Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch (from Old English ''wicca'' masculine, ''wicce'' feminine) is a practitioner of witchcraft. Historically, it was widely believed in early modern Christian Europe that witches were in league with the Devil and used their powers to harm people and property. Particularly, since the mid-20th century, "bad" and "good" witchcraft are sometimes distinguished, the latter often involving healing. The concept of witchcraft as harmful is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community.

Beliefs in witchcraft, and resulting witch-hunts, existed in many cultures worldwide and still exist in some today, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., in the witch smellers in Bantu culture). Historically these beliefs were notable in Early Modern Europe of the 14th to 18th century, where witchcraft came to be seen as a vast diabolical conspiracy against Christianity, and accusations of witchcraft led to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Germanic Europe.

The "witch-cult hypothesis", a controversial theory that European witchcraft was a suppressed pagan religion, was popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. Since the mid-20th century, Witchcraft has become the self-designation of a branch of neopaganism, especially in the Wicca tradition following Gerald Gardner, who claimed a religious tradition of ''Witchcraft'' with pre-Christian roots.

Definitions of witchcraft

In anthropological terminology, a "witch" differs from a sorcerer in that they do not use physical tools or actions to curse; their maleficium is perceived as extending from some intangible inner quality, and the person may be unaware that they are a "witch", or may have been convinced of their own evil nature by the suggestion of others. This definition was pioneered in a study of central African magical beliefs by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, who cautioned that it might not correspond with normal English usage.

Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European and British witchcraft, where "witches" could equally use (or be accused of using) physical techniques, as well as some who really had attempted to cause harm by thought alone.

As in anthropology, European witchcraft is seen by historians as an ideology for explaining misfortune; however, this ideology manifested in diverse ways. Reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:

# A person was caught in the act of positive or negative sorcery # A well-meaning sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust # A person did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbours # A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs

Éva Pócs in turn identifies three varieties of witch in popular belief:

The "neighbourhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbour following some conflict.

The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has through magic increased her fortune to the perceived detriment of a neighbouring household; due to neighbourly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive and negative magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches.

The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams. "Neighbourhood witches" are the product of neighbourhood tensions, and are found only in self-sufficient serf village communities where the inhabitants largely rely on each other. Such accusations follow the breaking of some social norm, such as the failure to return a borrowed item, and any person part of the normal social exchange could potentially fall under suspicion. Claims of "sorcerer" witches and "supernatural" witches could arise out of social tensions, but not exclusively; the supernatural witch in particular often had nothing to do with communal conflict, but expressed tensions between the human and supernatural worlds; and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe such supernatural witches became an ideology explaining calamities that befell entire communities.

Demonology

In Christianity and Islam, sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch, and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts. Throughout this time, it was increasingly believed that Christianity was engaged in an apocalyptic battle against the Devil and his secret army of witches, who had entered into a diabolical pact. In total, tens or hundreds of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions the majority were men. Accusations of witchcraft were often combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.

The ''Malleus Maleficarum,'' an infamous witch-hunting manual used by both Catholics and Protestants, outlines how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. This book was not given the official Imprimatur of the Catholic Church, which would have made it approved by church authorities.

In the modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the satanic ritual abuse moral panic. Such accusations are a counterpart to blood libel of various kinds, which may be found throughout history across the globe.

White witches

Throughout the early modern period, the English term "witch" was not exclusively negative in meaning, and could also indicate cunning folk. "There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners, 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding' witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however 'cunning-man' and 'wise-man' were the most frequent." The contemporary Reginald Scott noted, "At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'". Folk magicians throughout Europe were often viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing, which could lead to their being accused as "witches" in the negative sense. Many English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons seem to have been cunning folk whose fairy familiars had been demonised; many French ''devins-guerisseurs'' ("diviner-healers") were accused of witchcraft, and over one half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers.

Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves mediators between the mundane and spiritual worlds, roughly equivalent to shamans. Such people described their contacts with fairies, spirits often involving out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an "other-world". Beliefs of this nature are implied in the folklore of much of Europe, and were explicitly described by accused witches in central and southern Europe. Repeated themes include participation in processions of the dead or large feasts, often presided over by a female divinity who teaches magic and gives prophecies; and participation in battles against evil spirits, "vampires", or "witches" to win fertility and prosperity for the community.

Alleged practices

Practices to which the witchcraft label has historically been applied are those which influence another person's mind, body, or property against his or her will, or which are believed, by the person doing the labelling, to undermine the social or religious order. Some modern commentators consider the malefic nature of witchcraft to be a Christian projection. The concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against his or her will was clearly present in many cultures, as there are traditions in both folk magic and religious magic that have the purpose of countering malicious magic or identifying malicious magic users. Many examples can be found in ancient texts, such as those from Egypt and Babylonia, where malicious magic is believed to have the power to influence the mind, body or possessions, malicious magic users can become a credible cause for disease, sickness in animals, bad luck, sudden death, impotence and other such misfortunes. Witchcraft of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the malevolence aside, or identify the supposed evil-doer so that punishment may be carried out. The folk magic used to identify or protect against malicious magic users is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.

There has also existed in popular belief the concept of white witches and white witchcraft, which is strictly benevolent. Many neopagan witches strongly identify with this concept, and profess ethical codes that prevent them from performing magic on a person without their request.

Where belief in malicious magic practices exists, such practitioners are typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while beneficial magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people – even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.

Spell casting

Probably the most obvious characteristic of a witch was the ability to cast a spell, "spell" being the word used to signify the means employed to carry out a magical action. A spell could consist of a set of words, a formula or verse, or a ritual action, or any combination of these. Spells traditionally were cast by many methods, such as by the inscription of runes or sigils on an object to give it magical powers; by the immolation or binding of a wax or clay image (poppet) of a person to affect him or her magically; by the recitation of incantations; by the performance of physical rituals; by the employment of magical herbs as amulets or potions; by gazing at mirrors, swords or other specula (scrying) for purposes of divination; and by many other means.

Conjuring the dead

Strictly speaking, "necromancy" is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy – although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The Biblical Witch of Endor is supposed to have performed it (1 Sam. 28), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham:

By region

Europe

thumb|250px|[[Death by burning|Burning of witches. Current scholarly estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000. The total number of witch trials in Europe which are known for certain to have ended in executions is around 12,000.]] In Early Modern European tradition, witches were stereotypically, though not exclusively, women. European pagan belief in witchcraft was associated with the goddess Diana and dismissed as "diabolical fantasies" by medieval Christian authors. Witch-hunts first appeared in large numbers in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and 15th centuries. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were from 1561 to 1670.

The familiar witch of folklore and popular superstition is a combination of numerous influences. The characterization of the witch as an evil magic user developed over time.

