurst graduates Category:Warner Music Group artists Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:British expatriates in Spain

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