Early converts to Christianity looked to Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with magic lessened.

The Protestant Christian explanation for witchcraft, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle Witches, commonly involves a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. The witches or wizards engaged in such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments; observe "the witches' sabbath" (performing infernal rites which often parodied the Mass or other sacraments of the Church); pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness; and, in return, receive from him preternatural powers. It was a folkloric belief that a Devil's Mark, like the brand on cattle, was placed upon a witch's skin by the devil to signify that this pact had been made. Witches were most often characterized as women. Witches disrupted the societal institutions, and more specifically, marriage. It was believed that a witch often joined a pact with the devil to gain powers to deal with infertility, immense fear for her children's well-being, or revenge against a lover.

The Church and European society were not always so zealous in hunting witches or blaming them for bad occurrences. Saint Boniface declared in the 8th century that belief in the existence of witches was un-Christian. The emperor Charlemagne decreed that the burning of supposed witches was a pagan custom that would be punished by the death penalty. In 820 the Bishop of Lyon and others repudiated the belief that witches could make bad weather, fly in the night, and change their shape. This denial was accepted into Canon law until it was reversed in later centuries as the witch-hunt gained force. Other rulers such as King Coloman of Hungary declared that witch-hunts should cease because witches (more specifically, strigas) do not exist. The Church did not invent the idea of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force whose practitioners should be put to death. This idea is commonplace in pre-Christian religions. According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witchcraft contained many of its elements even before the emergence of Christianity. These can be found in Bacchanalias, especially in the time when they were led by priestess Paculla Annia (188BC–186BC).

However, even at a later date, not all witches were assumed to be harmful practicers of the craft. In England, the provision of this curative magic was the job of a witch doctor, also known as a cunning man, white witch, or wise man. The term "witch doctor" was in use in England before it came to be associated with Africa. Toad doctors were also credited with the ability to undo evil witchcraft. (Other folk magicians had their own purviews. Girdle-measurers specialised in diagnosing ailments caused by fairies, while magical cures for more mundane ailments, such as burns or toothache, could be had from charmers.)

Such "cunning-folk" did not refer to themselves as witches and objected to the accusation that they were such.

Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, casting spells, cursing people, making livestock ill and crops fail, and creating fear and local chaos.

The Russian word for witch is ведьма (ved'ma, literally "the one who knows", from Old Slavic вѣдъ "to know").

North America

In 1645, Springfield, Massachusetts, experienced America's first accusations of witchcraft when husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons accused each other of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial, Hugh was found innocent, while Mary was acquitted of witchcraft but sentenced to be hanged for the death of her child. She died in prison. From 1645-1663, about eighty people throughout England's Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of practicing witchcraft, thirteen women and two men were executed in a witch-hunt that lasted throughout New England from 1645-1663.

The Salem witch trials followed in 1692-93. The most famous witchcraft incident in British North America were these witch trials, which took place in the coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted 29 people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, 14 women and 5 men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. At least five more of the accused died in prison.

Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover, as well as Salem Town, Massachusetts. The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. All 26 who went to trial before this court were convicted. The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Town, but also in Ipswich, Boston, and Charlestown, produced only 3 convictions in the 31 witchcraft trials it conducted. Likewise, alleged witchcraft was not isolated to New England. In 1706 Grace Sherwood the "Witch of Pungo" was imprisoned for the crime in Princess Anne County, Virginia.

Accusations of witchcraft and wizardry led to the prosecution of a man in Tennessee as recently as 1833.

Author C. J. Stevens wrote ''The Supernatural Side of Maine'', a 2002 book about witches and people from Maine who faced the supernatural.

Witchcraft was also an important part of the social and cultural history of late-Colonial Mexico. Spanish Inquisitors viewed witchcraft as a problem that could be cured simply through confession. Yet, as anthropologist Ruth Behar writes, witchcraft, not only in Mexico but in Latin America in general, was a "conjecture of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion, in which Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures converged.” Furthermore, witchcraft in Mexico generally required an interethnic and interclass network of witches. Yet, according to anthropology professor Laura Lewis, witchcraft in colonial Mexico ultimately represented an "affirmation of hegemony" for women, Indians, and especially Indian women over their white male counterparts as a result of the casta system.

South America

In Chile there is a tradition of the Kalku in the Mapuche mythology; and Witches of Chiloé in the folklore and Chilote mythology.

The presence of the witch is a constant in the ethnographic history of colonial Brazil, especially during the several denunciations and confessions given to the Holy Office of Bahia (1591–1593), Pernambuco and Paraiba (1593–1595).

Asia

Ancient Near East

The belief in sorcery and its practice seem to have been widespread in the past. Both in ancient Egypt and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part, with the latter composing an Akkadian anti-witchcraft ritual, the Maqlû. It will be sufficient to quote a short section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 B.C.). It is there prescribed,

Hebrew Bible

According to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: The King James Bible uses the words "witch", "witchcraft", and "witchcrafts" to translate the Masoretic כשף (''kashaph'' or ''kesheph'') and קסם (''qesem''); these same English terms are used to translate φαρμακεια (''pharmakeia'') in the Greek New Testament text. Verses such as and ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") thus provided scriptural justification for Christian witch hunters in the early Modern Age (see Christian views on witchcraft).

The precise meaning of the Hebrew ''kashaph'', usually translated as "witch" or "sorceress", is uncertain. In the Septuagint, it was translated as ''pharmakeia'' or ''pharmakous''. In the 16th century, Reginald Scott, a prominent critic of the witch-trials, translated ''kashaph'', ''pharmakeia'', and their Latin Vulgate equivalent ''veneficos'' as all meaning "poisoner", and on this basis, claimed that "witch" was an incorrect translation and poisoners were intended. His theory still holds some currency, but is not widely accepted, and in ''kashaph'' is listed alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans. Suggested derivations of ''Kashaph'' include ''mutterer'' (from a single root) or ''herb user'' (as a compound word formed from the roots ''kash'', meaning "herb", and ''hapaleh'', meaning "using"). The Greek ''pharmakeia'' literally means "herbalist" or one who uses or administers drugs, but it was used virtually synonymously with ''mageia'' and ''goeteia'' as a term for a sorcerer.

The Bible provides some evidence that these commandments against sorcery were enforced under the Hebrew kings:

Note that the Hebrew word ''ob'', translated as ''familiar spirit'' in the above quotation, has a different meaning than the usual English sense of the phrase; namely, it refers to a spirit that the woman is familiar with, rather than to a spirit which physically manifests itself in the shape of an animal.

New Testament

The New Testament condemns the practice as an abomination, just as the Old Testament had (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6), though the overall topic of Biblical law in Christianity is still disputed. The word in most New Testament translations is "sorcerer"/"sorcery" rather than "witch"/"witchcraft".

Judaism

Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. Although Maimonides vigorously denied the efficacy of all methods of witchcraft, and claimed that the Biblical prohibitions regarding it were precisely to wean the Israelites from practices related to idolatry, according to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods. Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the Rabbis practiced "magic" themselves. For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (Sanhedrin 65b). In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles (i.e., coming from God rather than pagan gods) than as witchcraft.

Judaism does make it clear that Jews shall not try to learn about the ways of witches (Deuteronomy/Devarim 18: 9–10) and that witches are to be put to death. (Exodus/Shemot 22:17)

Judaism's most famous reference to a medium is undoubtedly the Witch of Endor whom Saul consults, as recounted in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28.

Islam

Divination and magic in Islam encompass a wide range of practices, including black magic, warding off the evil eye, the production of amulets and other magical equipment, conjuring, casting lots, astrology, and physiognomy. Muslims do commonly believe in magic (Sihr) and explicitly forbid its practice. Sihr translates from Arabic as sorcery or black magic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is the Surah Al-Falaq (meaning dawn or daybreak), which is known as a prayer to Allah to ward off black magic.

Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. (Quran 113:1–5)

Also according to the Quran:

And they follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut ... And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. (al-Qur'an 2:102)

However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers and Prophets, supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa – the spiritually accomplished. Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to Him that occur by His will and His alone.

Some Muslim practitioners believe that they may seek the help of the Jinn (singular—jinni) in magic. It is a common belief that jinn can possess a human, thus requiring Exorcism. Still, the practice of seeking help to the Jinn is prohibited and regarded the same as seeking help to a devil.

The belief in jinn is part of the Muslim faith. Imam Muslim narrated the Prophet said: "Allah created the angels from light, created the jinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.)". Also in the Quran, chapter of Jinn:

To cast off the jinn from the body of the possessed, the "ruqya," which is from the Prophet's sunnah is used. The ruqya contains verses of the Qur'an as well as prayers which are specifically targeted against demons. The knowledge of which verses of the Qur'an to use in what way is what is considered "magic knowledge".

There is a Hadeeth recorded by Al-Bukhari which narrates that one who has eaten seven dates in the morning will not be adversely affected by magic in the course of that day.

Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practises in Islam with pre-Islamic Turkish and East African customs. Most notable of these customs is the Zar Ceremony.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia continues to use the death penalty for sorcery. In 2006 Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali was condemned to death for practicing witchcraft. There is no legal definition of sorcery in Saudi, but in 2007 an Egyptian pharmacist working there was accused, convicted, and executed. Saudi authorities also pronounced the death penalty on a Lebanese television presenter, Ali Sabat, while he was performing the ''hajj'' (Islamic pilgrimage) in the country.

In April 2009, a Saudi woman Amina Bint Abdulhalim Nassar was arrested and later sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft and sorcery. In December 2011, she was beheaded.

India

Belief in the supernatural is strong in all parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time. It is estimated that 750 people have been killed in witch-hunts in the states of Assam and West Bengal since 2003. More than 100 women are tortured, paraded naked, or harassed in the state of Chhattisgarh annually, officials said. A social activist in the region said the reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg.

Japan

In Japanese folklore, the most common types of witch can be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes.

The fox witch is, by far, the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the ''kitsune-mochi'', and the ''tsukimono-suji''. The first of these, the ''kitsune-mochi'', is a solitary figure who gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The ''kitsune-mochi'' then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of "The Grateful foxes". However, once a fox enters the employ of a human it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared. A fox under the employ of a human can provide him with many services. The fox can turn invisible and be set out to find any secrets its master desires and it still retains its many powers of illusion which its master will often put to use in order to trick and deceive his enemies. The most feared power the ''kitsune-mochi'' possess is the ability to command his fox to possess other humans. This process of possession is called Kitsunetsuki.

By far, the most commonly reported cases of fox witchcraft in modern Japan are enacted by ''tsukimono-suji'' families, or "hereditary witches". The ''Tsukimono-suji'' is traditionally a family who is reported to have foxes under their employ. These foxes serve the family and are passed down through the generations, typically through the female line. ''Tsukimono-suji'' foxes are able to supply much in the way of the same mystical aid that the foxes under the employ of a ''kitsune-mochi'' can provide its more solitary master with. In addition to these powers, if the foxes are kept happy and well taken care of, they will bring great fortune and prosperity to the ''Tsukimono-suji'' house. However, the aid in which these foxes give is often overshadowed by the social and mystical implications of being a member of such a family. In many villages, the status of local families as ''tsukimono-suji'' is often common, everyday knowledge. Such families are respected and feared, but are also openly shunned. Due to its hereditary nature, the status of being ''Tsukimono-suji'' is considered contagious. Because of this, it is often impossible for members of such a family to sell land or other properties, due to fear that the possession of such items will cause foxes to inundate one's own home. In addition to this, because the foxes are believed to be passed down through the female line, it is often nearly impossible for women of such families to find a husband whose family will agree to have him married to a ''tsukimono-suji'' family. In such a union the woman's status as a ''Tsukimono-suji'' would transfer to any man who married her.

Philippines

Witch in the Philippines was known as Aswang (now associated with vampires or flesh eating monsters), sorcerers or practitioner of black magic are known as Mangkukulam in Tagalog and Mambabarang in Cebuano.

Tocharians

An expedition sent to what is now the Xinjiang region of western China by the PBS documentary series ''Nova'' found a fully clothed female Tocharian mummy wearing a black conical hat of the type now associated with witches in Europe in the storage area of a small local museum, indicative of an Indo-European priestess.

Oceania

A local newspaper informed that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

Africa

The term witch doctor, a common translation for the Zulu ''inyanga'', has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches". In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic. The ''thakathi'' is usually improperly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others. The ''sangoma'' is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also practices some degree of medicine. The ''inyanga'' is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a ''practitioner'' of malicious magic). The ''inyanga'''s job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use. Of these three categories the ''thakatha'' is almost exclusively female, the ''sangoma'' is usually female, and the ''inyanga'' is almost exclusively male.

Much of what witchcraft represents in Africa has been susceptible to misunderstandings and confusion, thanks in no small part to a tendency among western scholars since the time of the now largely discredited Margaret Murray to approach the subject through a comparative lens vis-a-vis European witchcraft. Okeja argues that witchcraft in Africa today plays a very different social role than in Europe of the past--or present--and should be understood through an African rather than post-colonial Western lens.

In some Central African areas, malicious magic users are believed by locals to be the source of terminal illness such as AIDS and cancer. In such cases, various methods are used to rid the person from the bewitching spirit, occasionally physical and psychological abuse. Children may be accused of being witches, for example a young niece may be blamed for the illness of a relative. Most of these cases of abuse go unreported since the members of the society that witness such abuse are too afraid of being accused of being accomplices. It is also believed that witchcraft can be transmitted to children by feeding. Parents discourage their children from interacting with people believed to be witches.

, between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of their homes. These children have been subjected to often-violent abuse during exorcisms, sometimes supervised by self-styled religious pastors. Other pastors and Christian activist strongly oppose such accusations and try to rescue children from their unscrupulous colleagues. The usual term for these children is ''enfants sorciers'' (child witches) or ''enfants dits sorciers'' (children accused of witchcraft). In 2002, USAID funded the production of two short films on the subject, made in Kinshasa by journalists Angela Nicoara and Mike Ormsby.

In April 2008, in Kinshasa, the police arrested 14 suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic. Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs. While it is easy for modern people to dismiss such reports, Uchenna Okeja argues that a belief system in which such magical practices are deemed possible offer many benefits to Africans who hold them. For example, the belief that a sorcerer has "stolen" a man's penis functions as an anxiety-reduction mechanism for men suffering from impotence while simultaneously providing an explanation that is consistent with African cultural beliefs rather than appealing to Western scientific notions that are tainted by the history of colonialism (at least for many Africans).

It was reported on May 21, 2008 that in Kenya, a mob had burnt to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft. In Tanzania in 2008, President Kikwete publicly condemned witchdoctors for killing albinos for their body parts which are thought to bring good luck. 25 albinos have been murdered since March 2007. In the Meatu district of Tanzania, half of all murders are “witch-killings”., while particularly albinos are often murdered for their body parts on the advice of witch doctors in order to produce powerful amulets which are believed to protect against witchcraft and make the owner prosper in life.

In the Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River about 15,000 children branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. In Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009 and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, human rights organization Amnesty International said. Every year, hundreds of people in the Central African Republic are convicted of witchcraft.

Complementary remarks about witchcraft by a native Congolese initiate: "From witchcraft ... may be developed the remedy (''kimbuki'') that will do most to raise up our country." "Witchcraft ... deserves respect ... it can embellish or redeem (''ketula evo vuukisa'')." "The ancestors were equipped with the protective witchcraft of the clan (''kindoki kiandundila kanda''). ... They could also gather the power of animals into their hands ... whenever they needed. ... If we could make use of these kinds of witchcraft, our country would rapidly progress in knowledge of every kind." "You witches (''zindoki'') too, bring your science into the light to be written down so that ... the benefits in it ... endow our race."

Among the Mende (of Sierra Leone), trial and conviction for witchcraft has a beneficial effect for those convicted. "The witchfinder had warned the whole village to ensure the relative prosperity of the accused and sentenced ... old people. ... Six months later all of the people ... accused, were secure, well-fed and arguably happier than at any [previous] time; they had hardly to beckon and people would come with food or whatever was needful. ... Instead of such old and widowed people being left helpless or (as in Western society) institutionalized in old people's homes, these were reintegrated into society and left secure in their old age ... . ... Old people are 'suitable' candidates for this kind of accusation in the sense that they are isolated and vulnerable, and they are 'suitable' candidates for 'social security' for precisely the same reasons."

In Nigeria several Pentecostal pastors have mixed their evangelical brand of Christianity with African beliefs in witchcraft in order to benefit from the lucrative witch finding and exorcism business which in the past was the exclusive domain of the so-called witch doctor or traditional healers. These pastors have been involved in the torturing and even killing of children accused of witchcraft. Over the past decade, around 15,000 children have been accused, and around 1,000 murdered. Churches are very numerous in Nigeria, and competition for congregations is hard. Some pastors attempt to establish a reputation for spiritual power by "detecting" child witches, usually following a death or loss of a job within a family, or an accusation of financial fraud against the pastor. In the course of "exorcisms", accused children may be starved, beaten, mutilated, set on fire, forced to consume acid or cement, or buried alive. While some church leaders and Christian activists have spoken out strongly against these abuses, many Nigerian churches are involved in the abuse, although church administrations deny knowledge of it.

In Malawi it is also common practice to accuse children of witchcraft and many children have been abandoned, abused and even killed as a result. As in other African countries both African traditional healers and their Christian counterparts are trying to make a living out of exorcising children and are actively involved in pointing out children as witches. Various secular and Christian organizations are combining their efforts to address this problem.

Irreligion

Some individuals who are irreligious, including atheists and agnostics, practice witchcraft and magic. An organization dedicated to the promotion of witchcraft known as ''The Realm of White Magic'' states that this is possible because "witchcraft is a lifestyle choice not a spiritual belief system." In the past, witchcraft was often viewed as a precursor of atheism by officials. However, those who subscribe to atheism have often stood in opposition to the practice of witchcraft.

Neopagan witchcraft

Modern practices identified by their practitioners as "witchcraft" have arisen in the twentieth century, generally portrayed as revivals of pre-Christian European magic and spirituality. They thus fall within the broad category of Neopaganism.

Contemporary witchcraft takes many forms, but often involves the use of divination, magic, and working with the classical elements and unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature. The practice of herbal and folk medicine and spiritual healing is also common, as are alternative medical and New Age healing practices.

The first groups of neopagan witchcraft to publicly appear in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Gerald Gardner's Wicca and Roy Bowers' Clan of Tubal Cain, operated as initiatory secret societies. Other individual practitioners and writers such as Paul Huson also claimed inheritance to surviving traditions of witchcraft.

Wicca

During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft in English-speaking and European countries began to increase, inspired particularly by Margaret Murray's theory of a pan-European witch-cult originally published in 1921, since discredited by further careful historical research. Interest was intensified, however, by Gerald Gardner's claim in 1954 in ''Witchcraft Today'' that a form of witchcraft still existed in England. The truth of Gardner's claim is now disputed too, with different historians offering evidence for or against the religion's existence prior to Gardner.

The Wicca that Gardner initially taught was a witchcraft religion having a lot in common with Margaret Murray's hypothetically posited cult of the 1920s. Indeed Murray wrote an introduction to Gardner's ''Witchcraft Today'', in effect putting her stamp of approval on it. Wicca is now practised as a religion of an initiatory secret society nature with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood. There is also a large "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no initiatory connection or affiliation with traditional Wicca. Wiccan writings and ritual show borrowings from a number of sources including 19th and 20th-century ceremonial magic, the medieval grimoire known as the Key of Solomon, Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis and pre-Christian religions. Both men and women are equally termed "witches." They practice a form of duotheistic universalism.

Since Gardner's death in 1964, the Wicca that he claimed he was initiated into has attracted many initiates, becoming the largest of the various witchcraft traditions in the Western world, and has influenced other Neopagan and occult movements.

Stregheria

Stregheria is an Italian witchcraft religion popularised in the 1980s by Raven Grimassi, who claims that it evolved within the ancient Etruscan religion of Italian peasants who worked under the Catholic upper classes.

Modern Stregheria closely resembles Charles Leland's controversial late-19th-century account of a surviving Italian religion of witchcraft, worshipping the Goddess Diana, her brother Dianus/Lucifer, and their daughter Aradia. Leland's witches do not see Lucifer as the evil Satan of Christian myth, but a benevolent god of the Sun and Moon.

The ritual format of contemporary Stregheria is roughly similar to that of other Neopagan witchcraft religions such as Wicca. The pentagram is the most common symbol of religious identity. Most followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals. An emphasis is placed on ancestor worship.

Feri Tradition

The Feri Tradition is a modern witchcraft practice founded by Victor Anderson and his wife Cora. It is an ecstatic tradition with strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.

Most practitioners worship three main deities; the Star Goddess, and two divine twins, one of whom is the blue God. They believe that there are three parts to the human soul, a belief taken from the Hawaiian religion of Huna as described by Max Freedom Long.

See also

Catalan mythology about witches

Christian views on magic

List of fictional witches

Morgan Le Fey

Occultism

Queen (Snow White)

Renaissance magic

Simon Magus

''The Book of Abramelin''

Torture of witches

Wicked fairy godmother

Witchcraft Acts

Witchcraft in Native American mythology

Witch-hunt

Notes

References

''University of Kansas Publications in Anthropology'', No. 5 = John M Janzen and Wyatt MacGaffey: ''An Anthology of Kongo Religion: Primary Texts from Lower Zaïre''. Lawrence, 1974.

''Studia Instituti Anthropos'', Vol. 41 = Anthony J. Gittins: ''Mende Religion''. Steyler Verlag, Nettetal, 1987.

Literature

Ashforth, Adam. ''Madumo, A Man Bewitched'', University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Easley, Patricia Thompson, ''A gobber tooth, a hairy lip, a squint eye: concepts of the witch and the body in early modern Europe'', Thesis, University of North Texas, August 2000

Favret-Saada, Jeanne (1981) ''Deadly Words: Witchcraft in the Bocage'', Cambridge.

Favret-Saada, Jeanne (2009) ''Desorceler'', Paris, L'Olivier.

Geschiere, Peter: The modernity of witchcraft. Politics and the occult in postcolonial Africa = Sorcellerie et politique en Afrique ; la viande des autres. Charlottesville Va.: Univ. Press of Virginia 1997.

Ginzburg, Carlo (1990) ''Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath''.

Henderson, Lizanne, ‘Witch-Hunting and Witch Belief in the Gàidhealtachd’’, Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland Eds. Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007

Hutton, Ronald (1999) ''The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft'', Oxford, OUP.

Hyatt, Harry Middleton. ''Hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft, rootwork: beliefs accepted by many Negroes and white persons, these being orally recorded among Blacks and whites.'' s.n., 1970.

Lindquest, Galina. Conjuring Hope: Healing and Magic in Contemporary Russia. Vol. 1. New York: Berghahn Books, 2006.

Moore, Henrietta L. and Todd Sanders 2001. Magical Interpretations, Material Realities: Modernity, Witchcraft and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa. London: Routledge.

Pentikainen, Juha. "Marnina Takalo as an Individual." C. Jstor. 26 February 2007.

Pentikainen, Juha. "The Supernatural Experience." F. Jstor. 26 February 2007.

Ruickbie, Leo (2004) ''Witchcraft out of the Shadows: A History'', London, Robert Hale.

Worobec, Caroline. "Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Prerevolutionary Russia and Ukrainian Villages." Jstor. 27 February 2007.

External links

Kabbalah On Witchcraft – A Jewish view (Audio) chabad.org

Jewish Encyclopedia: Witchcraft

Witchcraft in the Catholic Encyclopedia on (New Advent)

Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands, 1886, by John Linwood Pitts, from Project Gutenberg

A Treatise of Witchcraft, 1616, by Alexander Roberts, from Project Gutenberg

University of Edinburgh's Scottish witchcraft database

'Witchcraft and Statecraft, A Materialist Analysis of the European Witch Persecutions'

Category:Anthropology Category:Anthropology of religion

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Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of a young, pale-skinned Caucasian female with blond hair
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Birth date	March 28, 1986
Birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Pop, dance, electronic
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	100pxLady Gaga's signature }}

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), 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 was signed with Streamline Records by the end of 2007. During her employment 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 The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro". The album's success 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, including "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Besides her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through her fashion, performances 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 are some of the best selling worldwide. Her achievements include five Grammy Awards and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), ranked fourth in VH1's list of 100 Greatest Women in Music, is regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine and was named one of the most influential people in the world by ''Time'' magazine. In 2012, Gaga was ranked at number four on ''Billboard'''s list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than $25 million.

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. 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 becoming one of twenty students to gain early admission, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street by the age of 17. 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 for MTV's ''Boiling Points'', a prank reality television show. But Gaga felt more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said.

2005–07: Career beginnings

Gaga withdrew from CAP21 at 19, in the second semester of her sophomore year, deciding to focus on her musical career. 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. 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'' (both 2005) 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 musician, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer. 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 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. At Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. Akon then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M; Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live, making her his "franchise player."

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 and also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. Her response: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."

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

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles in order to work extensively with her record label to complete her debut album and set up her own creative team Haus of Gaga, modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory. ''The Fame'' was first released on August 19, 2008 to slow radio play. Gaga supported it by performing around Europe and in small gay clubs around the US in addition to being billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour. A sleeper hit, lead single "Just Dance" had preceded the album's release by four months but only hit the summit of the international charts in January 2009, provoking the instant success of the album, earning her first Grammy Award nomination (for Best Dance Recording) and becoming one of the best-selling singles worldwide. Gaga achieved a greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number one in most major music markets worldwide in early 2009, selling 9.8 million singles worldwide. The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

''The Fame'' itself was nominated for Album of the Year while winning Best Dance/Electronica Album at the same ceremony. Contemporary critics lauded the album, describing it as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, noting its combination of genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks", the inspiration drawn from 1980s synthpop and incorporation of dance music with clear hooks. ''The Fame'' went to number one in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK and appeared in the top five in Australia, the US and 15 other countries. It also stayed atop the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 106 non-consecutive weeks and, since its release, has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The album's success spawned many 2009 honors including ''Billboard'' magazine's Rising Star award and the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, winning Best New Artist with the video for her single "Paparazzi" gaining Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.

While she traveled the globe, she wrote ''The Fame Monster'', an EP of eight songs released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Making Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (alongside "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales, its lead single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries and reached the top two in the US, Australia and New Zealand while accruing the Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. The 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; its accompanying music video, although controversial, received positive reception from contemporary critics who praised her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." 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. At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won 8 of her 13 nominations, including Video of the Year for "Bad Romance" (with "Telephone" also nominated), which made her the first female artist to be nominated twice for the award. In addition, ''The Fame Monster'' garnered a total of six nominations at the 53rd Grammy Awards – equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received – winning Best Pop Vocal Album and earning her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year.

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 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."

In 2009 she collaborated with consumer electronic company Monster Cable Products to create a pair of in-ear jewel-encrusted headphones titled Heartbeats. "They are designed to be the first ever fashion accessories that double as the absolute best sonically sounding headphones in the world," she commented. Gaga also partnered with Polaroid in January 2010 as their Creative Director. Excited about "blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era," Gaga unveiled the first trio of new products called Grey Label: a pair of picture-taking sunglasses, a paperback-sized mobile printing unit and an updated version of the traditional Polaroid camera at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. But her collaboration with past producer Rob Fusari led to her production team, Mermaid Music LLC, being sued in March 2010 when he claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of the company's earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment, but five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga. In addition to such strife, Gaga was tested borderline positive for lupus, but claimed not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay among fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

2011–present: ''Born This Way''

Gaga released her second studio album and third major release, ''Born This Way'', on May 23, 2011. Described as a marriage of electronic music with metal, rock 'n' roll, pop and anthemic style melodies with sledge-hammering dance beats and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid," Gaga characterized it as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and, upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level." Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles and her vocals. ''Born This Way'' sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, and topped the charts in more than 20 other countries. In addition to exceeding 8 million copies in worldwide sales, ''Born This Way'' received 3 Grammy Award nominations, including her third consecutive for Album of the Year.

In the months prior to its unveiling, Gaga released the singles "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory" alongside promotional single "Hair". The eponymous lead single, first sung live at the 53rd Grammy Awards in a performance that saw Gaga emerge from an egg-like vessel, deals with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation. The single debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts. It sold more than 3 million digital copies in the US by October 2011, becoming her eighth consecutive single to exceed sales of 2 million and, with worldwide sales of 8.2 million copies by November 2011, one of her five best-selling singles worldwide. Critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised the concept of the song's accompanying music video, in which Gaga gives birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images. The video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references but received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it. "Judas" also peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets, while "The Edge of Glory", first a commercial success in digital outlets, was later released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a video which was notably stripped down from her usually "extravagant" efforts. She released "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as the following singles from ''Born This Way''. Although their "crazy and ambitious" videos were praised for their audacity, both songs failed to match the similar international success that their predecessors achieved.

Gaga continued her musical endeavors by pairing with veteran artists like Tony Bennett to record a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp". She also recorded a duet with Cher on a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which Gaga "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason." Gaga also lent her vocals to an original duet with Elton John for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet''. The song, "Hello, Hello", was released without Gaga's vocals but the duet version features in the film. She also continued her live appearances throughout 2011, performing a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13 in promotion of ''Born This Way'' and at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th birthday, wearing a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changing the lyrics to "You and I" specifically for the performance. Televised appearances comprised her own Thanksgiving Day television special entitled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' which was critically lauded, attained 5.749 million American viewers, and spawned the release of her fourth extended play ''A Very Gaga Holiday''. Her second performance on ''Saturday Night Live'' saw her singing a selection of ''Born This Way'' songs alongside appearing in number of sketches with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg. In March 2012, Gaga was ranked at number four on ''Billboard'''s list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing $25,353,039 dollars, which includes sales from ''Born This Way'' and her ''Monster Ball Tour''.

In early 2012, Gaga stated that songs for a new album were "beginning to flourish" as she worked with producer Fernando Garibay, while the accompanying tour for ''Born This Way'' was materializing. Gaga's manager, Vincent Herbert, revealed that Gaga is working on her upcoming album during the tour, stating that the material is "insane, great records." The Born This Way Ball Tour began on April 27, 2012, at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. The tour was met with protests from several religious groups who denounced the tour as satanic and against religious values, resulting in protests mainly from the Islamic Defenders Front, causing a cancellation in the Indonesian city of Jakarta, where Gaga was denied a license to perform. The concert however was still in question as concert promoters were optimistic that the performance will in fact go on. However, due to threats of violence from Muslim hardliners, Gaga decided to cancel the concert although 52,000 tickets have sold out in just a few days. On May 20, 2012, Gaga guest-starred on the 23rd season finale of ''The Simpsons'' entitled "Lisa Goes Gaga".

Artistry

Influences

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, 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, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson, Yoko Ono, and Britney Spears. Gaga has mentioned Spears in several interviews, and revealed, "Britney certainly doesn’t need any freakin’ tips from me! Britney Spears is the queen of pop. I was learning from her." Gaga also paid tribute to Spears during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards with the MTV Video Vanguard Award, adding that the pop singer "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her."

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." Gaga made her runway debut at Thierry Mugler's Paris fashion show in March 2011 where she wore items from Nicola Formichetti's debut women's wear collection. In June of the same year, she won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for Fashion Icon. ''Time Magazine'' placed Gaga on their "All-Time 100 Fashion Icons List" amongst some of Gaga's inspirations such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the The Beatles, stating: "Lady Gaga is just as notorious for her outrageous style as she is for her pop hits. After all, Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta, has sported outfits made from plastic bubbles, Kermit the Frog dolls, and raw meat." She has since devoted her time as a fashion columnist for ''V'' magazine, where she has written about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme.

In August 2011 she sent to her 15 millions followers that she had at that time on Twitter, a quote about creativity from the book "Creativity" by Osho, which led journalists, on October 28, of the same year, on her arrival to India for the inauguration of a big Formula One motorsport event, to ask her about her connection to him, to which Gaga said she was influenced by his work and that for her, "the creativity is the greatest way of rebellion": "Equality", she concluded, "is one of the most important things in my life".

Musical 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."

Music videos and performances

With constant costume changes, backup dancers, and provocative visuals, Gaga's music videos are often described as short films. "Being provocative is not just about getting people's attention. It's about saying something that really affects people in a real way, in a positive way," she professes. Exploring bondage and sadomasochism in addition to highlighting prevalent feminist themes, "the three central themes that shape Lady Gaga's music videos are sex, violence, and power." "Vaudevillian and carnal, Lady Gaga has got the knack of sending rape-like fantasies—in songs and videos that double as catch club hits—to the top of the charts," wrote one critic. "Whether it is physical violence or sexual exploitation, these videos offer vivid depictions of male power over women's bodies," wrote another. While she labels herself "a little bit of a feminist" (she rejects man-hating feminism) and asserts that she is "sexually empowering women," Gaga strives to empower young women to stand up for what they believe in. She also attempts to liberate her fans so they can feel "less alone." "She not only reiterates her assertion of total originality," professed pop critic Ann Powers, "but also finesses it until it's both a philosophical stance about how constructing a persona from pop-cultural sources can be an expression of a person's truth—a la those drag queens Gaga sincerely admires—and a bit of a feminist act." In summation of her videos, ''Rolling Stone'' used the rhetoric: "does anyone look to a Lady Gaga video for restraint?"

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 during The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and was "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene in England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "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: performing in drag as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivering a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "You and I". Some have defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," Chris Rock said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?" As Gaga's choreographer and creative director, Laurieann Gibson provided material for her shows and videos for four years. However, the pair parted in November 2011; Gaga replacing her with Gibson's assistant Richard Jackson. Gaga admits to being a perfectionist when it comes to her elaborate shows. "I'm very bossy. I can scream my head off if I see one light fixture out. I'm very detailed – every minute of the show has got to be perfect."

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 spring 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga." 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.

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." 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, whom 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. In a question posed about the necessary procedure to attach the prosthetics to give the unconventional 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.

Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." 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 Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier.

While devout followers call Gaga "Mother Monster", Gaga often refers to her fans as "Little Monsters" which has been tattooed on "the arm that holds my mic" in dedication. 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 that Gaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those." 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. For natural disasters, Gaga has helped various relief efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her official online store on that day were also donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of US$500,000 was collected for the fund. 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. 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.

HIV and AIDS

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS, focusing on educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. 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.

Born This Way Foundation

As a humanitarian, she has 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 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. She also jumped into the debate surrounding SB 1070, Arizona's recently-enacted anti-immigration law, after premiering her ''Born This Way'' song "Americano" on the Guadalajara stop of The Monster Ball Tour in Mexico, telling the local press that she could not "stand by many of the unjust immigration laws" in the US. A devoted advocate for the LGBT community, Gaga is also an outspoken activist for LGBT rights worldwide. On February 29, 2012, Gaga and Oprah Winfrey visited Harvard University to launch her Born This Way Foundation.

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 meat dress to the ceremony which was supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat that were all fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. Partly awarded in recognition of the dress, Vogue.com UK named her one of the Best Dressed people of 2010 while ''Time'' magazine's named the dress the Fashion Statement of 2010, it received divided opinions – evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. She 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, 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 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)

"Lisa Goes Gaga" (''The Simpsons'' episode) (2012)

''Men in Black 3'' (Plays the role of an alien.) (2012)

Concert tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

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

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

The Born This Way Ball Tour (2012–13)

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''

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name	Don LaFontaine
birth name	Donald Leroy LaFontaine
birth date	August 26, 1940
birth place	Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
death date	September 01, 2008
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
death cause	Pneumothorax
nationality	American
occupation	Voice actor
years active	1962–2008
spouse	Joan Studva (1967–1988)Nita Whitaker (1989–2008)
children	Christine LaFontaine (age 40)Skye LaFontaine (age 20)Elyse LaFontaine (age 16)
website	http://www.donlafontaine.com/ }}

Donald Leroy "Don" LaFontaine (August 26, 1940 – September 1, 2008) was an American voice actor famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers. His nicknames included "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God". He became identified with the phrase "In a world…", which has been used in movie trailers so frequently that it has become a cliché. He parodied his career several times, most recently in commercials for GEICO insurance and the Mega Millions lottery game.

Early life

LaFontaine was born August 26, 1940, in Duluth, Minnesota, to Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine. According to LaFontaine himself, his voice cracked at the age of 13 in the middle of a sentence, giving him the bass tones that would later bring him much fame and success. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army, and worked as a recording engineer for the Army Band and Chorus.

Career

LaFontaine continued to work as a recording engineer after discharge and began working at the National Recording Studios in New York City, where, in 1962, he had the opportunity to work with producer Floyd Peterson on radio spots for ''Dr. Strangelove''. Peterson incorporated many of LaFontaine’s ideas for the spots and, in 1963, they went into business together producing advertising exclusively for the movie industry. LaFontaine claimed that it was this company that first came up with many of the famous movie trailer catch phrases, including his own future signature phrase, "in a world..."

While working on the 1964 western ''Gunfighters of Casa Grande'', LaFontaine had to fill in for an unavailable voice actor in order to have something to present to MGM. After MGM bought the spots, LaFontaine began a career as a voiceover artist.

He became the head of Kaleidoscope Films Ltd., a major movie trailer producer before starting his own company, Don LaFontaine Associates, in 1976. Shortly thereafter, he was hired by Paramount to do their trailers, and was eventually promoted to a vice president. However, he decided to get back into trailer work and left Paramount, moving to Los Angeles in 1981. LaFontaine was contacted by an agent who wanted to promote him for voiceover work. Thereafter, LaFontaine worked in voiceovers. At his peak, he voiced about 60 promotions a week, and sometimes as many as 35 in a single day. Once he established himself, most studios were willing to pay a high fee for his service. His income was reportedly in the millions.

LaFontaine often had jobs at a number of different studios each day, and famously hired a driver to take him from studio to studio in order to save time finding parking. With the advent of ISDN technology, LaFontaine built a recording studio in his Hollywood Hills home and began doing his work from home.

LaFontaine lent his very distinctive voice to thousands of movie trailers during his career, spanning every genre from every major film studio, including The Cannon Group, for which he voiced one of their logos. For a time, LaFontaine had a near-monopoly on movie trailer voiceovers. Some notable trailers which LaFontaine highlighted in the intro on his official website include: ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'', ''Shrek'', ''Friday the 13th'', ''Law & Order'' and ''Batman Returns''. LaFontaine stated in 2007 that his favorite work in a movie trailer was for the hit biographical film ''The Elephant Man'', though according to a response to the question on his website, he had several trailers which stood out in his mind, and he didn't like to choose one.

Lafontaine also did announcing for a few WWE Pay Per View events, as well as the "Don't Try This at Home" bumper.

In a 2007 interview, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind his signature catch phrase, "in a world where...":

We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to. That's very easily done by saying, "In a world where... violence rules." "In a world where... men are slaves and women are the conquerors." You very rapidly set the scene.

LaFontaine also did other voice work, including as the announcer for the newscasts on WCBS-TV New York, from 2000 to 2001. LaFontaine was a recurring guest narrator for clues on the game show ''Jeopardy!'' and appeared on NPR's ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' on May 14, 2005, where he played "Not My Job" (a game in which famous people have to accurately answer questions totally unrelated to their chosen professions). The prize (for a listener, not the contestant) is "Carl Kassell's voice on your home answering machine". LaFontaine did not win the game, and offered to record the listener's answering machine message himself. LaFontaine once claimed that he enjoyed recording messages like these because it allowed him to be creative in writing unique messages, and said that he would do so for anyone who contacted him if he had the time. However, by 2007, he found the requests to be too numerous for him to take on, and stopped providing the service.

In 2006, GEICO began airing an ad campaign in which actual customers told their own stories of GEICO experiences, accompanied by a celebrity who helped them make the story interesting. LaFontaine was featured as the celebrity in one of these ads which began airing in August 2006. In the commercial, he was introduced as "that announcer guy from the movies", with his name printed on-screen to identify him. He began his telling of the customer's story with his trademark "In a world...". LaFontaine credited the spot as life-changing for having exposed his name and face to a significant audience, noting, "There goes any anonymity I might have had..."

Death

On Friday, August 22, 2008, LaFontaine was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California with a pulmonary embolism and was reported to be in critical condition the following Tuesday. His family made a public appeal for prayers on the Mediabistro.com site. Ten days later, LaFontaine died on September 1, 2008, six days after his 68th birthday, following complications from a pneumothorax. He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His final television voice over role was for the ''Phineas and Ferb'' episode "The Chronicles of Meap" in which he parodied himself. The episode also ended with a short tribute to him. His final movie trailer voice-over was for ''Call + Response'', a documentary about global slave trade, for which he donated his talent.

Dedications

On September 6, 2008, ''America's Most Wanted'' showed a visual with a picture of him with words below that said "In Memoriam: Don LaFontaine August 26, 1940 - September 1, 2008." John Walsh had announced, prior to the dedication sign, that LaFontaine—who had been the show's announcer since 1988—had died at the age of 68.

On the evening of September 7, 2008, ''Adult Swim'' had a bumper that said: Don LaFontaine [1940-2008].

At the end of the credit sequence in the ''Phineas and Ferb'' episode "Chronicles of Meap" there is a message on screen saying "In Memoriam... Don LaFontaine 08/26/40 - 09/01/08. One man, in a land, in a time, in a world... All his own." The credit sequence had been designed as a trailer for the "next" Meap episode, or as LaFontaine put it, "Episode 40 -- Meapless in Seattle". As the Disney Channel Original vanity card appears, you hear him say, "In a world...there, I said it. Happy?"

"The Apprentice Scout", an episode of ''Chowder'', is dedicated to LaFontaine. The episode dedicated his memory and said "To Don LaFontaine 1940-2008"

Fellow voice-over artist and friend John Leader retired from the voice-over business on Sept 1, 2008 upon learning of LaFontaine's death.

Satire and other appearances

His voice has been the subject of homage and parody, as seen in a Cartoon Network commercial for ''The Powerpuff Girls'', and the stand-up comedy of Pablo Francisco. Comedian-actress Janeane Garofalo formerly performed "an impression of every movie trailer ever made" with the words, "In a WORLD!…" saying that every movie trailer seems to begin with LaFontaine saying, "In a world…" or "In a town…"

One trailer for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' not only spoofs the "In a World Where" theme, but also includes LaFontaine parodying himself when the narrator defines what a trailer is, saying "Trailers also normally employ (enter Don's voice) 'A deep voice, that sounds like a seven-foot-tall man, who has been smoking cigarettes since childhood'.” The trailer is voiced by fellow voice-over artist Stephen Fry.

LaFontaine's voice was used in ''Family Guy'' episodes "North by North Quahog", and "Brian Sings and Swings", and ''The Untold Story'' version of "Stewie B. Goode", and has been featured in musical tracks.

On April 12, 2007, LaFontaine appeared on an episode of ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' with ousted American Idol finalist Haley Scarnato to provide humorous "movie trailer"-esque commentary, as a spoof of his Geico commercial.

Selected filmography

''Fillmore!'' - Narrator

''The Terminator'' -Trailer Voice-over

''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Backdraft (film) - TV Spot Voice-over

''George of the Jungle Trailer Voice-over

''Cast Away'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Fatal Attraction'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Darkman -Trailer Voice-Over

''White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Batman Returns'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Masters of the Universe'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Safety Not Guaranteed'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Daddy Day Care'' - TV Spot Voice-over

''Chicken Run'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Pokémon: The First Movie'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Pokémon: The Movie 2000'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Pokémon 3: The Movie'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' - Episode Trailer Voice-over

''Dr. Strangelove'' - Trailer Voice-over

''PowerSlave'' (video game) - Narrator

''Extreme Makeover Home Edition'' - Commercial Voice-over

''Morrow Road'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Resistance 2'' - Trailer Voice-over

''The World's Greatest Magic'' - Announcer

''The Land Before Time'' - Promo Voice-over

''79th Academy Awards'' - Co-announcer of the 79th Oscars.

''America's Most Wanted'' - Announcer

''Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction?'' - Announcer

''Birds-Eye Steam Fresh frozen vegetables'' - voice-over

''Entertainment Tonight'' and ''The Insider'' (2004–2008) - Announcer

''Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games'' - trailer announcer

''Days of our Lives'' (1990) - Promo announcer during the climax of the ''Cruise of Deception'' storyline

''iZ3D Promotional Video'' (2008) - Commercial Voice Over

''Tomb Raider Underworld'' - Commercial Voice-Over

Universal Studios Hollywood - 2001 Commercial Voice-Over

''MotorStorm'' - Opening game intro

''The Simpsons Movie'' - Promo voice-over

''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'' (1999) - Trailer Voice-Over

''Home Alone'' - Trailer Voice-Over

''Starship Troopers'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Casper: A Spirited Beginning'' - Trailer Voice-over

''A Christmas Carol (1997)'' - Trailer Voice-over

''FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Random! Cartoons'' - Announcer

''Bof Productions Trailer (2008)'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Metal Gear Solid 4'' - Trailer Voice-over

''A Man Called Sarge'' (1990) - Narrator

''Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'' - Trailer Voice-over

''Jak 3'' - Trailer Voice-over

References

External links

Official site

2008 Interview on World Talk LIVE with host Brett Cohen

The Age (Australia), November 29, 2003: Trailer talk Article about Don LaFontaine by Alan Gelder.

Don LaFontaine - Obituary

New York Times: Don LaFontaine, Voice of Trailers and TV Spots, Is Dead at 68

Los Angeles Times: Don LaFontaine, 68; voice of movie trailers

Washington Post: In a World Without Don LaFontaine, Film Won't Be as Much Fun

Washington Post: In a World of Don LaFontaine, A Reel-Life Figure of Speech

The Daily Telegraph: Don LaFontaine obituary

Online Interview with Don LaFontaine in 2006

Category:1940 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American voice actors Category:Radio and television announcers Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:People from Duluth, Minnesota Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Deaths from pneumothorax Category:America's Most Wanted

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